Trace element abundances in garnet from a polyphase migmatite were measured by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) in order to identify some of the effective variables on the trace element distribution between garnet and melanosome or leucosome. In general, garnet is zoned with respect to REE, in which garnet cores are enriched by a factor of 2–3 relative to the rims. For an inclusion-rich garnet from the melanosome, equilibrium distribution following a simple Rayleigh fractionation is responsible for the decreasing concentrations in REE from core to rim. Inclusion-poor garnet from the same melanosome located in the vicinity of the leucosomes shows distinct enrichment and depletion patterns for REE from core to rim. These features suggest disequilibrium between garnet and the host rock which, in this case, could have been an in-situ derived melt. This would probably indicate a period of open-system behaviour at a time when the garnet, originally nucleated in the metamorphic environment reacted with the melt. In addition, non-gradual variation in trace element abundances between core and rim may suggest variable garnet growth rates. Inclusion-free garnet from the leucosome, interpreted to have crystallised in the presence of a melt, has a small core with high REE abundances and a broad rim with lower REE abundances. Here, crystal-liquid diffusion-controlled partitioning is a likely process to explain the trace element variation.