Mary Schmitt Smith - Personal Family Lawyer ®
Theresa Law Center, PC
800 W. Long Lake Road
Suite 220
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302
Office: (248) 282-7700
Fax: (248) 282-7707
Google Maps
Theresa Law Center, PC
800 W. Long Lake Road
Suite 220
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302
Office: (248) 282-7700
Fax: (248) 282-7707
Google Maps
Mary T. Schmitt Smith established the Theresa Law Center, PC in May, 2005 to continue a twenty-six year tradition of providing legal advocacy for clients with a passion for protection. The Center, located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, advises clients about estate planning, tax and probate options, with a distinct focus on drafting and administration of Special Needs Trusts.
Mary is Michigan’s first Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA, 1997), and is AV-rated by Martindale Hubbell. She has served on the Board of Directors of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, (NAELA) and was recognized as a Fellow in the Academy in 2003.
In the early 1980’s, Mary created the concept of an Interceptor Trust, a court authorized Special Needs Trust. She persuaded Judges in more than twenty-seven (27) counties throughout Michigan to approve these special needs trusts to protect assets of individuals with disabilities. These trusts have become more popular since 1993, when Congress specifically gave Courts the authority to establish these trusts, also referred to as “d (4) (A)”.
In 2003, Mrs. Smith became the 9th recipient of the national Theresa Foundation Award, in recognition of her community service for people with disabilities. She is a Past President of The ARC of Oakland County, Inc., the nation’s sixth largest ARC, and served on the Board of Directors for twelve years. Mary is a charter member of the Special Needs Alliance, a national
network of attorneys dedicated to Disability and Public Benefits Law. www.specialneedsalliance.com.
Mary has presented on tax, estate planning and special needs trust topics for Bar Associations and law schools in Michigan, Florida, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Texas and New Jersey, as well as the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. She is admitted to practice before the U. S. Tax Court, and the U. S. Court of Appeals (6th Circuit), where she successfully appealed a federal trial court decision interpreting Medicaid law, in favor of a Special Needs Trust client in 2005.
She received her J.D. from the University of Detroit School of Law. Then, she earned a Master of Laws in Taxation (L.L.M.) from Wayne State University in 1986 after writing her Masters thesis on “Estate Planning for Persons with Disabilities.” Mrs. Smith has published in the Michigan Bar Journal on “Protecting Estate Assets: Planning and Tax Considerations of Medicaid and Medicare Programs,” and “Resource Planning for the Elderly,” in Laches, a publication of the Oakland County Bar Association.