Litigation Loan v Legal Aid

[ZanyRubyPoster]

I have been very lucky to get legal aid in divorce proccedings with an abusive ex who has has tried to use the family court to remove children from my care. I have been a SAHM working part-time and he has worked full-time, earning about 100K. I know legal aid is now really difficult to get so I was relieved to get it, however I've had a really difficult time with my legal aid solicitor. She only deals with my matter very superficially, she does not seem to really understanding the issues in my case or domestic abuse. I have tried to transfer my legal aid certificate for the last year but legal aid firms seem to have no capacity or are only willing to take private clients. I really do not know what to do?

Do I stick with a legal aid solicitor who hardly understands the issues in my case or should I get a litigation loan through a privately funded solicitor?

could you try and manage the divorce yourself ie fill out your own forms and then send it to the solicitor for a quick review and send?

I had to take a litigation loan for divorce, I had no alternative and it has been a huge burden the interest rate is really high.. Only consider it if you have high value/considerable assets to be shared.

I know it’s been a long time since you replied to my message. Thank you for responding. Was just wondering whether you had to sell your house to repay the litigation loan. Were you solicitors reasonable? Did they try to extract more money from you?

I haven't reached the end yet but there is a charge on our jointly owned property by the loan company. There are media reports of people (mostly woman) who have ended up loosing significant amount of their settlement due to litigation loan interest - if your case is delayed in the court system or dragged out by ex the interest continues to build and can quickly make the loan repayment extortionate. Not sure that is much help to you and maybe you have no choice. I regret taking a loan but the reality is that I had no alternative way of funding legal costs of the divorce.