David Burrows continues his review of how LASPO has influenced the funding landscape of family litigation
Costs allowances—or “funding” allowances—can provide a more fertile area for funding legal representation for family proceedings, than do legal services orders (LSOs) (considered in Pt 1 and only available for proceedings under Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 1973)). The cross-over between the provisions in the statutes referred to below, the limitations of Child Support Act 1991 (CSA 1991), s 8 and the rigidity of MCA 1973, will provide satellite litigation in difficult statutory cross-currents, which reflect no credit on family law administrators. They will prove unhelpful to the impoverished parent, especially where she has to prepare her own application and to follow the points set out below. In what follows it will be assumed that the applicant for the order is female.
A LSO may be available to an applicant spouse (generally the wife) in circumstances tightly controlled by statute (MCA 1973, ss 22ZA
