Maria Shave is a single person with two children who go to school. She earns

R5 000 per month before deductions are made from her salary. She pays R200 into a pension fund every month and her bond repayment on her house is R400 per month. Will she qualify for legal aid?

What Does the Law Say?

The means test says a single woman earning R5 500 or less can get Legal Aid. This amount is standard for every single person applying for legal aid and doesn’t depend on how many dependants she has.

For purposes of the means test a person’s salary is the money that is left after deductions are made for things like pension, housing, medical aid and so on.

It is also important that the specific case that she needs the legal aid for, falls within the cases covered by legal aid. (See: Means test) (See: Applying for legal aid)

Does She Qualify for Legal Aid?

Maria earns R5 000 per month. For the purposes of the means test, Maria’s salary will be R5 000 less [R200 (pension) + R400 (bond repayment)]

R5 000 – (R200 + R400) = R4 400

This amount is less than the means test amount of R5 500 which means Maria will qualify for legal aid (provided her case is the type of case covered by legal aid).