legal aid in family matters

[tigerlillyd02]

Has legal aid been cut for family law matters now?

I have a child placed in a residence order and after 4 yrs ive had to stop the 2 monthly (supervised by myself) contact due to mother not turning up at all for 12 months and then turning up either drunk or high. Problems have been ongoing.

I telephoned a solicitor who could not advise me of my rights or how to get the matter dealt with, as legal aid has been cut.

Im now at a loss as what to do.

There has been no social services involvement since the child was placed with me.

You can only get legal aid if you are a victim of domestic violence.

If there is a contact order the mother could take action to enforce that order at which point you could explain why you have stopped contact and try to persuade the court that contact is not in your child's best interests. Alternatively you could apply to vary the order without waiting for the mother to take action.

If there is no contact order you don't need to do anything. It is up to her to apply for contact if she wants.