When someone you love is arrested, or you fear arrest yourself, every hour counts. This guide explains, in plain words, how bail works in India under the new criminal laws: which offences are bailable, how regular, anticipatory and default bail are granted, what sureties and conditions mean, and what to do if bail is refused. When you are ready, describe the matter in the form and an enrolled advocate who handles bail can call you. It is free for clients.
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Bail work is the most time-sensitive part of criminal practice. When someone is arrested, their family usually has a few hours before the first court appearance, and the decisions made in those hours decide whether the person goes home that evening or spends weeks in jail. When someone expects arrest, the right application filed at the right time can mean they never see the inside of a lock-up at all. A bail lawyer is simply an advocate who does this work often: in police stations, Magistrates' courts, Sessions Courts and High Courts.
The job has several parts, and a good advocate handles all of them, not only the hearing:
Getting the FIR, the arrest memo and the remand papers, and working out which sections apply, which court can grant bail, and what the realistic chances are.
Deciding whether to apply before the Magistrate, go to the Sessions Court, or approach the High Court, and in what order. A wrong choice can waste days.
Setting out the facts, the legal grounds and the personal circumstances clearly, with the documents that support them.
Answering the prosecution's objections, pointing out gaps in the case and any illegality in the arrest, and offering conditions that meet the court's concerns.
Preparing bonds, arranging and verifying sureties, and following up until the release order reaches the jail and the person walks out.
Advising on conditions, seeking changes such as permission to travel, and defending applications by the prosecution or complainant to cancel bail.
Many families think the work ends when the judge says "bail granted". In practice, a surprising number of people stay in jail for days or weeks after bail is granted because the bonds, sureties or verification are not completed. A careful bail lawyer plans for this from the start.
The steps below are general. Your advocate will adapt them to the facts, but in most cases this is the order that works.
The police will usually ask either for police custody, to question the person further, or for judicial custody, which means jail. Your advocate can oppose police custody, point out any illegality in the arrest, and move a bail application then and there. In many minor cases, bail is granted at this first hearing. In serious cases, the Magistrate may send the person to judicial custody and fix a date for the bail hearing after calling for the police reply.
Do not panic and do not file the same application again the next day. The next step is usually the Sessions Court, then the High Court. Your advocate will look at the reasons for refusal and address them in the next application, sometimes with new facts or offers of stricter conditions.
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Bail is the release of an accused person from custody on the security of a bond, with an undertaking to appear before the police and court when required. The rules are in Chapter XXXV of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, which replaced the corresponding chapter of the Code of Criminal Procedure from 1 July 2024. For offences committed before that date, the old Code still governs many pending cases, but the principles are the same.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Bail bond | A written undertaking by the accused to appear on every date and follow the conditions, with an amount that may be forfeited if they do not. |
| Personal bond | A bond by the accused alone, with no sureties. Common for minor offences and for people who cannot arrange sureties. |
| Surety | A person who guarantees the accused's appearance and undertakes to pay the bond amount if the accused absconds. |
| Surety bond | The written undertaking signed by the surety. |
| Bail conditions | Terms the court imposes, such as appearing on dates, not leaving the country, or not contacting witnesses. |
| Forfeiture | The court ordering payment of the bond amount when the accused breaks the bond. |
Every offence in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita is classified in the First Schedule of the BNSS as bailable or non-bailable. Offences under other laws, such as the NDPS Act or the IT Act, are either classified in those laws or by a general rule in the Schedule based on the maximum punishment. As a rough guide, offences punishable with less than three years are often bailable, and those punishable with three years or more are usually non-bailable, but there are many exceptions, so always check the specific section.
In a bailable offence, Section 478 makes bail a right. The police officer or the court must release the person on a bond, with or without sureties. If the person cannot furnish bail within a week of arrest, they are presumed to be indigent and should be released on a personal bond. The amount must not be excessive.
In a non-bailable offence, bail is not a right but a matter of judicial discretion, to be used on settled principles. This does not mean bail will be refused. It means a court must apply its mind and decide.
There is no fixed scale. Section 484 says the amount must be fixed with due regard to the circumstances of the case and must not be excessive. Courts look at the seriousness of the charge and the person's means. A bond that the accused cannot possibly arrange is effectively a refusal of bail, and the Supreme Court has repeatedly told courts not to set conditions that a poor person cannot meet.
