Nancy Little is of counsel with the firm of Buhl, Little, Lynwood & Harris, PLC. She represents clients around the State of Michigan in the areas of estate planning, trust and estate administration, estate and gift tax, and trust and estate litigation. Nancy is a past chair of the State Bar of Michigan Probate & Estate Planning Section, and she served as editor of the State Bar’s Probate & Estate Planning Journal from 2001-2021. In 2018, she received the Michael Irish Award, which is given by the Probate and Estate Planning section of the State Bar of Michigan “to honor a practitioner whose service to his or her community reflect the high standards of professionalism and selflessness exemplified by Michael W. Irish.” In 2022, she was elected to the George Cooney Society, an award that is presented by the Institute of Continuing Legal Education and the Probate and Estate Planning Section of the State Bar of Michigan “to recognize a select group of lawyers who epitomize George [Cooney’s] dedication to his fellow attorneys and in recognition for his long-term, significant contributions to continuing legal education in Michigan.” In 2023, she received the Thomas E. Brennan Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ingham County Bar Association, which gives this award “to lawyers who have made a significant and longstanding contribution to the advancement or improvement of the justice system and the betterment of the legal profession in the State of Michigan and have also attained professional excellence as demonstrated by accomplishments in the law or service to the profession during his or her career.” She is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and has been named among the Best Lawyers in America since 1995; Best Lawyers and Crain’s Detroit Business named her the Lansing area’s “Lawyer of the Year” in Trusts and Estates in 2015 and in Trusts and Estates Litigation in 2012. Super Lawyers named Nancy as among the “Top 50 Women Lawyers in Michigan” and the “Top 100 Lawyers in Michigan”, and she was honored as one of 20 “Michigan Women in the Law” by Michigan Lawyers Weekly in 2011. She was named by db Journal as among “Detroit’s Top Lawyers” in 2017 and by Detroit Hour Magazine as one of the “Top Women Attorneys in Michigan” in 2018.
In her spare time, Nancy enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, reading, genealogy, and volunteer work in the community.
Areas of Practice
- Estate Planning
- Estate and Gift Tax
- Estate and Trust Administration
- Fiduciary Law and Probate Litigation
- Guardianships and Conservatorships
Education
- University of Michigan, J.D.,1989
- Wayne State University, B.A., 1986, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
Community Service
- American Red Cross – Livingston County Chapter
Board of Directors, 2012-2015 - Capital Region Community Foundation
Board of Directors, 2004-2011; Secretary, 2006-2008; Chair-Elect, 2009; Chair, 2010 - Lansing Community College Foundation
Board of Directors, 1999-2006; Chair, 2003-2005; Secretary, 2001-2003 - Capital Area United Way Planned Giving Committee, 2006-2009
- Capitol Area Humane Society; Board of Directors, 2010-2014; Secretary, 2013
- Service for Soldiers (a program to provide pro bono legal services to deploying troops)
- American Inns of Court for Michigan State University, Detroit College of Law, 2001-2004
- St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church, Brighton
Finance Council, 2017-2021
Pastoral Council, 2019-2021 - Lansing Rotary, Paul Harris Fellow, past member
Professional Associations & Honors
- State Bar of Michigan Member
Probate and Estate Planning Section; Council Member, 2000-2010; Chair, 2008-2009; Chair Elect, 2007-2008; Vice-Chair, 2006-2007; Secretary, 2005- 2006; Treasurer, 2004-2005
Editor of the State Bar of Michigan Probate & Estate Planning Journal, 2001-2021 - Recipient of the State Bar of Michigan Probate and Estate Planning Section’s Michael Irish Award, 2018
- Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel
- Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America, 1995-Present, in the areas of Trusts and Estates, Litigation – Trusts and Estates, Real Estate Law
- Recognized by The Best Lawyers in America and Crain’s Detroit Business as Lansing area’s “2012 Lawyer of the Year – Litigation – Trusts and Estates”
- Recognized by The Best Lawyers in America and Crain’s Detroit Business as the Lansing area’s “2015 Lawyer of the Year – Trusts and Estates”
- Recognized by the Detroit Hour Magazine as among the “Top 25 Women Lawyers in Michigan”
- Recognized in Michigan Super Lawyers, 2006-Present, in Probate and Estate Planning, Estate and Trust Litigation
- Recognized in Michigan Super Lawyers as among “Top 50 Women Lawyers in Michigan”
- Recognized in Michigan Super Lawyers as among “Top 100 Lawyers in Michigan”
- Institute of Continuing Legal Education Advisory Board, 2006-2019
- Author, Informal Estate Proceedings in Michigan (ICLE)
- Co-Author, Attorney Fee Agreements in Michigan (ICLE)
- Co-Author, Michigan Probate Litigation (ICLE)
- Co-Author, Trust Administration Under the Michigan Trust Code (ICLE)
- Author, Administering Insolvent Estates (ICLE)
- Inducted into the Institute of Continuing Legal Education and the State Bar of Michigan Probate and Estate Planning Section’s George Cooney Society, 2022
- Author, Michigan Legal Forms – Estate Planning (Thomson Reuters)
- Named in Who’s Who in American Law
- Named in Cambridge’s Who’s Who
- Ingham County Bar Association
- Probate and Estate Planning Law Section
- Greater Lansing Estate Planning Council Member
- Past Member of the Board of Directors
- Recipient of the Ingham County Bar Association’s Thomas E. Brennan Lifetime Achievement Award, 2023
- AV rated in Martindale Hubbell