A legal advisor at your legal aid office calculates your net income by adding up your income from all relevant sources and then subtracting the allowable deductions. Who is entitled to independent counsel? The Constitution guarantees free legal aid to persons accused of a crime punishable by imprisonment and who cannot afford a lawyer. If you find yourself in this situation, ask for the appointment of a public defender at your first court appearance. When a court decides that someone is «destitute» — with little wealth and no funds to pay for a lawyer — usually either a private attorney is appointed by the court and paid with district funds, or a public defense attorney program is appointed to represent the person. Some public defense programs are allowed to charge customers an «application fee,» though this is usually a small amount. Civil cases include things like debt, family or housing issues. To get legal aid, you usually have to prove that you cannot afford to pay the court fees and that your problem is serious. You are entitled to free legal advice if you are questioned at a police station. To find out if you qualify for a lawyer, the best thing you can do is call the call centre or go to a legal aid centre and apply. TUC: (a website that explains legal rights at work): worksmart.org.uk Who else qualifies for an independent lawyer? In non-criminal or «civil» cases, you are not entitled to a free lawyer. But there are many legal and pro bono aid programs that provide free legal aid to the poor in civil matters. These programs typically help people whose income is less than 125 percent of the federal poverty line, although in some cases they help people with slightly higher incomes. (See the table below for current income guidelines.) In addition, the elderly, the disabled, victims of domestic violence, military service or other special circumstances may be entitled to assistance, even if their income is slightly higher.
Because these community-based programs often operate on very small budgets and do not have sufficient resources to serve all those eligible, they only handle certain types of cases and have to turn away many people who seek help. If your income is currently below the national average for the number of people in your household, you may be eligible for free legal aid. Most legal aid clinics and pro bono lawyers (private lawyers who offer free legal aid) serve people whose household income is less than 125% of the government-recognized poverty line. The exceptions are Alaska and Hawaii, which have higher income thresholds. So who can get legal aid in England and Wales? Why can they get it? And if you`re rejected, how can you get the help you need? Many agencies provide free legal advice to immigrants and other non-citizens who need help with issues such as visa applications, green cards, deportation procedures, and work permits. Conditions for participation vary from program to program. If you are not eligible to receive free legal services based on any of the above criteria, you may want to speak to a lawyer in your area to discuss other fee arrangements. There are several ways to find legal information on Know Your Rights and nearby legal aid offices. Once you`ve made a selection on the homepage, you`ll see a page asking for your location (county or zip code), as well as the jurisdiction and type of issue you`re experiencing. Once you set it, you will see some of the requested information on the next page.
Check out this page for more instructions to help you find what you`re looking for. There are specialized legal aid organizations and programs for communities such as veterans, survivors of sexual assault, seniors and people with disabilities. To be eligible for these services, you must meet these requirements. With around 600,000 public sector jobs expected to be lost over the next five or six years, citizens` advice offices are preparing for an increase in calls for employment information. But only a relatively small minority of these workers will find that they qualify for legal aid – and therefore will not be able to get the help they want. Indebted? Need help managing your money? Do you understand your credit? Do you want to avoid identity theft? To learn more about your rights, click here. What is a legal service/legal aid office? Legal aid firms, also known as legal aid offices, employ lawyers hired to provide legal assistance to poor clients.