Table of contents
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Table of contents
- 1 – Introduction
- 2 – Types of matters that may be assisted
- 3 – Criminal law guidelines
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4 – Commonwealth family law and child support guidelines
- Guideline 1 – priority for urgent matters
- Guideline 2 – family dispute resolution services
- Guideline 3 – independent representation of children
- Guideline 4 – parenting orders
- Guideline 5 – child maintenance and child support
- Guideline 6 – spousal maintenance
- Guideline 7 – arrears of spousal or child maintenance or child support
- Guideline 8 – parentage
- Guideline 9 – special medical procedures involving children
- Guideline 10 – recovery, location and information orders
- Guideline 11 – divorce and nullity of marriage
- Guideline 12 – property
- Guideline 13 – assistance after final court orders
- Guideline 14 – appeals
- Guideline 15 – enforcement of court orders
- Guideline 16 – contempt of court and breach of court orders
- Guideline 17 – international child abduction matters
- Guideline 18 – family law costs management
- Family law trials and final hearings
- Jurisdiction of family law proceedings
- 5 – Commonwealth civil law guidelines
- 6 – State family guidelines
- 7 – State civil law guidelines
- 8 – Standard grants assessment process
- 9 – Simplified grants assessment process
- 10 – Referral and practitioner panels
- 11 – Means test
- 12 – Commonwealth merits test
- 13 – State reasonableness test and interests of justice test
- 14 – Special circumstances
- 15 – Applying for a grant of legal assistance
- 16 – Decision to grant or refuse assistance
- 17 – Reconsideration and review of decisions
- 18 – Standard terms and conditions
- 19 – Contributions and overdue payments
- 20 – Abandoning legal assistance
- 21 – Finalising grants of legal assistance
- 22 – Allocation of work to lawyers and law firms
- 23 – Payments to lawyers and service providers
- 24 – Compliance reviews
- 25 – Privacy protection
- 26 – Complaints and feedback
- Topic index
- Invoices, worksheets and forms
- Contact us
Guideline 10 – recovery, location and information orders
Victoria Legal Aid (VLA) may provide a grant of assistance to a person for proceedings under the Family Law Act 1975 for a recovery order, a location order and/or an information order relating to the location and/or recovery of a child.
Limitations and conditions
Usually, a grant of assistance for a recovery order, a location order and/or an information order will be:
- limited to $2000 (but see further below)
- granted by VLA only on condition that the person seeking assistance seeks a costs order against the respondent to the court application.
However, if the respondent is also receiving a grant of legal assistance, then VLA will not impose the condition about costs.
If the applicant seeks a grant of legal assistance for a location order, then VLA will not include the amount of the grant within the cost ceiling for the substantive matter (that is, a parenting order about with whom a child should live or spend time).
Court proceedings for a recovery order, a location order and/or an information order are ‘new matters’
For the purposes of the family law costs management methodology, VLA will treat proceedings for a recovery order, a location order and/or an information order as a ‘new matter’.
Applications for recovery orders should be filed with the substantive matter
Usually, VLA expects that an application for a recovery order be filed with the substantive matter (an application for a parenting order about with whom a child should live or spend time).
Only one lump sum fee would apply – that is, the lump sum fee for the substantive application (for example, Stage 2(e) of Fee schedule 1L). The limitation of assistance to $2000 will not apply in this case. However, if it is not possible to file together, the lump sum fee for Stage 2(e) will apply in addition to the lump sum for the recovery application. The limitation of assistance to $2000 will still apply to the separate application for recovery orders.
The lawyer’s file should include a note indicating reasons why the applications were filed separately, and that the issue has been considered.
Documentary requirements
Applications under this guideline are within the simplified grants assessment process or the standard grants assessment process.
Standard grants assessment process
Lawyers or other applicants seeking a grant of legal assistance via the standard grants assessment process should forward all of the following documents to VLA for assessment:
- a completed VLA application form
- the client’s instructions (if the application is made via a lawyer)
- a statement of the current parenting arrangements and the issues that are in dispute
- a statement of the lawyer’s opinion about how the matter meets guideline 10
- a copy of the parties’ affidavits, clearly identifying the relevant parts of the evidence forming the basis of their client’s case
- copies of all reports from third parties (including any psychiatric and/or psychological assessments and family reports)
- relevant proof of means.
Simplified grants assessment process
Lawyers seeking a grant of legal assistance via the simplified grants assessment process should submit a completed simplified VLA application form and a family law checklist only after ensuring that the following documents are retained on file unless they are requested by VLA for assessment:
- their client’s instructions
- a brief statement of the evidence to be relied on (and, if a statement or piece of evidence determines a particular issue, then the file note must readily identify the statement or evidence so that VLA can audit the file for compliance)
- a brief statement of the lawyer’s opinion about how the matter meets the Commonwealth’s merits test and guideline 10, if this is not clear from other information on the file
- a copy of any previous orders relating to the parties
- relevant proof of means.
Lawyers are also encouraged to complete a family law merits worksheet and a proof of means worksheet for their file.