Bail is not one thing. The right application depends on whether the person has been arrested, how serious the charge is, how long they have been in custody and whether the case has reached trial or appeal.
| Kind of bail | Section (BNSS) | Who can grant it | When to use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bail in a bailable offence | 478 | Police officer in charge, or any court | Any time after arrest or appearance |
| Regular bail by a Magistrate | 480 | Magistrate | After arrest, in non-bailable offences not punishable with death or life imprisonment, with some exceptions |
| Regular bail by a higher court | 483 | Sessions Court, High Court | Any non-bailable offence, and after refusal by the Magistrate |
| Anticipatory bail | 482 | Sessions Court, High Court | Before arrest, when you reasonably fear arrest for a non-bailable offence |
| Interim bail | Part of the court's bail power | The court hearing the main application | For a short period while bail is decided, or for an emergency |
| Default bail | 187(3) | Magistrate | When the charge-sheet is not filed within 60 or 90 days |
| Undertrial release | 479 | Court, often on the jail superintendent's report | After serving half the maximum sentence, or one-third for a first offender |
| Bail during trial delay | 480(6) | Magistrate | When a Magistrate's trial in a non-bailable case does not finish within 60 days of the first date of evidence |
| Bail pending appeal | 430 | Appellate court, and in some cases the trial court | After conviction, while the appeal is heard |
A Magistrate can grant bail in most non-bailable offences, but not, as a rule, where there are reasonable grounds to believe the person committed an offence punishable with death or life imprisonment, or where they have certain earlier convictions. Even then, the law allows a Magistrate to release a person under sixteen, a woman, or a sick or infirm person. For murder, rape and other grave offences triable by the Sessions Court, the application goes to the Sessions Court.
The Sessions Court and High Court have wider powers under Section 483 and can grant bail in any case. Ordinarily you go upwards: Magistrate, then Sessions Court, then High Court. Going directly to the High Court is possible but is usually reserved for special situations. If bail is refused by the High Court, a petition can be filed in the Supreme Court.
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The Supreme Court has explained the approach to bail many times. In Gudikanti Narasimhulu v. Public Prosecutor (1978), Justice Krishna Iyer described bail as a question of personal liberty that must be decided with care, not by routine. In Prasanta Kumar Sarkar v. Ashis Chatterjee (2010), the Court listed the factors that courts should weigh. In Satender Kumar Antil v. CBI (2022), it classified offences into categories, warned against unnecessary arrest and said bail applications should ordinarily be decided within two weeks, and anticipatory bail applications within six weeks.
Courts must give reasons when granting or refusing bail, though not a detailed examination of the evidence. In Mahipal v. Rajesh Kumar (2019), the Supreme Court set aside a bail order that gave no reasons in a serious case. For the person seeking bail, this means a refusal without reasons can itself be challenged.
Under Section 480(6), if the trial of a non-bailable case before a Magistrate does not finish within 60 days from the first date fixed for evidence, an accused who has been in custody throughout is to be released on bail, unless the Magistrate records reasons for not doing so. This is a useful and often overlooked provision.
Anticipatory bail is a direction by a court that, if the applicant is arrested in a particular case, they will be released on bail. It exists because, as the Law Commission noted when it was introduced in 1973, influential people sometimes use false cases to humiliate rivals by getting them arrested. Today it is one of the most common applications in criminal courts, used in matrimonial cruelty complaints, commercial and property disputes, cheating cases, and many others. It is now in Section 482 of the BNSS.
For many years, courts disagreed on whether anticipatory bail should end after a fixed period or when the charge-sheet is filed. A Constitution Bench settled this in Sushila Aggarwal v. State (NCT of Delhi) (2020): the protection need not be limited in time and can last till the end of the trial, unless the court, for reasons in the particular case, limits it. In 2026, in Sumit v. State of U.P., the Supreme Court repeated that anticipatory bail should not invariably be limited to a fixed period and does not end automatically when a charge-sheet is filed.
Cooperating with the investigation does not mean you must admit the allegations. The Supreme Court said in 2026, in Shally Mahant v. State of Punjab, that not answering particular questions is not, by itself, non-cooperation, and in another case that cooperation does not mean confessing to suit the prosecution.
