https://www.slab.org.uk/guidance/declarations-and-financial-verification/
https://www.slab.org.uk/guidance/declarations-and-financial-verification/
If you require further information on any of the guidance in this section, please contact:
Declaration forms are an important part of your client’s legal aid application.
They record a number of matters, including:
You must sign all the declaration forms. All signatures should be recognisable as your signature.
You can either sign and date the paper declaration forms that are printable from our website or add a “wet” signature to the LAOL “printable summary”, even where this has been pre-populated by the system.
You can use an electronic version of a paper form to apply a signature using a stylus (for example, iPencil) or other online signing platform such as DocuSign or Adobe Sign.
However, you must save the form and keep a copy of the PDF version in the file (whether paper or electronic).
We expect this for peer review and compliance audits where checks are made for the signed declarations in the files being reviewed.
Where you are seeing clients face to face, you must get them to sign the declaration forms.
Clients can also “sign” an electronic version of a paper form by applying a signature using a stylus (for example, iPencil) or other online signing platform such as DocuSign or Adobe Sign.
Again, the electronic signature must provide sufficient authentication (that is, the signature should be recognisable as the applicant’s signature and not simply an e-squiggle). You must be able to show an audit trail for the signing process.
In either case you must keep a copy of the “signed” declaration form, either in paper or electronic form.
If the client is not present and is unable to sign remotely using the electronic methods described above, but agrees to the terms of the declaration, you can still note this on the online system, where you can use the reason for no signature: “Client not present and agrees with the declaration terms”.
This reason can be used for certain remote situations, such as prison VC links, the Glasgow Sheriff Court to HMP Barlinnie TV link, and Parole Board cases when you are holding remote consultations.
You should use “Other” for all other reasons, including health issues, with a full explanation given of the circumstances for us to consider.
In either situation, you should record the details of the discussions with your client regarding consent to the declaration terms in your case file.
If you cannot immediately get a signature from a custody client, for example where you cannot pass a pen under the screens in the court interview rooms, you should try to get the signature after the initial consultation (on the same day), where possible.
If this is not possible, then, once you have confirmed that the client accepts the terms of the declaration, you can submit the application without the wet signature on the declaration form.
You should use the category: “Client unable to sign and agrees with the declaration terms”.
It is solicitors who make the grants of Advice and Assistance (A&A) and some types of ABWOR, once you are satisfied that the client is eligible under the provisions of the Act and Regulations.
These are the only cases where you decide to grant assistance and not SLAB or the Court.
The client’s disposable income and disposable capital must be within the limits set by the Regulations to be financially eligible.
Your assessment is based on the seven days leading up to your grant of A&A/ABWOR.
In assessing the client’s disposable income and disposable capital you are also required by the Regulations to get financial verification in the form of documentary evidence of income and capital, where this is necessary and practicable.
The purpose of this guidance is to help you comply with the Regulations so that SLAB can properly pay accounts.
We are aware that in some situations when A&A/ABWOR is being granted, insufficient financial verification documentation is being obtained by you to confirm eligibility.
We appreciate there will be times when getting verification from a client can be difficult or impossible, but it is still important to remember that legal aid is publicly funded.
The financial declaration verification process is a control in place to ensure that only those that are entitled to support are receiving it. Verification is required in all but exceptional circumstances.
When you are first meeting with a client, whether in person or remotely, you should always ask them to have proof of identity, income, and capital ready in advance of this meeting where possible.
This advice applies equally to repeat clients. It is not safe for you to assume that your client’s financial position remains the same as the last time you gave them advice.
We are aware this ask is not always possible, for example where the client is coming straight from custody, hospitalised or otherwise detained.
However, verbal checks can be carried out at the time and then followed up on. An explanation of the position in such circumstances must be recorded on the case file.
This guide clearly sets out when verification is required and what you should do if this is not available.
We’ve also clarified what types of verification you should request and keep in case files when approving applications.
If the applicant:
We are aware the term ‘capital’ may not be clearly understood by an applicant.
Questions about capital should be more probing than asking the individual, “do you have any capital?” or “do you have any money in the bank?”.
Our Keycards provide examples of what is viewed as capital for the purposes of financial assessment.
Examples include funds in bank or building society savings accounts.
If your client keeps more money in their everyday bank account than they need for regular expenses, the extra amount should be treated as savings when assessing their financial eligibility.
Other examples of capital include shares, premium bonds and ISAs, the value of additional properties, trust funds, and redundancy payments.
You should not include the home in which the client and their partner live, or their household furniture and clothing.
We would expect this to be explained to applicants and appropriate documentary evidence provided to support their responses.
If the applicant:
This is not an exhaustive list. For any other assets or valuable items, we expect information to be requested which verifies the value at the time of the application.
If the individual is unable to access the capital presently, we would still expect this to be declared, with comments provided and kept on the file to show that it has been included in the assessment process.
We would also expect questions to be asked about any disposal of capital before the application was made, which may have made the applicant financially ineligible.
You need to make sure that the client has not disposed of significant resources to prevent them from being considered in the assessment, unless this was in relation to payments which were already committed to or for essential matters, like emergency household repairs or goods.
Please keep a copy of the financial verification on file or provide details as to how you satisfied yourself that the client was eligible to receive A&A. Sight of this verification may be required later by a quality assurance peer reviewer, the Assurance team or a SLAB compliance auditor.
Where it has not been possible to obtain income or capital verification from your client, you need to record the details of the steps you have taken to try to obtain this in a file note.
For example, we would expect at least two attempts to be made from either letters, phone calls or emails requesting financial verification from the client.
Copies of the letters and emails, or the dates and brief contents of phone calls made, should be kept on file.
If the applicant is present and has been able to sign the declaration in person then they can sign the Advice and Assistance Verification Mandate which authorises the nominated solicitor to make direct checks with third parties to satisfy themselves that the applicant is financial eligibility.
If we later discover the financial tests have been applied incorrectly, we can withhold or recover payments made to solicitors’ firms for work carried out under an invalid grant.
This can also result in failures at peer review, or compliance audits, which could lead to your deregistration. Our guidance is designed to avoid the risk of this happening.
If your client tells you that they have no capital or savings and subsequently signs the declaration, you can use the signed declaration to verify that the applicant has no capital.
However, you can only state that you are relying on the signed declaration if your client has, in fact, signed the declaration.
If verification of capital is not available at the initial meeting, you should try to get this later.
You can then update us on what evidence you have seen, or in cases where you have been unable to obtain verification, the steps you have taken to obtain this by submitting a verification update.
Where your client has no capital, and you do not have a signed declaration, how you complete the online application will depend on whether she/he has a bank account.
Where there is a bank account, you should normally see a bank statement for the qualifying period to verify the capital position.
However, the following guidance should help you answer the online questions and submit the application where you have not seen verification, and you do not have a signed declaration.
No capital, and no signed declaration, applicant has a bank account
I have seen the most recent evidence of the applicant’s capital – No
Awaiting Verification? Yes – submit the application and advise us later when verification is seen.
Awaiting Verification? No – add free text to explain why applicant cannot provide any verification. For example, if the client is in custody or in hospital, or you can explain the steps you have taken to get verification.
No Capital, and no signed declaration, applicant has no bank account
I have seen the most recent evidence of the applicant’s capital – No
Awaiting Verification? No – add free text to explain that the applicant has no bank account.