Established 1962 · Three generations of counsel · By appointment
A quiet, wood-paneled reading room with a curtained window on one side and an antique writing desk lit by a small lamp on the other.
Attorneys at Law

Counsel for the matters that shape a life.

Estates, businesses, land, and the people who depend on them. For sixty years, families and family companies have brought Whitmore & Vance their most consequential decisions — and their next generation.


1962
Firm founded
3
Generations of partners
6
Practice areas
1,900+
Estates administered
Practice Areas

Six disciplines, practiced deeply

I.

Estates & Trusts

Wills, revocable and irrevocable trusts, and estate plans built around what your family actually needs — not a binder of boilerplate.

II.

Business & Commercial

Formation, governance, contracts, and the quiet counsel that keeps closely held companies out of court.

III.

Real Property

Purchases, sales, easements, title disputes, and farm and timberland transactions handled with care and clean paper.

IV.

Probate & Administration

Steady guidance for executors and families through probate, from first filing to final distribution.

V.

Succession Planning

Moving a business or a farm to the next generation without breaking the business — or the family.

VI.

Civil Litigation

When a matter must be tried, it is tried by the partner you hired — prepared, measured, and known to the court.

The firm's arched stone entrance and dark blue door, seen through an outer archway.
The Firm

The measure of a firm is how it behaves when the matter is hard.

Candor before comfort

You will hear our honest judgment of your position — including when the wisest course is not to pay us to fight.

Partners, not case files

The attorney you meet is the attorney who does the work. Matters are declined before they are ever handed down.

Built for the long term

We plan estates we will someday administer and draft agreements we may someday defend. We write accordingly.

Attorneys

Three partners. One standard.

Eleanor Whitmore

Managing Partner

Estates, trusts, and succession. Fellow, American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. With the firm since 1994.

Samuel Vance III

Partner

Business, commercial, and real property. Counsel to closely held companies for twenty-six years. Grandson of a founder.

Ruth Okafor

Partner

Probate, administration, and civil litigation. Former law clerk to the state court of appeals. With the firm since 2009.

“They have buried three of our patriarchs, papered two successions, and told us no more times than any firm we pay. That is why we stay.”
Family client since 1998
Begin

Begin with a conversation.

Consultations are scheduled, unhurried, and confidential. Bring your documents and your questions; leave with an honest assessment and a clear next step.

Request an Appointment (501) 555-0162
← Style 13 · Back to Gallery