Sometimes a person is not arrested during the investigation, and the police file a charge-sheet. The court then summons the accused. The Supreme Court held in Siddharth v. State of U.P. (2021) that the police need not arrest an accused merely to file a charge-sheet, and courts generally should not insist on custody of someone who cooperated throughout. If a warrant is issued, the usual step is to appear with an advocate and apply for bail, or seek anticipatory bail if there is a real risk of being taken into custody.
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An accused person cannot be kept in custody indefinitely while the police investigate. Section 187 of the BNSS sets outer limits. If the police do not complete the investigation and file a charge-sheet within the time, the accused gets a right to be released on bail, regardless of the seriousness of the offence. This is called default bail, statutory bail or compulsive bail.
| Offence | Limit for the charge-sheet |
|---|---|
| Punishable with death, life imprisonment, or imprisonment of ten years or more | 90 days |
| Any other offence | 60 days |
| NDPS Act (certain offences) | 180 days, extendable up to one year on the Public Prosecutor's report |
| UAPA | 90 days, extendable up to 180 days on the Public Prosecutor's report |
The period runs from the date the Magistrate first authorises detention, not from the date of arrest. The Supreme Court held in Enforcement Directorate v. Kapil Wadhawan (2023) that the date of remand is included in the count. Time spent in police custody and in judicial custody both count.
Default bail is an indefeasible right, but only if the accused applies and is ready to furnish bail before the charge-sheet is filed. If the police file the charge-sheet first, even a day after the deadline but before the application, the right is generally lost and the accused must seek regular bail on merits. The Supreme Court explained this in M. Ravindran v. Intelligence Officer, DRI (2020). So families should keep track of the dates, and the advocate should file the application on the very day the period ends.
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About three-quarters of India's prisoners are undertrials, according to the government's prison statistics, people who have not been convicted. Many are in jail not because bail was refused but because they cannot arrange the bond or sureties. The law and the Supreme Court have tried to address this.
An undertrial who has spent half of the maximum sentence for the offence in custody must be released on bail. A first-time offender must be released after one-third. This does not apply to offences punishable with death or life imprisonment, and the section says it does not apply where the person faces investigation or trial in more than one offence or in multiple cases. The jail superintendent is required to apply to the court for release of eligible prisoners. In August 2024, the Supreme Court directed that the benefit applies to undertrials in cases registered before 1 July 2024 as well.
In In re Policy Strategy for Grant of Bail, the Supreme Court issued directions in 2023 to stop people from staying in jail after getting bail:
If a family member is stuck in this situation, the advocate can ask the court to reduce the bond amount, replace sureties with a personal bond, or accept a surety from another district.
Every person in custody is entitled to free legal aid under the Legal Services Authorities Act, regardless of income. Most jails have legal aid clinics, and the District Legal Services Authority assigns lawyers for bail. You can also call the national helpline 15100.
The law recognises that custody falls harder on some people.
Your mobile number goes only to the advocate who accepts your request, not to everyone.
Some laws add extra hurdles to bail. If the case involves one of these, the application has to meet a stricter test, and it helps to have an advocate who handles such cases regularly.
| Law | The extra condition |
|---|---|
| NDPS Act, Section 37 | For commercial quantities and some other offences, the court must be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to believe the accused is not guilty and is not likely to offend on bail. |
| PMLA, Section 45 | Similar twin conditions, with exceptions for persons under sixteen, women and the sick or infirm, and smaller amounts. |
| UAPA, Section 43D(5) | Bail is barred if the court thinks the accusation is prima facie true, on reading the case diary and charge-sheet. |
| SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act | No anticipatory bail where a prima facie case exists; the victim must be heard on bail. |
| POCSO Act | No special bar on regular bail, but courts are strict, the child's safety is central, and anticipatory bail is barred for some rape offences under the BNS. |
| Companies Act, Section 212(6) | Twin conditions for certain fraud offences investigated by the SFIO. |
The Supreme Court has held that even these strict provisions must give way when an accused has been in custody for a long time and the trial is nowhere near complete. In Union of India v. K.A. Najeeb (2021), it granted bail under UAPA after more than five years in custody, holding that the right to a speedy trial under Article 21 survives statutory restrictions. In Manish Sisodia v. Directorate of Enforcement (2024), it granted bail in a PMLA case after about seventeen months, noting that bail is the rule even under special laws when the trial is delayed. In 2026, it granted bail in a UAPA and PMLA case after more than eight years, saying the rigours of such provisions "melt down" when a trial is unlikely to finish in reasonable time.
