Do your partner’s earnings get taken into account in a legal aid application

Legal Aid for Family Law cases looks at the financial status of the applicant, or the applicant and their partner if they share a home together.

If an applicant lives in their own home without a live-in partner, they are treated as an individual.

If the applicant and their partner live in separate homes, then the partner’s status would generally be ignored. Evidence of separate homes might include separate Council Tax and utility bills at their separate addresses. This does not prevent either the partner or the applicant staying over at each other’s homes. The test is more to do with the presence and maintenance of separate homes.

If they share a home, then both the applicant and their partner’s financials would be pooled.

If they live separately, but already have joint assets &/or income, then the applicant’s share of these (where relevant) should be disclosed for their solicitor and SLAB to consider.

The Scottish Legal Aid Board Calculator is here  also see more legal aid information here.