Legal Aid Family Law Explained
Key takeaways
- Legal aid for family mediation is means-tested only. If you meet the financial rules, your MIAM and your mediation sessions are free to you.
- Legal aid for a solicitor is a separate scheme. Most private family cases lost it in April 2013, and it is now reached mainly through the domestic abuse or child safety route, with the means test still applying on top.
- The current legal aid income threshold is £2,657 gross a month, £733 disposable a month, and £8,000 in disposable capital (Keycard 62, from 6 April 2026).
- People on Universal Credit, Income Support, income-based JSA, income-related ESA or Guarantee Credit pass the income test automatically, but capital is still checked.
- You cannot apply to the Legal Aid Agency yourself. A contracted provider applies for you, and Mediate UK is one of them.
In short: who qualifies for legal aid family law help?
Legal aid family law funding in England and Wales depends on three things: whether your type of case is in scope, whether you pass the means test, and whether the case has merit. Family mediation is in scope for everyone who is financially eligible. Solicitor help in a private family case is in scope far more narrowly, mainly where there is evidence of domestic abuse or a risk to a child, and the means test applies as well.
If money is the thing stopping you from sorting out arrangements after a separation, legal aid family law funding may be more open to you than you think. Plenty of people were told years ago that legal aid had gone, decided the whole thing was unaffordable, and have been stuck ever since. That is only half the story. Our wider legal aid guide sets out the scheme as a whole, and this article deals with the two questions people ask us most: do I qualify, and how do I actually apply?
By the end you will know which tests apply, what the current income and capital limits are, what evidence you may need, and what your options are if you fall the wrong side of the line.
What Does Legal Aid Cover in Family Cases?
Legal aid is public funding that pays towards legal help for people who could not otherwise afford it (Family Law Wiki has a full reference entry on legal aid in family law). In family cases it comes in three broad forms:
- Family mediation: your MIAM and your mediation sessions, paid for in full if you are financially eligible.
- Legal help: initial advice from a solicitor, and in mediation cases, help turning your agreement into a court order.
- Legal representation: a solicitor preparing your case and representing you in court, granted under a legal aid certificate.
The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) runs the scheme in England and Wales. Which of the three you can access depends entirely on the type of family problem you have, which is where scope comes in.
Who Qualifies for Legal Aid for Family Matters?
Three tests decide legal aid eligibility in the UK, and you normally need to pass all three:
- Scope: is this type of case covered at all?
- Means: are your income, savings and capital low enough?
- Merits: is the case reasonable to fund?
Scope is set by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, usually shortened to LASPO. Family mediation stayed in scope. Care proceedings, where social services apply to the court about a child, stayed in scope and are not means-tested for parents. Most other private family work, including a standard divorce, a financial settlement or a dispute about where the children live, came out of scope on 1 April 2013 unless you come through a gateway.
The merits test asks whether the case has a reasonable chance of success and whether the likely benefit justifies the cost. For legal representation the LAA effectively asks whether a sensible person paying privately would spend their own money running the same case.
Because mediation and solicitor funding work so differently, the rest of this article deals with them separately. Mixing the two up is where most of the confusion comes from.
How Does the Legal Aid Means Test Work?
The legal aid means test looks at three figures: your gross monthly income before tax, your disposable monthly income after allowable deductions, and your disposable capital. The LAA publishes the limits every April in a document called the Keycard. These are the figures in force under Keycard 62, from 6 April 2026.
| Part of the test | Limit from 6 April 2026 |
|---|---|
| Gross monthly income | £2,657 a month, roughly £31,884 a year. Above this you are not eligible, whatever your outgoings. |
| Disposable monthly income | £733 a month, after tax, housing, childcare, maintenance and set allowances for a partner and dependants. |
| Disposable capital | £8,000 for family legal services. This covers savings, investments and some equity. |
| Larger families | The gross income limit rises by £222 a month for a fifth and each further dependent child. |
| Passporting benefits | Universal Credit, Income Support, income-based JSA, income-related ESA and Guarantee Credit pass you through the income test. Capital is still assessed. |
Figures as of August 2026, taken from the LAA civil legal aid eligibility keycard. See GOV.UK civil legal aid means testing.
Two points people are often surprised by. First, if you have a partner, their income and capital are usually counted alongside yours, unless they are the other party in your case. Second, equity in the home you live in is treated generously, with a large slice disregarded, so owning a house does not automatically rule you out.
