Served with a non-molestation application? Legal aid may cover your solicitor.
Book a free consultation with a legal aid solicitor on our panel. If you are entitled to legal aid, we can allocate your case to one. We also help you check eligibility and get your documents ready.
- Find out whether you may qualify for legal aid
- Referral to a panel solicitor who does legal aid work, with your consent
- Help gathering the evidence a legal aid application needs
- Your papers and hearing explained in plain English
- Every conversation held in confidence
Clarity, when it matters most
Family court can feel overwhelming, particularly when you are frightened, exhausted or facing it for the first time. The papers are full of unfamiliar terms, the dates arrive quickly, and many people assume they cannot afford a solicitor.
Legal aid may be available to some people, depending on their income, savings and the merits of the case. We help you find out, and refer you to a solicitor who does legal aid work. We are not a law firm and we do not provide legal advice. The solicitor does.
Four steps to legal aid support
Practical, unhurried help, shaped around your circumstances and your hearing date.
Legal aid check
Understand how the means and merits tests work and whether you may qualify.
Learn more →Solicitor referral
With your consent, a referral to an independent panel solicitor who does legal aid work.
Learn more →Evidence and documents
Help gathering the income, savings, benefit and court papers a legal aid application usually needs.
Learn more →Protective orders
Plain-English help with non-molestation and occupation order papers and hearings.
Learn more →Support for every family
Family court affects everyone differently. Legal aid may be available to people on either side of the process.
Respondents
If you have been served with a non-molestation or occupation order application, we help you check whether you may qualify for legal aid and refer you to a solicitor who does legal aid work.
Served with papers →Applicants
If you are applying for protection, legal aid may also be available to you. A solicitor can tell you what evidence is needed. We can refer you to one.
Non-molestation orders →Parents & families
For arrangements for children and decisions about the family home, we explain how the court approaches your case and refer you to a solicitor who does legal aid work.
Children proceedings →Choosing the route that fits
Every route has its place. This is how they differ, so you can choose with confidence.
| Going it alone | Legal aid solicitor, via Justice Centre | Paying a solicitor privately | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best suited to | People confident handling proceedings unaided | People who may qualify for legal aid and want a solicitor to act for them | People who do not qualify and can pay |
| Legal advice | None | Given by the solicitor, not by us | Given by your solicitor |
| In the courtroom | You, on your own | Your solicitor or barrister can represent you, if they take your case | Your solicitor or barrister can represent you |
| Your paperwork | You | Your solicitor, with documents you provide. We help you gather them | Your solicitor |
| Cost | Court fees and your own time | Free or reduced if you qualify. Your solicitor explains any contribution before you start | Solicitor's fees, agreed directly with them |
Ready? Book a free consultation
Tell us a little about your situation using our short form. It takes about a minute, and we only contact you in the way you choose.
Send your referral
Complete a short, confidential form and choose the legal aid solicitor option.
We contact you
We reach out by the safest method and time you have chosen, and talk through legal aid and your hearing date.
Referral to a solicitor
With your consent, we pass your details to a panel solicitor who does legal aid work. They decide whether you qualify and whether they can take your case.
Before you get in touch
Can I get legal aid if I have been served with a non-molestation application?
Possibly. Legal aid is means and merits tested, and a solicitor who does legal aid work can assess whether you qualify. We can refer you to one.
Is Justice Centre a law firm?
No. We do not provide legal advice or carry out reserved legal activities. The solicitors on our panel are independent firms. Our regulatory information explains exactly what we do and do not do.
I have been served with an application. What should I do first?
Read everything, note the hearing date, and get support as early as you can. Legal aid applications take time, so do not wait. Our Served Papers page walks you through what to expect.
Take the first step
Tell us a little about your situation and we will explain how a free consultation with a legal aid solicitor works. Everything you share is treated in confidence.
Book a Free ConsultationHelp for respondents across England and Wales
Served with an FL401 non-molestation or occupation order application? Find your county or area.
- Northumberland (16 towns)
- Tyne and Wear (20 towns)
- County Durham (17 towns)
- Tees Valley (15 towns)
- Cumbria (19 towns)
- North Yorkshire (22 towns)
- East Riding of Yorkshire (16 towns)
- South Yorkshire (19 towns)
- West Yorkshire (30 towns)
- Lancashire (32 towns)
- Greater Manchester (45 towns)
- Merseyside (33 towns)
- Cheshire (27 towns)
- Derbyshire (27 towns)
- Nottinghamshire (25 towns)
- Leicestershire (24 towns)
- Lincolnshire (27 towns)
- Rutland (6 towns)
- Northamptonshire (19 towns)
- Warwickshire (17 towns)
- West Midlands (51 towns)
- Staffordshire (25 towns)
- Shropshire (19 towns)
- Herefordshire (9 towns)
- Worcestershire (16 towns)
- Gloucestershire (21 towns)
- Oxfordshire (22 towns)
- Buckinghamshire (22 towns)
- Bedfordshire (16 towns)
- Cambridgeshire (19 towns)
- Norfolk (25 towns)
- Suffolk (26 towns)
- Essex (47 towns)
- Hertfordshire (29 towns)
- Greater London (125 towns)
- Kent (45 towns)
- East Sussex (22 towns)
- West Sussex (26 towns)
- Surrey (36 towns)
- Hampshire (37 towns)
- Isle of Wight (11 towns)
- Berkshire (23 towns)
- Wiltshire (22 towns)
- Dorset (26 towns)
- Somerset (32 towns)
- Bristol and South Gloucestershire (25 towns)
- Devon (40 towns)
- Cornwall (33 towns)
- Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan (23 towns)
- Swansea (16 towns)
- Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend (20 towns)
- Rhondda Cynon Taf and Merthyr Tydfil (21 towns)
- Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen (20 towns)
- Newport and Monmouthshire (18 towns)
- Carmarthenshire (17 towns)
- Pembrokeshire (14 towns)
- Ceredigion (11 towns)
- Powys (18 towns)
- Gwynedd and Anglesey (23 towns)
- Conwy and Denbighshire (20 towns)
- Flintshire and Wrexham (24 towns)