Legal aid: What you can get legal aid for - GOV.UK
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Legal aid
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What you can get legal aid for
Legal aid can help with the costs of legal advice. You can also get someone to speak or negotiate for you at a court or tribunal.
There are different
legal aid rules in Scotland
and different
legal aid rules in Northern Ireland
You might be able to get legal aid for problems like:
homelessness, eviction, losing your home, or serious disrepair
protecting yourself or a child from abuse or harassment, for example
domestic abuse
or forced marriage
poor quality care you or a family member are getting due to age, disability or special educational needs
needing advice on finances, children or divorce if you’ve been in an abusive relationship
a child in your family being at risk of being taken into care
family mediation, for example if you’re deciding on child arrangements
discrimination
challenging the way the government has made a decision about you
seeking asylum or if you’ve been the victim of human trafficking
needing advice if a family member’s death is going to a coroner’s inquest
There’s a different way to get legal aid
if you’ve been arrested or charged with a crime
What you cannot get legal aid for
You cannot get legal aid for:
debt problems (unless you might lose your home)
employment disputes (unless you’re being discriminated against)
appealing benefits decisions (unless you’re appealing to the Upper Tribunal, Court of Appeal or Supreme Court)
If your human rights are at risk, you could
get legal aid for cases that would not usually be eligible
If you’re not sure if you’re eligible
You can
check if you can get legal aid for your type of problem
View a printable version of the whole guide
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