Meet Jim Hickmon

Jim Hickmon is certified by the North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization as a Board Certified Legal Specialist in Estate Planning and Probate Law 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.

A native of the Wilmington – Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina area, Jim and his wife Alison live in South Charlotte with their three rescue cats, Big Bear, Lil Bear, and Sookie, and their rescue dog, Katt. Jim enjoys writing, traveling, and landscaping his yard.

James E. Hickmon PA, North Carolina Estate Planning & Fiduciary Law Site Icon

EDUCATION:

Wake Forest University School of Law

  • Winston-Salem, NC
    Juris Doctor, 2001

East Carolina University

  • Greenville, NC
    MBA in Finance, 1996

University of North Carolina Wilmington

  • Wilmington, NC
    Bachelor of Science in Finance, 1992

College of Financial Planning

  • Certified Financial Planner Board, Inc.
    Denver, CO

CERTIFICATIONS:

  • Board Certified Specialist in Estate Planning and Probate, North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization, since 2015
  • Certified Financial Planner®, Certified Financial Planner Board of Standard, since 1996

ACADEMIA:

  • Wake Forest University School of Law, Adjunct Professor of Law, Fall Semesters 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023

PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION:

  • North Carolina Super Lawyers, Thomson Reuters, since 2016
  • AV Preeminent Peer Rated Lawyer, Martindale Hubbell, since 2011
  • Business North Carolina Legal Elite, Estate Planning Section, 2010, 2012-2016, 2019
  • Avvo Superb Rated Lawyer
  • Mecklenberg Access to Justice Pro Bono Partners Program, Legal Services of Southern Piedmont, 2016 Honor Roll

ADMISSIONS:

  • North Carolina State Bar, since 2004
  • Virginia State Bar, since 2001
  • United States District Court
  • Eastern District of Virginia, 2001
  • Western Districts of Virginia, 2001
  • Western District of North Carolina, 2012
  • United States Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Virginia, 2001
  • United States Tax Court, 2002
  • United States Supreme Court, 2017

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:

  • Humane Society of Charlotte, Inc., Development Committee, Outside Counsel for Planned Giving, since 2019
  • National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2001-2003
  • NAMI, VA, Inc., President, 2003-2004

MEMBERSHIPS & ASSOCIATIONS:

  • North Carolina State Bar, Member, since 2004
  • North Carolina Bar Association
    • Estate Planning & Fiduciary Law Section, Member, since 2006
      • Counsel Member, 2016 - 2018
      • Past Chair, Litigation & Dispute Resolution Committee
    • Legislative Committee, Member 2007 - 2017
      • North Carolina Uniform Power of Attorney Act Drafting Subcommittee, Member 2014-2017
  • North Carolina Board of Law Examiners, Uniform Bar Examination, North Carolina Drafting Committee, Probate and Fiduciary Law, Member, 2017
  • Charlotte Estate Planning Council, Member, since 2006
  • Mecklenburg County Bar Association, Member since 2004
  • 26th Judicial District Bar, Member since 2004
  • Virginia State Bar, Member since 2001
  • Virginia Bar Association, since 2001
  • American Bar Association
    • RPTE Committee of Uniform Laws for Trusts & Estates, Member, since 2013
      • Chair, 2021-2023
    • Real Property & Probate Section, Member since 2004
    • House of Delegates, North Carolina Bar Delegation, Delegate, since 2020

PRESSENTATIONS:

  • Fall Semester 2017; Wake Forest University School of Law; Wealth Transfer & Fiduciary Income Taxation; Adjunct Professor; Winston-Salem, NC
  • November, 2017; North Carolina Bar Association; North Carolina Uniform Power of Attorney Act - Judicial Relief and Procedure; Cary, NC
  • May, 2015; North Carolina Bar Association; Representing Clients in an Aging Population; Cary, NC
    February, 2015; North Carolina Bar Association; Trusts & Estates: Fiduciary Litigation & Dispute Resolution; Cary, NC
  • February, 2013, Mecklenburg Bar Association; Understanding & Mitigating the Fiduciary Income Tax; Charlotte, NC
  • July, 2012; North Carolina Bar Association; Revised NC Probate Procedures; Asheville, NC
  • March, 2012, North Carolina School of Government; Revised NC Probate Procedures; Raleigh, NC
  • February, 2012; Sterling Education Services, Inc.; North Carolina Guardianship Proceedings; Charlotte, NC

EXPERIENCE:

  • Principal, James E. Hickmon PLLC, since 2006
    • North Carolina Estate Planning and Fiduciary Law, since 2021
    • Hickmon & Perrin, PC, Partner, 2006-2020
  • Adjunct Professor, Wake Forest University School of Law, since 2017
  • Hedrick Gardner Kincheloe & Garofalo, Special Counsel, 2009 - 2012
  • McGuireWoods, Associate Lawyer, 2003 - 2006
  • Williams Mullen, Associate Lawyer, 2001 - 2003

PUBLICATIONS:

North Carolina Bar Association Foundation

  • Estate Proceedings, North Carolina Fiduciary Litigation Manual, Author, December 2018
  • North Carolina Uniform Power of Attorney Act: Judicial Relief and Procedure, North Carolina Fiduciary Litigation Manual, Contributing Author, December 2018
  • Estate Proceedings, North Carolina Estate Administration Manual-Supplemented 8th Edition (2014/2016), Author, 2016

North Carolina Bar Association

  • North Carolina Uniform Power of Attorney Act Judicial Relief & Procedure, The Will & The Way, Vol. 37, No. 2, Contributing Author, October 2017
  • A War of the Wills - Competing Scripts and the Race to the Courthouse, The Will & The Way, Vol. 37, No. 1, Contributing Author, August 2017
  • North Carolin Appellate Court Decision Clarifies Jurisdictional Authority to Clerls of Superior Court, The Will & The Way, Vol. 35, No. 1, Contributing Author, December 2015
  • The Unauthorized Practice of Law by Non-Lawyer Professionals in North Carolina, The Will & The Way, Vol. 32, No. 2, Author, December 2012
  • Claims, Liens & Judgments Against Estates, The Will & The Way, Vol. 31, No. 2, January 2012
  • Revised Probate Procedures - New Chapter 28A, The Will & The Way, Vol. 21, No. 1, September 2011

The Bureau of National Affairs

  • Sarbanes-Oxley Produces Complex Blackout Notice Requirements & Imposes Personal Civil Liability for Plan Administrators, Financial Planning Journal, Author, September 2003
  • Current Considerations in Adopting New Employee Benefit Claims & Procedures, Tax Management Compensation Planning Journal, Contributing Author, May 2002

WANT TO WORK WITH US?

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PHONE:704-248-6325
Hours of Operation
HOURS:M - F,  8:30AM - 5:30PM

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