I am a life-long member of the South Coast community with deep family ties to this area. I’ve now been practicing law for more than 25 years, helping numerous clients in estate planning and other needs.
I’m particularly committed to protecting the legal rights of cohabiting couples and those in second marriages. I know first-hand the tragic and unintended consequences that individuals, couples, and their families can face if their interests are not legally protected. My role is to educate clients about these potential consequences and to develop plans so that they can avoid these unfortunate results.
I Understand Complicated Family Arrangements
I’m in my second marriage. Before marrying, my wife and I lived together in a loving and committed relationship for eight years.
My blended family consists of my daughter from my first marriage and my wife's two children from her first marriage. (You can learn more about my family in this short video – It’s All About Family.)
Through living together with my wife before our marriage, I discovered many of the deficiencies that exist in the law for cohabiting couples. For example, partners who are living together do not have any automatic legal rights to the estate of the other partner, or even the ability to act on behalf of the partner.
As a father, I know that children are our greatest treasures, and yet 74% of parents don’t have a will and have not named guardians for their kids should something happen to them. I have dedicated a large part of his professional career to changing this statistic.
Why I Practice Estate Planning Law
My dedication to handling cases of all sizes and complexities with equal effort and enthusiasm came from a simple lesson instilled by my father years ago while building a small tool shed together at my first home:
My father was taking great pains to make sure that the stud walls were perfectly plumb and square to the deck of the shed—and being the novice that I was, it seemed that he was wasting a lot of time. So, I asked him, “Dad, why are you going through all that…this is just a small shed.” His reply, and I still remember this vividly to this day, was, “Andy (well, actually he always refers to me as “my boy”), we spend time doing the small jobs right, so that when we do the big jobs, we do ‘em right too.”
My Professional Practice
I’ve practiced law since 1991, and am a founding partner of Phillips & Garcia, PC. I have dedicated my professional career to helping families design unique estate plans to protect the loved ones they leave behind and to help them preserve their life savings from the increasing costs of nursing home care.
Teaching the Next Generation of Attorneys
I am also an adjunct professor at Suffolk University Law School in Boston, where I’ve taught students how to manage successful law firms after they graduate. I’ve also had the good fortune to lecture annually to law students preparing for the Rhode Island bar exam.
I live in the South Coast area in the town where I grew up. When not practicing law, I enjoy spending time with my wife and my family.
Mr. Garcia is a plaintiff’s trial lawyer and founding partner in the firm of Phillips & Garcia, LLP. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth, MA, in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History. In 1991, Andrew received his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Suffolk University School of Law in Boston. He is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts District and Superior Courts, Court of Appeals and Supreme Judicial Court. Andrew is also admitted to practice before the U.S. Federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts. He is a member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America and the Bristol County and New Bedford Bar Associations. Andrew represents clients who have been defrauded through Managed Care Contract Abuse.