Under the NDPS Act, the quantity of the drug decides the punishment and the bail test. For small quantities, bail is usually granted. For intermediate quantities, the ordinary bail principles apply but courts are cautious. For commercial quantities, Section 37 applies. Procedural lapses in search and seizure, such as not informing the accused of the right to be searched before a Magistrate or gazetted officer where the law requires, or problems with sampling and the chain of custody, are often central to bail arguments.
For offences punishable with seven years or more, and for certain other offences, Section 480(3) requires the court to impose conditions about attendance, not committing a similar offence and not influencing witnesses. Beyond that, conditions must be reasonable and connected to the purpose of bail. The Supreme Court has set aside conditions that were excessive or unrelated, such as requiring a large deposit before bail is even considered, which it disapproved again in 2026 in Rakesh Jain v. State.
A surety is usually a relative, friend or employer who knows the accused well and has the means to pay the bond amount if required. Courts commonly ask for:
The court may get the surety verified, which can take a few days in some districts. Ask your advocate to prepare surety papers in advance so this does not delay release. A surety can later apply to be discharged; the accused must then furnish a new surety.
Apply to the same court to modify it. Courts can reduce the bond amount, accept a personal bond, accept sureties from another district, or substitute one condition for another. The Supreme Court has said that poverty should not be a reason to keep a person in jail after bail is granted, and that a foreign national's inability to find a surety should not bar release.
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Once granted, bail is not lightly taken away. In Dolat Ram v. State of Haryana (1995), the Supreme Court said cancellation needs cogent and overwhelming circumstances, such as:
Separately, a higher court can set aside a bail order that was perverse, ignored relevant material, or relied on irrelevant considerations, even without later misconduct. The Supreme Court did this in several serious cases in 2026, including dowry death and child sexual abuse cases where bail had been granted mechanically. The prosecution, the complainant or the victim can apply for cancellation. If you are on bail, the safest course is simple: attend every date and follow every condition.
A conviction does not always mean immediate jail while an appeal is pending. Under Section 430 of the BNSS, the appellate court can suspend the sentence and release the convicted person on bail during the appeal. Where a trial court sentences a person to three years or less, or the offence is bailable and the person was on bail, the trial court itself can release them on bail for a period to allow them to file an appeal.
For short sentences, appellate courts often suspend the sentence, because the appeal might otherwise not be heard before the sentence ends. For long sentences, especially life imprisonment, the court looks at whether there are serious arguable points in the appeal and how long the person has already served. The Public Prosecutor must be heard in serious cases. Appeals and bail applications after conviction should be filed quickly; ask for the certified copy of the judgment the same day.
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The same principles apply to every case, but the practical picture differs a lot from one kind of charge to another. These notes reflect how such matters commonly go; your case may be different.
Complaints under Sections 85 and 86 of the BNS (the old Section 498A) and the Dowry Prohibition Act are among the most frequent reasons families seek anticipatory bail. Cruelty under Section 85 is punishable with up to three years, so the notice-before-arrest rule applies, and the Supreme Court's warning in Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar (2014) against automatic arrests in such cases still guides the police. Many complaints are first sent for counselling at a women's cell. Courts usually grant anticipatory bail readily to distant relatives against whom only general allegations are made, and look more closely at the husband's role. A dowry death charge under Section 80 is far more serious and bail is much harder.
Where the dispute is about money owed under a contract, courts often see that the criminal case is really a recovery effort. Bail and anticipatory bail are commonly granted, sometimes with an offer to deposit a part of the disputed amount voluntarily, though courts should not make a deposit a precondition for considering bail. Where many people have been defrauded, such as in investment schemes or job rackets, bail is harder and the amount involved weighs heavily.
A cheque bounce case under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act starts on a complaint before the Magistrate, not with an arrest. The offence is bailable, and the accused usually gets bail on the first appearance after summons. Non-bailable warrants are issued only if the accused avoids the court. The court can also order interim compensation of up to twenty per cent of the cheque amount. Our cheque bounce calculator shows the deadlines.
