How Costs Work in Capacity Matters

Written by Richard O'Shea, Solicitor TEP · Mary Molloy Solicitors, established 1981 · Last reviewed 21 August 2026

How we charge

A fixed quote in writing before any work starts — for a planning consultation, an agreement, a court application. If scope changes (a matter becomes contested, an extra application is needed), the quote is revised in writing before we continue, never after. Under the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 (Section 150) every Irish solicitor must give you written notice of costs; a firm reluctant to do so is telling you how the relationship will go. And in contentious business, a solicitor may not calculate fees as a percentage or proportion of any award or settlement.

What actually drives cost

• The tier — agreements are lighter work than court applications; contested applications are heavier than unopposed ones
• Evidence — medical reports and, where needed, specialist assessments are third-party costs alongside professional fees
• Outlays — court fees, DSS prescribed fees (the DSS publishes its schedule, with waivers in defined cases), commissioner fees and similar pass through at cost
• Family weather — agreement is cheap; war is dear. The single biggest cost decision a family makes is whether to fight
• Transactions attached — a property sale or Fair Deal process alongside the application is quoted as its own stage

Whose money pays?

Where an application is brought for a person's benefit, the court can direct that properly incurred costs be met from that person's assets — common in uncontested, plainly necessary applications, always in the court's discretion, and never something to assume for a contested fight, where costs can land on the fighters. Legal aid can be available for capacity matters within the civil legal aid scheme's rules; the relevant person's own representation is treated with particular care. We map the realistic costs position — including these questions — in the first conversation, in writing.

The questions to ask any solicitor

Ask for the fee in writing before work starts. Ask what happens if the matter becomes contested. Ask what outlays to expect and what the DSS charges. Ask whether costs can properly come from your relative's assets in your case — and to see that answer in the written quote too. Good firms answer without discomfort; the discomfort is itself an answer.