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Disclaimer: The information contained and provided in the Legal Aid South Africa Chatbot is aimed at providing members of the public with guidance on general information about Legal Aid South Africa. The information is not provided to meet the individual requirements of specific legal advice or information required by the person using the Chatbot. The accurate facts are important for specific legal advice and therefore, the person may call the Legal Aid Advice Line on 0800 110 110 should they seek legal advice. It is important to remember that the information relating to physical addresses of Legal Aid South Africa’s offices constantly changes, and it cannot be guaranteed that the information will be updated and/or be without errors or omissions. As a result, Legal Aid South Africa, its employees, independent contractors, associates or third parties will under no circumstances accept liability or be held liable for any innocent or negligent actions or omissions by Legal Aid South Africa which may result in any harm or liability flowing from the use of or the inability to use the information provided by the Chatbot.

Dear Future Attorney

Thank you for your interest in serving articles at Legal Aid South Africa.

 

Please note the following:

    1. You will only be allowed to register one application against your identity number. Multiple applications are not accepted.
    2. Legal Aid SA only accepts applications from final year LLB students or BProc/LLB graduates.
    3. Legal Aid SA provides opportunities for 300 Candidate Attorneys per annum.
    4. The organisation works on a push system for Candidate Attorney recruitment, meaning that at all material times, the positions are filled. Applicants are assessed and pre-screened for appointability and are matched to opportunities as they arise.

The demand to serve articles with Legal Aid SA exceeds the number of opportunities available in a given year multifold times. Therefore, do not expect automatic or immediate placement. Do also submit applications to serve articles elsewhere.

Maintenance

MAINTENANCE

How do you apply for maintenance?

  • Phone your nearest Court to find out which court you should go to for maintenance

Phone the Maintenance Court and confirm what documents you need to bring for your
application. The following documents are usually required:

  • Identity Document
  • Identity number of person who is responsible to pay for maintenance
  • Bank statements if you have a bank account
  • List of the child/ children’s expenses
  • Documents to prove these expenses e.g. water and lights account, grocery slips, clothing accounts.
  • Contact details of the person who needs to pay maintenance such as their work address/residential address
  • Any details of their close family relatives who they are in contact with
  • Court order (if you already have one)
  • Divorce Agreement

Go to court and complete an application form ( Form A)

  • The court will provide you with a date when you need to come back. The other
    parent will also have to appear.
  • If the parent does not come to court ask the court to issue a subpoena to get the person to appear at court on a specific date.
  • You will receive a file number

Always use this number whenever you make enquires.
Make sure you get the method of payment to be recorded on the court order

Methods of payment

Maintenance can be collected in the following ways:

  • GARNISHEE ORDER –the company where the person works takes money directly from their salary and pays it into the COURTS bank account.
  • CASH PAYMENT – you collect the money over the counter at COURT
  • DIRECT PAYMENT into your bank account

The best way to collect MAINTENANCE is the direct deposit method.

The advantages are:

  • No travelling to court
  • No transport cost
  • No standing in long queues, and no time lost from work

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