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Nina Whitehurst

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Planning for peace of mind and wealth preservation.
  • Estate Planning, Elder Law, Probate ...
  • Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon, Tennessee
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Legal Analysis
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Communication Skills
5.0/5.0
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5.0/5.0
Rating: 10 Lawyer Rating - 10 out of 10
Smart, prompt, affordable and reliable. see above for additional comments
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Biography

Cumberland Legacy Law* provides the highest quality estate planning for clients in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon and Tennessee. Whether you need a sophisticated strategy for minimizing or avoiding estate taxes and providing maximum possible asset protection, or just a simple will or trust to ensure your assets are distributed in accordance with your wishes, or anything in between, we are here to help you and your loved ones.

We present seminars on a variety of estate planning and elder law topics; call us if you want to be on our seminar mailing list, or subscribe to our newsletter by jotting a quick note to us.

Nina Whitehurst, the owner of Cumberland Legacy Law, is a member of Wealth Counsel, Elder Counsel and the National Association of Elder Law Attorneys, all national estate planning attorney organizations. She is continually upgrading and updating her knowledge of estate planning law through seminars and being an active member of several estate planning attorney email list serves. Her husband, Brian Whitehurst, is the firm's marketing coordinator. Nina Lamothe is the firm's documentation paralegal.

*Cumberland Legacy Law is not a public legal aid society.

Practice Areas
    Estate Planning
    Guardianship & Conservatorship Estate Administration, Health Care Directives, Trusts, Wills
    Elder Law
    Probate
    Probate Administration
    Real Estate Law
    Commercial Real Estate, Condominiums, Easements, Mortgages, Residential Real Estate
Fees
  • Rates, Retainers and Additional Information
    No legal advice is provided prior to engagement. You will know when you have engaged an attorney because you will have signed a fee agreement and will have provided a deposit for legal fees.
Jurisdictions Admitted to Practice
Alaska
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Arizona
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California
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Colorado
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Oregon
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Tennessee
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Languages
  • English: Spoken, Written
Professional Experience
Attorney
Cumberland Legacy Law
Current
Education
Arizona State University
J.D. (1986) | Law
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Arizona State University
B.S. (1983) | Accounting
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Honors: Summa Cum Laude
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Awards
Client Champion SILVER
Martindale-Hubbell Lawyer Services
AV Preeminent 5.0 out of 5 Peer Review Rated
Martindale-Hubbell
Selected: 2017-2021
Professional Associations
ElderCounsel
Member
Current
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National Association of Elder Law Attorneys
Member
Current
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Wealth Counsel
Member
Current
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State Bar of Tennessee  # 037146
Member
- Current
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State Bar of Alaska  # 1802010
Member
- Current
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State Bar of Oregon  # 172386
Member
- Current
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State Bar of Colorado  # 26720
Member
- Current
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State Bar of California  # 159873
Member
- Current
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State Bar of Arizona  # 011030
Member
- Current
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Speaking Engagements
Wills, Trusts and Nursing Home Asset Protection, Various
Websites & Blogs
Website
Nina Whitehurst, Attorney at Law, Professional Website
Blog
Nina Whitehurst, Attorney at Law, Professional Blog
Legal Answers
1472 Questions Answered
Q. I am beneficiary of my mother's bank account. She died without a will. Her assets are less than 185000. My sister took
A: Ownership of decedent’s property does not pass automatically. Some kind of legal process is required. In your case it is possible that you can use a small estate affidavit to pass title to all assets to the heirs at law. If your mom was single when she died and survived by two living children and no predeceased children then the two living children would be the heirs at law.
Q. My parents are married, own a home in Puerto Rico and were told they had to make two individual wills. Is this correct?
A: A "living will" is an advance directive that expresses one's wishes with respect to end of life medical decisions. My guess is what you meant to write was "last will and testament" or simply "will". It is very uncommon for a married couple to make a joint will (one will signed by both). It is way more common for each to make his or her own will. But sometimes a will is not the instrument best suited to the situation. Sometimes a trust is better. Your parents should schedule a consultation with an estate planning attorney to help them develop a comprehensive estate plan that is best suited to their situation. Blended families sometimes call for more sophisticated planning that the usual run-of-the-mill will-based estate planning. ... Read More
Q. Is it common for a creditor to repossess an item and then additionally withdraw all of the funds from the estate?
A: When an item of tangible personal property (such as an RV) that secures a loan is repossessed because the loan is in default, the lender typically auctions the repossessed item and applies the proceeds to the balance due on the loan. Typically the proceeds are not sufficient to pay the balance due, leaving a deficiency.

When the borrower is deceased, that deficiency is a claim against the estate. The lender does not "withdraw funds from the estate". The lender does not have that power. But the lender does have the power to make a claim for the deficiency, and if that claim is made in a timely and correct manner, that claim will be paid if there are estate assets available to pay the claim. That is probably what happened in the case you are describing.

Probate files are public records. You can walk into the probate court and ask to review the file. Or you can ask the executor to provide copies of documentation to you. Start by asking for a copy of the creditor's claim filed by the lender.
... Read More
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Contact & Map
Cumberland Legacy Law
330 Ridgeline Dr.
Crossville, TN 38571
Telephone: (931) 250-8585
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