https://www.slab.org.uk/guidance/civil-legal-aid-for-maintenance-obligation-cases-under-council-regulations-ec-no-4-2009-circumstances-where-no-financial-assessment-required/
The Maintenance Regulation deals with jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions and cooperation in matters concerning maintenance obligations. It is directly effective in Scots law and applies to all EU member states. It allows a maintenance creditor to obtain a decision that will be automatically enforceable in another Member state, without formalities such as registration.
An application will be required in respect of any court proceedings. Important points to note:
An application for civil legal aid is needed:
Civil legal aid is provided without any assessment of financial eligibility for all applications by a creditor under Article 56 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 4 of 2009 concerning maintenance obligations arising from a parent/child relationship towards a person under the age of 21. Make it clear in the application that your client is a creditor. For other applications, we may refuse legal aid if we consider that, on the merits, the application or any appeal or review is manifestly unfounded.
If legal aid is granted the grant will cover steps taken in the execution of diligence, although there may be situations where our prior approval is needed.
The routine collection of payments and the transmission of these to the client is not covered by legal aid.
Modified application procedures
Read about modified applications for civil legal aid for Hague Convention child abduction/custody cases.
Modified application procedures
Special arrangements apply where legal aid is sought to enforce certain judgements in terms of the Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters.