Jim Hickmon has over 20 years of estate planning experience. His primary focus is complex estate planning and post-mortem (after death) planning.
Jim has been certified as a N.C. State Bar Board Certified Specialist in Estate Planning and Probate Law by the N.C. State Bar Board of Legal Specialization.
Jim’s professional passion is assisting clients with mentally ill or challenged family members prepare estate plans to protect family members and family wealth.
Closely held and family business owners rely on Jim to ensure that family businesses stay within families and develop succession planning to avoid a loss of the business at the primary owner’s death. He has assisted families in many industries plan their estates, including farmers and ranchers, towing and trucking companies, real estate developers, software developers and many others.
Jim has particularly strong experience in working with clients’ other advisors, including accountings, investment advisors, real estate experts, corporate counsel, family offices, insurance advisors and others. This “team approach” produces the best outcome for our clients.
Jim was raised and grew up in Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach where he graduated from UNC Wilmington with a degree in Business Administration and Finance. He was a trust administration officer for Wachovia Bank (now Wells Fargo) and First Citizens Bank and Trust Company, during which time he earned his MBA from East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. He graduated from the Wake Forest University School of Law in 2001 and continues to teach Wealth Transfer and Fiduciary Income Tax as an adjunct professor at Wake Law.
In 1996, Jim graduated from the College for Financial Planning and has earned the designation of Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards. The combination of his law degree, MBA and CFP® designation makes Jim particularly well suited to advising his clients regarding retirement plan assets (401(k) and IRA accounts), insurance policies and the proper titling of assets.
When Jim is not working in his office, he enjoys landscaping and gardening, traveling with his wife Alison, writing and public speaking. He is a member of the Charlotte Estate Planning Council, the Charlotte Chapter of the Financial Planning Association and serves as a Board of Directors member for the Humane Society of Charlotte, Inc.
Professional and Civic Involvement
North Carolina State Bar
• N.C. State Bar Board Certified Specialist in Estate Planning & Probate Law
Financial Planning Association, Charlotte Chapter
Charlotte Estate Planning Council
Mecklenburg County Bar Association
Virginia Bar Association
Virginia State Bar
Humane Society of Charlotte, Inc.
• Board of Directors (2019-Present)
American Bar Association
• Committees on Employee Benefits and Estate Planning, Member
• Committee of Uniform Laws for Trusts & Estates, Vice Chair
• Tax, Labor & Employment, and Real Property & Probate Sections, Member
N.C. State Bar Board Certified Specialist in Estate Planning and Probate Law