Simple hurt and criminal intimidation are usually bailable. Grievous hurt, attempt to murder, or the use of weapons make bail a matter for the court, which looks at the injuries in the medical report, the role of each accused, and whether the incident was a sudden quarrel. Cross-cases, where both sides have filed complaints, are common, and courts take that into account.
Rash driving and causing hurt are usually bailable. Causing death by negligence under Section 106(1) of the BNS is punishable with up to five years, and bail is commonly granted. Cases involving drunk driving, fleeing the scene or multiple deaths are treated more seriously. The motor accident compensation claim runs separately before the tribunal.
Cases under the Information Technology Act and the BNS for online fraud, identity theft or sharing obscene material are often investigated by cyber police far from where the accused lives. People are sometimes picked up and taken to another state. Transit remand rules apply, and the accused should insist on being produced before the local Magistrate. For people whose bank accounts were only used by fraudsters, often without their knowledge, the facts of their role matter greatly for bail.
Rape and POCSO cases are heard with great care. The victim's safety and the risk of pressure on her are central, and in many cases the victim or informant must be heard before bail is decided. Anticipatory bail is barred for some offences against girls under sixteen. Regular bail is decided on the facts, including medical evidence and the stage of the trial; courts often prefer that the victim's evidence is recorded first.
A victim or complainant can oppose bail, ask the court to impose conditions such as staying away from the victim's home or workplace, and apply for cancellation if the accused threatens anyone. In some cases the law requires that the victim be heard. Keep a record of any threats and report them in writing to the police and the court; this is the strongest basis for cancellation.
A bail application is not a long essay. Judges in busy courts hear dozens of them a day. The best applications are short, accurate and easy to check against the record. A typical application covers:
Honestly, it depends on the court and the case. In bailable offences, release can happen at the police station or at the first production. Before a Magistrate, a regular bail application in a non-bailable case may be decided the same day or within a few days after the police reply. Sessions Courts often take a few days to a couple of weeks. High Courts can take longer, depending on the list. The Supreme Court has said bail applications should ordinarily be decided within two weeks and anticipatory bail applications within six weeks, but practice varies. Your advocate can ask for an early date in urgent cases, such as illness or long custody.
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These are composite examples drawn from common patterns, not real clients.
A sixty-three-year-old man driving a car hits a motorcyclist who is badly injured. He is arrested under Section 281 and Section 125 of the BNS. His advocate checks the sections and finds them bailable. Bail is given at the police station the same evening on a personal bond with one surety. Later, when the victim's condition worsens, the advocate stays ready in case a more serious charge is added, which would need a fresh look at bail.
A complaint under Sections 85 and 86 names the husband, his parents and his married brother who lives abroad. The family goes to the Sessions Court for anticipatory bail. The court grants interim protection on the first date, asks the family to join the investigation, and later grants anticipatory bail to the parents and brother because the allegations against them are general. The husband gets anticipatory bail with conditions to attend mediation and not to contact the wife directly.
A young man arrested in a theft and receiving stolen property case, punishable with less than ten years. On day 61 after the first remand, the advocate files an application for default bail, with a bond ready. The police file the charge-sheet the next morning, but because the application was already pending and the accused was ready to furnish bail, the Magistrate grants default bail. Had the application been filed a day late, the right would have been lost.
A daily wage worker in a minor case got bail with two local sureties of a fixed amount. The family could not find two property-owning sureties in that district. A legal aid lawyer, informed by the jail, applies to modify the order. The court replaces the two sureties with one surety and a personal bond, and he is released within the week.
Every case turns on its own facts. A verified advocate can tell you what applies to yours.
Advocates set their own fees for bail work, usually as a fixed amount per application. The fee varies with the court, the city, the seriousness of the offence, the urgency, and whether the matter goes to the Sessions Court or High Court. A bail application before a Magistrate in a minor case costs much less than an anticipatory bail matter in the High Court or bail in an NDPS or PMLA case. There are also small costs for certified copies, affidavits and notary, and the bond amount itself is not a fee: it is paid only if the bond is forfeited. Get the fee in writing, and ask whether it covers follow-up work like preparing sureties and getting the release order to the jail.
