In a non-contentious family case, who may receive procedural aid from the family court, and on what findings or application?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
For this exercise, the papers to read are the application for procedure aid, the papers showing the applicant's income and assets against the cost of the procedure, and the pleadings setting out the basis of the adjudication claim.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading takes the provision at face value: the family court may grant procedure aid in a non-contentious family case, on the person's application or on its own motion, to a person who has no funds to bear the cost of the procedure or would suffer serious hardship in daily life by paying it.
Another reading stresses the limits: aid must be refused where it is clear that the applicant brings the adjudication claim for an improper purpose, and the Civil Procedure Act provisions applied by reference are not uniform, since one of them and one proviso reach only the categories of non-contentious family case this provision names.
Your judgment
When the basis of the adjudication claim is disputed, what in the file could show that an improper purpose is clear rather than merely alleged?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look at this again if the provision is amended to change who may receive procedure aid, the improper-purpose exception, or the scope of the Civil Procedure Act provisions applied by reference, or if a court decision explains how clearly an improper purpose must be shown.