Between these limits a contribution is payable, which cannot exceed one-third of the applicant's disposable income. The rules for calculating disposable income are complex, but the Board makes the necessary inquiries, not the applicant. Above 6750 you normally cease to be eligible for LA, though the Board may still grant it in special cases. The first 3000 of any disposable capital is ignored, but between that amount and 6750 you may have to contribute to your costs out of the difference, i.e. up to 3750. As with disposable income, there are complex rules for calculating disposable capital, but it always excludes the value of your home, its furniture etc and the tools of your trade, and any item in dispute in the proceedings.
Pensioners enjoy higher capital exemptions if, for example, they draw necessary income from it.
There are two kinds of criminal procedure, summary and solemn. For murder and in certain other cases, LA will be granted automatically. 5.2 Persons taken into custody and the duty solicitor scheme Someone taken into custody, even if then liberated pending trial, has a right to free LA from a duty solicitor up to the first court appearance. You can ask to speak with the duty solicitor when you are taken into custody. Which procedure, summary or solemn, is to be used is decided at your first appearance in court.