Reviews

Immediately after the initial consultation and well before Vivian Garrastegui was provided with documents she needed to work on my case, I informed her that the matter had been resolved, and requested refund of $4,600, the unused portion of the retainer.  My initial request and follow up emails and phone  call call were met with stone silence.  About a month has passed, I am still waiting for a response and/or a refund check.

When my dad’s health was deteriorating and my mom wanted legal guidance to secure/protect their joint assets, I asked our long time corporate council if he could help. He highly recommended SCHNEIDER & GARRASTEGUI, the law office that took care of his elder care needs. So in 2008 Vivian Garrastegui became our elder care attorney and my mom and I were pleased and relieved to have such patient, understanding guidance. Vivian not only met with us, but she allowed us to record some of our meetings so we could share what we were planning/doing with my brother who lived in Pennsylvania. My dad died in late 2008 and in late 2009 my mom was diagnosed with ALS. It soon became apparent that she could not/should not live alone, especially in her 2-story home. Since my home also had stairs, we agreed that my husband and I would sell our home and mom would sell her home, and the three of us would buy single level home to share. Again, we sought Vivian’s help. She gave us guidance on the sale of both houses and she represented us on the purchase of the new home. Vivian also made sure my mom’s ‘ducks were in a row’ (Power of Attorney, Last Will & Testament, Do Not Resuscitate, etc.) so that that mom’s wishes would be followed and her assets would be distributed as she wanted (to her three children and four grandchildren). Mom died in early 2011. Everything went according to plan without a hitch. After my husband suddenly died in January of 2014 I had Vivian make sure my affairs were in order (Health Care Proxy, Living Will, etc.). In August of 2014 I remembered a small life insurance policy that my father-in-law took out on my husband (when my husband was born). In the early years of our marriage we took over the $33 per year premium payments until it was paid in full. I inquired and found that there was about $2,000 payable on my husband’s death. When I tried to collect this I found that the policy’s beneficiary was my mother-in-law, who died in 1989. Again, I sought Vivian’s council to successfully get through the red tape. So, I have been an extremely satisfied client of Vivian Garrastegui for eight years now. I would, without hesitation, highly recommend her and I will, definitely, call on her again when the need arises.