Contributions work differently depending on the type of help. For family mediation and legal help there are no client contributions at all. Where a legal aid certificate is granted for court representation, you may be asked to contribute if your disposable income or capital sits in the upper bands.
Can You Get Legal Aid for Family Mediation?
Yes, and this is the part most people have never been told. Legal aid for family mediation is means-tested only. If you meet the income, savings and capital rules, you qualify. There is no gateway, no qualifying reason, and no requirement to have experienced abuse.
If you are eligible, your MIAM is free to you, and so are your mediation sessions. A MIAM is a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting, a private one-to-one meeting with a mediator to look at whether mediation could work for your situation. If you want the detail first, our guide to what happens at a MIAM walks through it step by step.
Legal aid mediation can also cover the legal help needed to turn what you agree into a binding court order, which is often the piece people worry about most. Mediate UK is a Legal Aid Agency contracted provider for family mediation, so we can assess you and offer legal aid mediation directly rather than sending you elsewhere.
If only one of you qualifies, that is not a dead end. The other person can still apply for the family mediation voucher, and the first joint session may be covered too. GOV.UK sets out the scheme in its legal aid for family mediation guidance.
Not sure whether you qualify?
We can check your eligibility before you commit to anything. If you qualify, your MIAM and mediation sessions are free to you.
Can You Get Legal Aid for a Solicitor in a Private Family Case?
This is a separate scheme with a separate test, so treat it separately in your own head too. Means-tested legal aid for solicitor help in most private family cases was withdrawn on 1 April 2013. Before that date, a low income was enough on its own. Since that date it is not.
Solicitor legal aid is still available where you come through a gateway. The main routes are being a victim of domestic abuse, and cases where a child is at risk of harm. Care proceedings brought by a local authority are also covered, and for parents they are not means-tested or merits-tested.
Getting through the gateway is not the end of it. You will need to provide evidence, and you will also need to be financially eligible under the same means test set out above. Both parts have to be satisfied.
What Evidence Is Accepted for the Domestic Abuse Route?
The accepted list is broader than most people expect, and there is no longer any time limit on how old the evidence can be. Accepted evidence includes:
- A non-molestation order, occupation order or other protective injunction, or an undertaking given to a court
- A police caution, arrest, charge, conviction or bail conditions
- A letter or report from a GP, nurse, midwife or other health professional, or a referral from one to a domestic abuse service
- A MARAC letter, or a letter from an IDVA or ISVA
- A letter from a domestic abuse support organisation or refuge, including a refusal of admission
- A letter from a local authority, housing association or housing officer
- A finding of fact by a court, or evidence of economic abuse
Domestic abuse is not only physical. Coercive and controlling behaviour, emotional abuse and economic abuse all count, and Domestic Abuse Protection Notices and Orders are within scope.
One practical point on cost. There is no court fee to apply for a non-molestation order or an occupation order. Those applications are free. What you may pay for is legal help preparing and presenting them, and that is what legal aid can cover. Where someone is at immediate risk, legal aid can be granted urgently and the financial checks completed afterwards.
“The single biggest myth we hear is that legal aid was scrapped in 2013 and that is that. It was not. Mediation kept it, and the test is purely financial. We speak to people who have spent two years arguing by text because they assumed there was nothing available, and it turns out their MIAM and their sessions would have been free all along. Five minutes checking is always worth it.”
Jess Knauf, Director of Client Strategy, Mediate UK
How Do You Apply for Legal Aid?
You cannot apply to the Legal Aid Agency yourself. The application is made on your behalf by a provider that holds a legal aid contract, whether that is a mediation service or a solicitors’ firm. Here is how to apply for legal aid in practice.
Do a quick self-check. Our Legal Aid Eligibility Checker gives you an indication in a few minutes. It is not a decision, but it tells you whether it is worth going further.
Find a contracted provider. Use the Legal Aid Agency’s own directory, Find a legal aid adviser or family mediator, and search by postcode and problem type. Not every solicitor or mediator holds a contract, so check before you book anything.
Gather your paperwork. You will usually be asked for recent payslips or self-employed accounts, three months of bank statements for every account, benefit award letters, proof of rent or mortgage, childcare costs and details of savings or investments. If you are using the domestic abuse route, bring your evidence too.
Have your assessment. The provider works through the means test with you. Checking your eligibility is free, whatever the outcome.
