Table of contents
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Table of contents
- 1 – Introduction
- 2 – Types of matters that may be assisted
- 3 – Criminal law guidelines
- 4 – Commonwealth family law and child support guidelines
- 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
Dealings with charged property
VLA does not usually allow an assisted person to deal with property over which VLA has a charge. If the assisted person wants to sell, refinance or borrow against the property which VLA has charged, then VLA may ask the person to repay some or all of the costs of their grant of legal assistance.
Informing VLA of any dealings
Before an assisted person signs any contract, mortgage or transfer of land document which will affect the charged property, they must tell VLA.
The assisted person should write to VLA at least 21 days before the date they require any document, if they need VLA to:
- withdraw a caveat on the title of the land
- consent to registration of a dealing
- provide any other document relating to a charge.
If the assisted person writes to VLA, then they should also give VLA:
- the VLA reference number for their grant of legal assistance
- the caveat or memorial number
- the document which they need VLA to sign.
If the assisted person is unable to give at least 21 days notice to VLA, then VLA will still try to meet their requirements. However, VLA will not be responsible for any damage which the assisted person may suffer from any delay.
The assisted person should send any request for the withdrawal of a caveat, consent to dealings or other documents to:
The Contributions & Cost Recovery Co-ordinator
Finance, Assignments & Business
Victoria Legal Aid
GPO Box 4380
Melbourne Victoria 3001
Fax: (03) 9606 5304
VLA may require payment of the amount secured by charge
VLA may require the assisted person, or the assisted person’s estate if the person has died, to pay to VLA the amount secured by the charge if the assisted person:
- sells the property
- sells the property and buys other property
- obtains a new loan, using the property as security
- transfers the property to someone else as part of a family law property settlement
- dies.
If VLA is satisfied that payment of the total amount secured by the charge would cause exceptional hardship to the assisted person, then VLA may agree to accept a smaller amount.