Family Mediator
In this short interview, which was a carry on from the earlier one on Legal Aid UK, I asked Glynne Davies if stay-at-home mums with no income and whose husbands are high earners, were eligible for legal aid for family mediation?
This was part of her response but you can listen to the entire interview (less than 5 mins) below:
Likelihood is that they wouldn’t qualify for legal aid because they would fall foul of the capital threshold test.
Although there are generous allowances for mortgages and for what’s called the allowance, it’s unlikely that if you’ve got a property worth £1m or more that you’re going to qualify because the allowances are capped at £100k.
So if you’ve got a property worth a million and a mortgage worth £500k, the most they will allow on that mortgage is £100k.
If the property is in the sole name of the husband, that’s a different matter. But if it’s held in joint names then the party at that point will fall foul of the capital threshold.
If for any reason they pass the capital threshold, for instance if the property is in the sole name of the husband, then you could go on to look at their situation regarding the income. If for instance if she has access to the joint account would preclude her under the income threshold.
Glynne Davies has been a fully accredited Family Mediator since 2004. She became a Professional Practice Consultant in 2009, and a member of the Local Family Justice board since 2010.