The provider submits the application. For mediation, funding is usually confirmed quickly and you can get started. For a legal aid certificate the LAA reviews the application and issues a certificate setting out what is covered.
If you would rather talk it through with someone independent first, Civil Legal Advice can check eligibility by phone on 0345 345 4345, Monday to Friday.
One thing to keep in mind once you are funded: any change in your circumstances, a new job or a lump sum for example, has to be reported to the Legal Aid Agency.
What If You Do Not Qualify for Legal Aid?
Falling just outside the limits is common, and it does not mean court is your only option. There are several routes worth looking at:
- The family mediation voucher scheme: a government contribution of up to £500 per family towards mediation, and it is not means-tested
- Help with court fees: a separate scheme from legal aid, for people on a low income or certain benefits
- Fixed-fee legal services: you pay a set price for a defined piece of work rather than an open-ended hourly rate
- Free advice services: Citizens Advice, law clinics and pro bono schemes
The voucher is worth a proper look if children are involved. It applies to cases about child arrangements, or family finances where there is also a dispute about the children, and eligibility is about the type of dispute rather than your income. Our explainer on how the family mediation voucher scheme works covers what it does and does not pay for. A finance-only case does not qualify, and it does not cover the MIAM.
Court fees are dealt with entirely separately from legal aid. If you cannot afford the fee for a divorce application or a court order, you may be able to get some or all of it remitted, and our page on applying for help with court fees using the EX160 form explains the process.
It is also worth comparing the numbers honestly. Even paying privately, resolving things through family mediation is usually quicker, less stressful and considerably less expensive than each of you instructing a solicitor and fighting it out through the court process. Our costs and payment options page sets out what everything costs, including payment plans.
Need the legal side handled at a fixed price?
Our sister service, Family Law Service, offers fixed-fee legal work for people who are not eligible for legal aid, including an online clean break consent order drafted and checked by a solicitor for £499. You know the price before you start.
Summary
Legal aid in family cases has not disappeared, but it works differently depending on what you need. For family mediation, the test is purely financial: meet the income, savings and capital rules and your MIAM and sessions are free to you. For solicitor help in a private family case, most cases came out of scope in April 2013, and you now need to come through a gateway, mainly domestic abuse or child safety, and pass the means test as well.
The current limits are £2,657 gross monthly income, £733 disposable monthly income and £8,000 in disposable capital. A provider has to make the application for you, so the practical first step is to find one with a legal aid contract and ask for a free eligibility check. If you do not qualify, the £500 mediation voucher, help with court fees and fixed-fee legal services are all still open to you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is legal aid still available for family law cases in England and Wales?
Yes. Legal aid for family mediation is available to anyone who passes the means test. Legal aid for a solicitor is available for care proceedings, and in private family cases where you come through the domestic abuse or child safety gateway and also meet the financial rules.
What is the legal aid income threshold in 2026?
Gross monthly income must not exceed £2,657, and disposable monthly income must not exceed £733. Disposable capital must be £8,000 or less. These figures apply from 6 April 2026 under LAA Keycard 62.
Do I need evidence of domestic abuse to get legal aid for mediation?
No. Legal aid for family mediation is means-tested only. If you meet the financial criteria you can get it whether or not there has been abuse. Evidence requirements apply to the separate scheme for solicitor legal aid.
Can I get legal aid for a divorce?
Legal aid does not usually cover a straightforward divorce application itself. It can cover mediation about the children and the finances if you are financially eligible, and it can cover solicitor advice on a divorce where you come through the domestic abuse gateway and pass the means test.
Can I apply for legal aid myself?
No. The application must be made by a provider holding a Legal Aid Agency contract, such as a mediation service or a legal aid solicitor. You can check your likely eligibility yourself first using the GOV.UK tool.
Does my partner’s income count towards the means test?
Usually yes. The income and capital of a partner you live with are added to yours, unless that partner is the other party in your case. Payslips and bank statements for both of you are normally requested.
You might also find helpful
| The ultimate guide to child arrangements How arrangements for the children are agreed, and what happens if you cannot agree. |
Guide to financial settlement on divorce How money, property and pensions are divided when a marriage ends. |
| Legal Aid for Family Mediatiom How to find out if you are Eligible. |
Legal Aid Divorce UK What legal aid covers, what it does not, who qualifies, and how to get funded mediation. |
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