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Terry Garrett is a Certified Elder and Special Needs Law Attorney and a Texas Approved Guardianship Attorney. She advises people in Central Texas who are preparing for and enjoying their retirement years and people with special needs and their families. Her clients range from couples who are just starting out and people who want to stay in charge during retirement to families with multinational businesses. Having worked and studied in Asia for many years, she also enjoys advising on transnational planning. Terry Garrett graduated with honors from Cornell University. She was on the Dean's List at Wharton Business School. She earned her J.D. at Columbia Law School, receiving the Parker Award and a Melon Fellowship. She attended the Harvard Law School Negotiation Program and earned every certificate offered by the New York Institute of Finance. She is active in the Texas and Austin Bar Associations and a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. She is appointed by Central Texas courts in heirship and guardianship proceedings. She handles pro bono cases for Volunteer Legal Services, the Austin Bar Association and the Women's Resource Fair. Mother of a child with special needs, she also teaches for the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Over the years she has volunteered for the Council on Adoptable Children, the AFS foreign exchange student program, Cornell Cares, Hands on Housing and as an officer of the Harmony PTO.
- Estate Planning
- Guardianship & Conservatorship Estate Administration, Health Care Directives, Trusts, Wills
- Elder Law
- Probate
- Probate Administration, Probate Litigation, Will Contests
- Special Needs Planning
- Zoom
- Credit Cards Accepted
- New York
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- Texas
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- Chinese
- Japanese
- The Garrett Law Firm, PLLC
- Current
- Columbia University
- J.D. (1983) | law
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- Honors: Parker Award, Mellon Fellowship
- Activities: President, International Law Society; International Law Review, Environmental Law Review; Chinese and Japanese law study groups
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- Top Elder Lawyer
- Austin Monthly
- National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys
- Current
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- National Guardianship Association
- Current
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- Texas State Bar # 24048146
- Member
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- Austin Bar Association
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- Illegal Skilled Nursing Facility Discharges: Appealing Medicare Notice of Nonpayment
- Texas Elder Law Flash
- Noncitizens and Public Benefits, 2020 UT Special Needs Trust Conference, Austin, Texas
- University of Texas School of Law
- Approved Guardianship Attorney
- State Bar of Texas
Pet Trusts and Tips
With a pet trust, you can plan for your pet’s future and ensure your companions are taken care of in the event something unexpected happens to you. Paying for their care may make it easier to find someone to provide that care.
How To Pay Your Estate Planning Lawyer Less
These three simple steps will help you save on both legal fees and taxes...if you start now. They'll also help you get your documents organized and stay organized. You’ll pay yourself well for the time you spend by having to pay your estate planning lawyer less. The earlier you start, the more you can do.
Whats So Special About Special Needs
People with special needs can be included and lead meaningful lives with the right services and support. We can help someone grow and contribute to and enjoy life by helping them put those supports and services in place.
Best Gifts for Grandma and Gramps
This year, instead of socks and perfume, consider gifts which will make life better all year round for your grandparents. Gifts which make it easier, safer and more enjoyable to live at home are available for every budget. Consider these 19 best gifts for grandparents this holiday season and all year.
Estate Planning: How To Save the Family Home
In Texas, you can leave your home to your children free of Medicaid Estate Recovery and still have control of it while you are alive.
Make Room for Baby
The nursery is ready. Are you? Children may be our greatest treasure. Even before they arrive, we begin to protect them. When they do arrive, we often get so caught up in being parents that we forget to take some very important steps.
Special Needs Trust
Creating a trust to benefit a person with special needs is important whether your family member became disabled as a child or you became disabled as an adult. Watch this video for more information on a Special Needs Trust.
General Legal Tips - Probate
Probate sounds like such a scary word, like reprobate or probation, but all it really means is settling your estate, proving what you have, proving who you owe, and distributing the rest to your heirs. In Texas, it can be relatively simple. Watch this video for more information on probate in Texas.
5 Easy Things - Legal Documents Every Texan Should Consider
Five legal documents every Texan should consider.
- Q. An elderly friend is being kept in a rehabilitation facility against her will. Who can help?
- A: Other than your friend herself, the only person who can decide where she lives is a guardian of her person. An agent under a Medical Power of Attorney does not have this authority. An agent under a Medical Power of Attorney only has the authority to convey someone's wishes when they cannot communicate. Your friend might want to call Adult Protective Services (though completing the online form is faster) and contact an elder lawyer. She can find one near her on the website of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (www.naela.org).
- Q. Is there recourse if a trustee tells a beneficiary they aren't in the will when in fact they are?
- A: The person named to settle an estate in a Will is called an executor. The person named to administer a trust is called a trustee. What someone said or did not say is difficult to prove. However, once submitted for probate, a Will is a public document. Once appointed administrator, an executor is required to send notice to beneficiaries under the Will and to report having done so to the Court. There are exceptions for beneficiaries who will receive less than a certain amount, who will receive their gifts under the Will within six months, who have made an appearance, etc. If you find that you do not fall within one of these exceptions yet have not been notified, your best course of action may be to contact the executor or the executor's attorney: letters do get lost.
- Q. As a surviving child...how can I be deemed tbe executor of my fathers estate?
- A: If your father had a Will in which he named you executor, present that to the local probate court. If not, file an Application for Determination of Heirship and Issuance of Letters of Administration. Hire a local probate lawyer to help you.
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