Instead, clients have to complete a means testing form and supply documentary evidence about their finances every time they apply for exemption from a court fee. The financial documentation has to no less than one month old, and so most clients will need a fresh set of documentation every time.
Rachel Hepworth of our Family Department comments:
"We have already been told by several clients who are about to apply for Decree Absolute that they would rather pay the court fee than go to the trouble of completing the form and putting together all the financial evidence required.
"The fee payable upon application for Decree Absolute is £40, but other court fees at other stages of a divorce can be much more than that.
"The form is not too difficult to deal with for clients who are receiving Income Support. All they need to do is obtain an up to date letter from the JobCentre confirming that.
"But for people who are working part time, and perhaps receiving child benefit and tax credits, with rent or a mortgage to pay, it may have been quite time consuming sorting out their Legal Help eligibility in the first place, and it will be even more time consuming dealing with the new court means test.
"The court means test is not the same as the Legal Help means test and it is going to be very difficult to predict whether Legal Help clients will in fact be exempt from the fee, without spending a huge amount of time carrying out calculations which will have to be redone in any event by the court staff.
"Family clients in particular often have fluctuating financial circumstances and may be eligible for exemptions one month but not the next."
The changes in the system for exemption from court fees are part of a Government drive to make court users pay the costs of running the courts.
At the same time, also on 1 October, fees payable to solicitors and other legal advisers for advising and assisting clients with a Legal Help divorce have been cut, to a fee of £159 plus VAT, for all but the most exceptional cases.
Rachel Hepworth comments: "Although the Legal Services Commission will say the new rates are not cuts, but a reform of the system, I suspect that for every provider in Kings Lynn and West Norfolk the new rate means a cut in what they are paid for dealing with a stand alone Legal Help divorce.
"Many Legal Help divorces come with problems, such as missing Respondents or Respondents who fail to cooperate, and these are time consuming to resolve.
"The new rates of pay reflect the low priority given to assisting Legal Help divorce clients. Firms like ours who continue to deal with this work are offering a social service, but it's not one for which they can expect any reward."
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