having to pay for legal advice

[LongDuckDong]

A friend I know has a child who lives with their father. The father has married someone and the wife wants to adopt his child. The child is 14.
The mother of the child does not want this to happen and so is using a mediator to try and navigate this.
The mother is on benefits as she is unable to work due to medical reasons.
It would appear that there is no way to get legal aid in this case and the mother has no funds to pay for a solicitor.

There is of course a huge back story to this but I don't think its relevant.

Can anyone advise how my friend can get decent advice/help?

Does the mother still see the child? What does the child want ?

You're right, the backstory doesn't need to be shared, but it is relevant. Does he live fulltime with his dad, what kind of visitation does mum have, does she currently pay child support as the NRP, does the son want contact with her, will he continue contact after the adoption. given his age, there isnt much she can do, but her son also isnt far off being able to see her independently if he chooses to.

Step parent adoption when the other birth parent is living, has a role in the child's life and doesn't consent to the adoption is incredibly rare, particularly step-mother. It's an order extinguishing mum's PR so is very significant. If I was her I would wait for the dad to make an application, social services adoption team will have to do a full assessment, it's an onerous process and he might not go through with the application. If dad wants to mediate rather than go through court she can ask him to pay for it.