James E. Hickmon

Jim Hickmon is a Board Certified Legal Specialist in Estate Planning and Probate Law by the North Carolina State Bar Board  of Legal Specialization and is a Certified Financial Planner®. In addition to Super Lawyers, he is recognized through peer review by Martindale Hubbell as an AV Preeminent Peer Rated Lawyer and at Business North Carolina Legal Elite. He serves as an adjunct professor of law at Wake Forest University teaching Wealth Transfer and Fiduciary Income Taxation of Trusts and Estates to upper-level law students. Jim is admitted to practice before the State Bars of North Carolina and Virginia.

Jim is passionate about protecting family and closely held business owners through succession planning that protects family assets after the owner’s death keeping family businesses within families. He has counseled families with businesses across a spectrum of industries, from farming to real estate development and trucking to software engineering. He is the author of numerous articles surrounding this subject focusing on wealth transfer, tax, probate, and fiduciary responsibility. Jim’s work is published in both regional and national publications, including the Bureau of National Affairs’ Tax Management and Compensation Planning Journal. He is a contributing author to the North Carolina Bar Association’s Estate Administration Manual and Fiduciary Litigation Manual.

Jim has volunteered with a number of charitable organizations at the local, regional and national levels, including serving as President of the NAMI Virginia, Inc., the Virginia affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, where he promoted the passage of mental health parity legislation to the Virginia Legislature. Currently, Jim is a member of the Humane Society of Charlotte, Inc.’s Board of Directors where he assists planned giving and advancement activities. He is Chairman of the Real Property and Estate Planning Section of the American Bar Association’s Committee on Uniform Laws for Trusts and Estates and serves as a member of North Carolina’s Delegation to the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates.