Free legal advice on separation in England & Wales

If you're going through separation in England and Wales and need free legal advice, Citizens Advice offers free, independent help on family and legal problems. Advicenow provides practical, plain-English guides to help you understand separation and child arrangements. If you have questions specifically about children's rights and welfare, Child Law Advice (Coram) gives free information and advice on child and family law matters.

It's worth having a look at Gov.uk as well, where you'll find official guidance on both the divorce process and how to sort out child arrangements when you separate. These services can help point you in the right direction for your situation.

Legal aid in England and Wales is narrower for family cases than many parents expect, but it has not disappeared. It still funds mediation, cases where you or your child need protection from abuse, and cases where a child is at risk of care. There is also a free government advice line and help with mediation costs.

• For family matters, legal aid mainly covers family mediation, protecting yourself or a child from abuse or harassment, a child at risk of being taken into care, and advice on children, finances or divorce after an abusive relationship (gov.uk).
• If you have experienced domestic abuse, legal aid can fund your family case, but you need evidence and must still pass the financial check; accepted evidence includes letters from the courts, police, a doctor, nurse, midwife or health visitor, social services or a support service, and gov.uk provides sample letters to request it (gov.uk).
• Civil Legal Advice is a free and confidential phone service under the legal aid scheme; it covers separating from an abusive partner, including arrangements for children, once you pass a financial eligibility check (gov.uk).
• The family mediation voucher scheme offers up to £500 towards mediation about child arrangements; your mediator assesses eligibility at the first meeting and applies for the funding for you (gov.uk).
• The online legal aid checker asks about your problem, income and savings, then points you to phone advice, a legal adviser or a mediator near you (gov.uk).

Checked August 2026 against gov.uk.

Good advice early on can save time, money and stress. Many services offer a free first appointment or means-tested legal aid.

• Bring key dates, any court papers, and a short summary of what you want to resolve.
• Ask about costs up front, and whether legal aid or free help is available.
• An information service can explain your options before you pay for a solicitor.