What we do
Mary Molloy Solicitors has been in practice since 1981. This site is our dedicated capacity law practice: the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015, the Decision Support Service, and the Circuit Court applications that let families act lawfully for a person who can no longer make certain decisions alone. Richard O'Shea is a solicitor and Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP) — the international credential for vulnerable-client and estate work — and this is the work the credential was built for.
The 2015 Act Explained
Wardship is gone. The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 replaced it — here is the whole system in plain English.
The complete guide →Decision-Making Representation
When a person can no longer make certain decisions, the Circuit Court can appoint a decision-making representative. We run these applications for families.
DMR applications →Capacity Applications
The Circuit Court's capacity jurisdiction — how applications work, who is heard, what the court can order.
How applications work →Selling Property & Capacity
A house that needs selling when an owner lacks capacity — the applications that make the sale lawful.
Property & capacity →The Frozen Bank Account
When the bank stops accepting a family's instructions — what institutions require and what actually unlocks an account.
Frozen accounts →Co-Decision-Making Agreements
A trusted person appointed to make certain decisions jointly — registered with the Decision Support Service.
Co-decision-making →Decision-Making Assistance
The lightest support arrangement — help accessing information and understanding options, with the person still deciding.
Assistance agreements →Advance Healthcare Directives
Setting out treatment wishes in advance, and appointing a designated healthcare representative.
Advance directives →Former Wards of Court
Wardship has been abolished and wards reviewed — what discharge means and what replaces the old committee.
Leaving wardship →Fair Deal & Capacity
Applying for nursing home support when the person can't apply themselves — care representatives and DMR powers.
Fair Deal & capacity →A Parent With Dementia
The adult child's guide — what to put in place, in what order, and what can wait.
The family guide →Objections & Disagreements
When family members disagree about a parent's arrangements — objections, variations and the court's role.
Disputes →Not sure which arrangement your family needs? Try the Pathway Finder
The 2015 Act created a ladder of supports — decision-making assistance, co-decision-making, decision-making representation, advance planning. Answer eight quick questions about your situation and get a plain-English read-out of which arrangement fits, what it involves and what to do first. Free, anonymous, two minutes.
How we work
Will and preferences, not paperwork first. The Act's guiding principles start with a presumption of capacity and respect for the person's own will and preferences. So do we — the right arrangement is the least restrictive one that actually works.
Honest about what needs a solicitor. Some of the Act's arrangements are designed for families to put in place themselves through the Decision Support Service; court applications are not. We tell you which is which before you spend money — a fixed quote in writing before any work starts.
Two offices, twelve counties. Capacity applications are heard in the Circuit Court. From Ormond Quay in Dublin 7 and Rose Inn Street in Kilkenny, we cover circuits across Leinster — and most of the work travels by phone, post and email anyway.
How our fees work
You get a fixed quote in writing before any work starts — no hourly-rate surprises. If the scope changes, the quote is revised in writing before we continue. In contentious business, a solicitor may not calculate fees or other charges as a percentage or proportion of any award or settlement. How costs work in capacity matters →