Legal aid

What is legal aid?
Legal aid rules for serious family problems
Legal aid rules for child protection matters

Note: Watch "Legal Talk" — a short public service announcement about legal aid.

What is legal aid?

Legal aid is free legal help for people with low incomes. Legal aid services include legal information, legal advice, and legal representation (a lawyer to handle your case).

The information on this website is a form of legal information. Family duty counsel and family advice lawyers provide legal advice. Legal representation is when LSS pays a lawyer to represent a person with a low income who has serious family law problems.

To get a lawyer to represent you, you must qualify under financial eligibility guidelines. There is also a financial eligibility test for legal advice services.

You can get a lawyer to represent you if:

  • your legal problem is covered by legal aid rules (see below),
  • you meet the financial guidelines, and
  • you have no other way of getting legal help.

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Legal aid rules for serious family problems

You can get a lawyer to represent you in your family law case in the following circumstances:

  • In emergency situations, for example:
    • when you need an immediate court order to ensure your or your children's safety and security, or
    • to resolve a serious denial of access to your children.
  • In other situations, depending on available funding and your circumstances:
    • to resolve serious legal issues in high conflict cases, or
    • when all other efforts to resolve the case have been exhausted and resolving the case will make a significant difference to you or your children.

If you have qualified for a legal aid lawyer but you're not sure what your lawyer is authorized to do for you, the following information sheet helps explain the service:

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Legal aid rules for child protection matters

You can get a lawyer to represent you if:

  • the Ministry of Children and Family has taken or has threatened to take your child(ren) away from you, or
  • there are custody and access issues related to a child in the care of the Ministry for Children and Family Development.

For more information about legal aid, see Legal aid services on the Legal Services Society website.

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