Public funding for civil cases turns on three cumulative hurdles — a matter in scope, an applicant within the means limits, and a case that passes the merits test.
Civil legal aid follows a strict sequence, and a failure at any stage ends the application. This chapter begins with the statutory framework: the role of the Legal Aid Agency and the Director of Legal Aid Casework, what it means for a matter to be in scope, and how gateway evidence of domestic or child abuse can bring private family law matters back within it. It then covers exceptional case funding for out-of-scope cases, the means test with its passporting benefits, aggregation rules and contributions, and the merits test built on prospects of success and proportionality. The chapter closes with the levels of service — from Legal Help through Investigative and Full Representation — and the financial endgame: the statutory charge on recovered money or property, and the difference between revocation and discharge of funding.
