How long to get legal aid?

As far as I''m aware my ex applied at least 2 months ago. Today her Sol informed me they still have not had an answer and the final hearing is in 4 weeks.

How long does it normally take to get an answer if you''re to be given legal aid?

Maybe her Sol is being cute on my exs behalf.
Ok she hasnt sent me a ''Notice of Acting''
as she called it to confirm ex has got legal aid but maybe as she hasnt by now she knows my ex won''t be getting the aid but doesnt have to tell me?

Joe

Legal aid or the legal services commission are notoriously slow and no four weeks is far from unusual.

So they would be aware of the hearing date?

When is the lastest they would answer my exs sol?

Is her sol obliged to tell me if she hasnt got aid?

Can I contact the commission and get an answer?

Joe, I applied for legal aid in early May and still don''t have a decision.

They have 4-6 weeks to deal with the application (which may take longer if they ask your ex to provide financial information). In my case I was on an income-based benefit so I wasn''t financially assessed.

If they refuse the initial application (lots of cases are being refused for daft reasons at the moment because they are trying to wind down public funding for family law cases. My application was refused and then appealed.

They then have 4-6 weeks to deal with the appeal.

In my case they decided after 5 weeks that they could not deal with the appeal and it needed to be dealt with by an independent adjudicator. This happens when dealing with the appeal requires expert legal knowledge which the LSC don''t have. They then send the file off to an independent adjudicator.

The independent adjudicator is supposed to respond within 14 days. I phoned the LSC today and they said because they are an independent solicitor, the LSC have no control over how long it takes them to deal with the appeal, it could me much longer than 14 days.

So in answer to your question, legal aid applications can take a very long time.

Joe2020 wrote:

So they would be aware of the hearing date?

yes, in all likelihood your ex or solicitor will have made them aware that there is a hearing and to treat it as urgent.

When is the lastest they would answer my exs sol?

how long is a piece of string? They could take months to reach a final decision.

Is her sol obliged to tell me if she hasnt got aid?

The solicitor almost certainly won''t lie to you, but they are not obliged to tell you what stage they are at. They don''t have to tell you if it has been refused and appealed, though they may choose to.

Can I contact the commission and get an answer?

No, it''s not your application so the LSC shouldn''t give out information to you. It''s confidential information belonging to your ex. The LSC would probably be in breach of the Data Protection Act if they gave you any information.

u6c00 wrote:

how long is a piece of string? They could take months to reach a final decision.

My point here is that surely that would have to give an answer BEFORE the hearing?

Theres only 4 weeks to go so surely it wont be another few months but maybe two weeks max?

No joe they don''t, the two are not linked in anyway, the LCS deal with the application which will take as long as it takes, they will not be aware of any hearings, nor would they care if they did.

Very poor I know but it''s just the way it is.