Legal Aid

Legal Aid & Legal Costs

What is legal aid?

 Legal Aid can help meet the costs of your legal advice, family mediation and representation in court.

AFG LAW hold a legal aid contract for family law at all three offices across Bolton, Bury and Stockport, and can help you apply for legal aid to ensure you have access to legal advice and are represented during your proceedings.

What are the legal costs and can I get legal aid?

The legal costs in cases involving grandparents rights vary enormously – depending on the attitudes of the parties, the circumstances of the case, the number of issues and, generally, the amount of involvement between the client and their solicitor / lawyer.

It is unusual for the court to make costs orders against one party in children proceedings; but courts do have power to make a costs order against a party felt to have acted unreasonably – although this power is used very rarely.

Some grandparents may be eligible for legal aid (or public funding as it is called these days).

An eligibility assessment is routinely undertaken as part of the free advice we offer in family law cases.

The Local Authority have agreed to pay for me to have legal advice, what do I do?

Sometimes when a grandparent or family member is caring for a child, the Local Authority may agree for to pay for one-off legal advice for you from an independent solicitors, this is something we can help you with. If you are told by children’s services to seek legal advice, please contact us.

Get in touch

If you are a grandparent and have further questions regarding care proceedings or if you require legal advice about care proceedings or mediation, please contact our expert family lawyers by ringing 0161 359 3880 or 01204 377600 or contact our expert family solicitors by email  familysolicitor@afglaw.co.uk today.

Our team can help you with applying for legal aid to ensure you have access to legal advice and are represented during your proceedings.