If you have a legal problem, you may be able to get help to pay for legal advice or even free family law advice, depending on your situation. Here we explain what help you may be able to get if you have a family problem – that’s a problem to do with things like domestic abuse, sorting out who your children are going to live with if you separate or how often you’ll see them, dividing any money and property, getting a divorce, or ending a civil partnership. It will help you understand what legal aid is, when it is available and who can get it. If you can't get legal aid, we suggest other places

Taking legal action can be stressful, expensive and time consuming. And courts are not usually the right place to sort out problems caused by a communication difficulty or a misunderstanding. Finding a solution that you can both live with, without going to court, can make it easier to have some kind of relationship in the future. This can be important if your dispute is with a neighbour or your landlord, a friend or family member, or your child’s school. ‘Alternative Dispute Resolution' (ADR) is the name for a range of options for resolving legal problems, often without going through the court

Representing yourself in court can be daunting. You might worry about what to say, how to act, and how to deal with the other side. But cuts and changes to legal aid mean that more people than ever cannot afford a lawyer, and have to represent themselves in court. We will tell you what you need to know and do to get the best result you can without a lawyer.