Free legal aid is available to every person in custody, regardless of income, and to women, children, members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, persons with disabilities, and those below the state's income limit. Ask at the jail legal aid clinic or the District Legal Services Authority, or call 15100. Check eligibility with our free legal aid checker, and see our guide to legal fees in India.
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Bail only means release during the case. The investigation and trial continue, and the accused must attend.
Most districts have duty Magistrates for remand and urgent bail on holidays, and High Courts have vacation benches for urgent matters.
Not automatically. The Supreme Court has held that it can continue till the end of the trial unless the court limits it.
Bail usually needs a bond and sureties, not cash. Courts have disapproved of making deposits a condition for considering bail.
A higher court can grant it, and the same court can reconsider when circumstances change.
Offering money or influence to get bail is a crime. Real bail is won with the law and the facts.
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Bail is the release of an arrested or accused person from custody on a bond, sometimes with sureties, with a promise to appear before the police and court whenever required and to follow conditions set by the court. The case continues while the person is on bail.
Check the First Schedule of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita for the section in the FIR. For offences under other laws, the law itself or the general rule in the Schedule applies. An advocate can tell you in a minute from the FIR.
Yes, in bailable offences. The officer in charge of the police station must release a person arrested for a bailable offence on a bond, with or without sureties. In non-bailable offences, bail must come from a court.
It is a direction under Section 482 of the BNSS that, if you are arrested in a particular case, you will be released on bail. Anyone who reasonably fears arrest for a non-bailable offence can apply to the Sessions Court or the High Court. It is not available for some offences, such as rape of a girl below sixteen.
Both have the power, but you should usually approach the Sessions Court first. The Supreme Court has said that going directly to the High Court should be for exceptional cases, and has referred the question to a larger bench.
It can continue till the end of the trial. The Supreme Court held in Sushila Aggarwal (2020) that it need not be limited in time unless the court, for reasons, decides otherwise, and repeated in 2026 that filing a charge-sheet does not end it automatically.
If the police do not file a charge-sheet within 60 days, or 90 days for offences punishable with death, life imprisonment or ten years or more, the accused can claim bail as of right under Section 187(3) of the BNSS. The days are counted from the first remand, including that day, and the application must be filed before the charge-sheet.
Ordinarily no. A Magistrate should not release a person where there are reasonable grounds to believe they committed an offence punishable with death or life imprisonment, except a person under sixteen, a woman, or a sick or infirm person. Bail in such cases is usually sought from the Sessions Court or High Court.
Usually a relative, friend or employer with means to pay the bond amount. Courts ask for identity and address proof, and proof of solvency such as property papers, a salary certificate, an income tax return or a fixed deposit. Some courts verify sureties before accepting them.
Ask the court to modify the order: reduce the amount, accept a personal bond, or accept a surety from another district. Under Supreme Court directions, the jail informs the legal services authority if a person is not released within seven days of bail, and courts may relax conditions if bonds are not furnished within a month.
Yes, if the accused misuses it: threatening witnesses, tampering with evidence, absconding, committing an offence on bail or breaking conditions. A higher court can also set aside a bail order that was perverse or ignored relevant material. The complainant or victim can apply for cancellation.
Only if your bail conditions allow it. Most orders in serious cases require the court's permission to leave India. Apply with your travel dates, purpose, itinerary and an undertaking to return; the court may ask for a security deposit.
Yes, but with stricter conditions. For commercial quantities under the NDPS Act and offences under the PMLA, the court must be satisfied about additional conditions. Long custody with no prospect of an early trial is a strong ground even under these laws, as the Supreme Court has held.
In bailable offences, often the same day. Regular bail before a Magistrate may take from the same day to a few days. Sessions Courts and High Courts may take days to weeks depending on the list. The Supreme Court has said bail applications should ordinarily be decided within two weeks.
Yes. The appellate court can suspend the sentence and grant bail while the appeal is pending under Section 430 of the BNSS. For sentences of three years or less, the trial court itself can release the person on bail to enable them to appeal.
Yes. Every person in custody is entitled to free legal aid regardless of income. Ask at the jail legal aid clinic or the District Legal Services Authority, or call the national helpline 15100.
No. Describing your matter and being connected to an enrolled advocate is free for clients. Any fee is agreed directly between you and the advocate.
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