Leaflets and forms

We have a leaflets and British Sign Language (BSL) section with information on:

• Civil and Children’s legal aid (PDF and BSL)
• your rights to information under data protection legislation and the Freedom of Information Act (Scotland) 2002 (PDF only).

Information about criminal legal aid is also available in British Sign Language (BSL) videos with subtitles.

Your solicitor may ask you to look at or complete a number of forms during the legal aid process.

You can view them below so you can prepare any information your solicitor may need you to provide.

They will usually give you a copy if you need to complete them. Please remember that you can only apply for legal aid through your solicitor.

Advice and assistance

• Advice and assistance verification mandate (AA/VERF/MAND) – your solicitor may ask you to sign this form if you are not able to show them how much you earn or how much money you have at your first meeting. This will give your solicitor permission to contact your work, bank or the government to check your finances if they think it is necessary.

Civil legal aid

To check you qualify for legal you will need to give us information about your finances, lifestyle and family. Your solicitor will get these details from you by asking you to complete one or more of the forms below:

• Financial Eligibility Form 2 [CIV/FIN/2] – you will need to complete this form if you do not receive Jobseekers Allowance, Employment Support Allowance, Income Support or Universal Credit.
• Financial Eligibility Form 3 [CIV/FIN/3] – your solicitor may ask you to get your employer to confirm how much you earn.
• Financial Eligibility Form 4 [CIV/FIN/4] – you will need to complete this (along with CIV/FIN/2 above) if you are self-employed.
• Financial Eligibility Form 5 [CIV/FIN/5] – serving members of the armed forces will need to supply this information (along with CIV/FIN/2 above).

Paying us money

You may have to complete a Civil Finance Financial Assessment Form [REC/44G] if you are due to pay us money.