I need free or low-cost legal help. What documents should I prepare first?

Key takeaways

• Put the document that creates the immediate risk at the front.
• Keep legal merits and financial eligibility in separate sections.
• Use a short chronology linked to source records.
• Include authority to act for a child, company, estate or represented person.
• Record every prior application, refusal, referral and reference number.
• Disclose a missing record instead of delaying an urgent intake.

How to use this guide

The first reviewer should be able to identify four things quickly: what happened, which body or process is involved, what must happen next, and whether the service can screen or accept the request.

1. Start with a one-page cover sheet

The cover sheet should state:

• your name and safe contact details;
• the other parties and their relationship to you;
• the event, decision or document causing the problem;
• the court, commission, department, ombud or other body involved;
• every visible case or reference number;
• the nearest hearing, response, filing or expiry date;
• the immediate service requested; and
• any safety, disability, language or access need affecting intake.

Do not begin with a long legal argument. A clear factual summary lets Legal Aid, a clinic, pro bono intake team or official forum route the request without guessing the practice area.

2. Put the operative document first

Include the paper that changes your position: summons, charge sheet, notice of motion, eviction notice, dismissal letter, disciplinary outcome, protection-order document, demand, refusal, decision, order, warrant, appeal notice, contract termination or hearing notice.

Keep the envelope, email header, service record or message showing when and how it arrived. The issue date and delivery date may have different significance. Do not calculate a universal deadline yourself; ask the correct service to read the actual document and identify the governing rule.

If the date is close, send the cover sheet and operative document through the verified urgent channel before building a perfect bundle.

3. Build a sourced chronology

Use a table with date, event, source record and why it matters. Separate known facts from assumptions. Where a date is uncertain, say so and identify the record or person that may confirm it.

Preserve original emails, messages, audio, photographs and electronic files. Do not crop out context, edit recordings, rewrite an inconvenient message or delete material. A working copy can be organised without changing the source.

The evidence-pack guide gives a fuller indexing method once the assistance service confirms what it can receive.

4. Add the relationship and merits records

Include the record creating the legal relationship or claim where available:

• employment terms, payslips, policies and disciplinary records;
• marriage, parenting, maintenance, birth or protection-order records;
• lease, title, account, demand and payment records;
• sale, service, credit, insurance or other agreements;
• medical, police, accident or loss records;
• public-body applications, decisions, reasons and correspondence; or
• wills, estate appointments, trust records or authority documents.

Select documents that prove the event, relationship, loss, defence or requested remedy. An unfiltered archive can hide the controlling paper and create privacy risk.

5. Prepare the current eligibility evidence

Legal Aid South Africa's current means test considers income and assets and may require a form and supporting evidence. The exact thresholds and requirements can change. Ask the official intake team what applies to an individual, household, child, land matter, non-citizen or other special category before sending records.

Depending on the verified route, the eligibility section may include:

• identity or immigration-status records;
• recent income evidence or proof of unemployment;
• household composition and shared-cost information;
• state-grant proof;
• relevant bank or asset evidence;
• union, insurance or membership proof; and
• the route's signed application or declaration.

Do not assume low income alone proves eligibility. Matter coverage, merits, conflicts, capacity and service type may be assessed separately.

The Legal Aid application guide explains how the main assistance routes differ.

6. Prove authority to request help

If the matter belongs to a child, company, deceased estate, trust, body corporate or represented adult, include the authority you actually hold: guardianship or parental records, a resolution, appointment, mandate, executor document, court order or other lawful proof.

Do not manufacture missing authority. Flag the gap and ask what must be regularised. A service may be unable to discuss confidential details or act until the correct person instructs it.

7. Add route-specific records

Different routes need different front sections:

• Criminal matter: charge sheet, bail or detention details, case number, police station, court and next appearance.
• Employment matter: dismissal or outcome letter, referral steps, dates, contract, payslips and key process records.
• Housing or eviction: lease or occupation basis, notices, court papers, payment history and household vulnerability information.
• Family or protection matter: current orders, applications, service proof, child information and immediate safety facts.
• Consumer, debt or small claim: agreement, invoice, statements, demand, complaint history, proof of payment and remedy sought.
• Administrative decision: application, decision, reasons, internal appeal information and proof of receipt.

Small Claims Court, CCMA and other direct-use forums have their own current forms and representation rules. A legal-help intake pack does not replace the official filing process.

8. Keep an assistance-search record

Add a contact log showing every organisation, date, person or reference, documents sent, response, promised follow-up and outcome. Keep refusal letters and the date received. Legal Aid South Africa provides an internal appeal process for refusals; the reason and relevant supporting documents may matter.

If an LPC pro bono process or clinic refers the matter, retain the referral and acceptance response. A referral form is evidence of a request, not proof that a practitioner has accepted responsibility.

9. Protect sensitive information

Verify the domain, telephone number or physical office using the organisation's official page. Ask how identity, financial, medical, child and criminal records should be delivered. Redact irrelevant account numbers from preliminary comparison copies, but preserve complete originals.

Use the practitioner-verification guide if a private practitioner is named. Do not upload the same complete file to multiple unverified profiles in the hope of obtaining free help.

10. Use a two-stage handoff

Stage one contains only the cover sheet, operative document, key chronology and minimum eligibility proof requested. Stage two contains the indexed merits bundle and supporting records after the service confirms a secure channel and scope.

Ask the first reviewer to return an eligibility outcome, issue and forum map, nearest date, immediate preservation step, missing-items list and acceptance or referral decision. That output is more valuable than sending hundreds of pages without a defined question.

Use the lawyer consultation preparation guide to refine the stage-two index after a service confirms that it can assess the matter and provides a secure submission channel.

FAQs

Related Lexuno paths

Related articles