Good evening,
I have had my 1st child hearing this week re future arrangements about my daughter in a very acrimonious divorce. so far the sheriff recommended to get a child welfare report and mentioned I might be entitled to legal aid, as there is a big discrepancy in income between me and my husband.
my problem is that because our divorce involves finances no local solicitor would take me on with legal aid, they all want to work on private rates.
I don't quite understand why we cant go through the child hearings with legal aid, yet they say it would involve finances somewhere down the line, thats why as soon as they hear 'finances' they say they will only do private rates. I cant move out of marital home until some sort of a financial settlement is reached.
my current solicitor is not very good - they forgot to lodge my affidavit on time, and I feel like I am not getting any real advice from them for court. he did not tell me what I could write in the affidavit (however, they wrote it for me and I added on what I thought was relevant ). It is hard to get a personal meeting as well, so far I have talked with him through phone consultations. finally, he sent in a trainee for my first court hearing and did not warn me about it.
can I get my share of the child welfare report paid on legal aid if I am part-time/still registered for UC? does anyone knows any solicitors in Edinburgh that work on clawback with private rates?
Are the above mentioned issues quite common with solicitors, or I am not lucky with my solicitor and need to change him?
I'll be grateful if anyone could provide any insight.