https://www.slab.org.uk/faqs/what-might-you-have-to-pay/
https://www.slab.org.uk/faqs/what-might-you-have-to-pay/
If you qualify for legal aid, depending on your income and any capital you have, you may have to pay a contribution towards the cost of your legal aid.
If you have to pay a contribution from your income, you can usually pay this in instalments.
If it is from your capital, you will usually have to pay this in one payment.
You may need to use money you have or kept for another purpose or you have to sell something you own.
These are difficult decisions but it is important that you know this before you proceed.
These are the decisions that privately paying clients have to make and it is important that people applying for legal aid are not placed in a better position than a privately paying client.
At the end of the case, the law says that the legal aid fund should only pay for the case if there is no money available from expenses recovered from your opponent, any contribution you have had to pay or any property you win or keep in the case.
If you keep or gain money or property at the end of your case, you may have to pay some or all of your legal costs.
This is called 'clawback'.
Your solicitor will tell you at the start of the case whether clawback could apply and how much you may have to pay.
For more information, please see the Scottish Government's Legal Aid and Legal Advice on mygov.scot [External website].
You will not have to pay any contribution if you are granted criminal legal aid. However if your solicitor grants advice and assistance for your criminal case you may have to pay a contribution from your income, depending on your finances.