Edwin J. Walker, Jr. (Jack)

Edwin J. Walker, Jr. (Jack) was born in Concord, North Carolina. As a Charles A. Dana Scholar, he received an A.B. degree from Davidson College in 1966, where he was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha and Phi Mu Alpha fraternities. He received his law degree in 1969 from the University of North Carolina School of Law, where he was a member of Phi Delta Phi Legal Fraternity. He was admitted to the North Carolina Bar in 1969 and was later admitted to practice before the United States Tax Court.

His areas of practice are tax, estate planning, estate administration and corporate law. He has been certified by the North Carolina State Bar, Board of Legal Specialization, as a Specialist in Estate Planning and Probate Law. He was the first Durham attorney so certified.

Client services include: advice, document preparation and planning for estate distribution, estate and generation-skipping taxes, liquidity issues, planned charitable giving, retirement issues, business continuation and estate administration.

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King, Walker, Lambe & Powell, P.L.L.C.
Edwin Walker
3708 Mayfair Street, Suite 100
Durham, NC 27707

Robert D. Hinshaw

Attorney’s Specialties:

Robert D. (Robin) Hinshaw, is a Board Certified Specialist in the area of estate planning and probate law. His practice concentrates on advising individuals, closely-held business owners and their families in matters of wealth preservation including planned and orderly transfer of their accumulated wealth. In providing such assistance, Mr. Hinshaw counsels individuals in the use of Wills and Revocable Living Trusts in order to obtain maximum tax benefits while at the same time reducing the emotional costs associated with probate. Careful consideration is given to planning the ownership of assets and advising as to the most advantageous forms of ownership to accomplish the clients’ objectives. 

In structuring the overall reduction of taxes payable in larger estates, techniques include annual gifting, gifting utilizing the applicable exclusion, generation skipping transfers, grantor retained annuity and income trusts, family limited partnerships, and charitable trusts. Careful planning also entails an in-depth study of the disposition of large retirement plan balances in order to avoid payment of income and estate taxes upon distribution. All closely held business enterprises are scrutinized and recommendations made regarding structure and business continuation plans through the use of shareholder and partnership agreements.

The firm also advises and counsels in the matters of probate and estate administration, real estate and business and corporate matters.

Attorney’s Background:

Mr. Hinshaw received his Bachelor of Science Degree from Wake Forest University in 1972 and his Juris Doctor Degree from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1977. He has practiced law since 1977 and has been a Board certified Specialist in estate planning and probate law since 1991. In 1996, he was accredited by the National Council of Estate Planners and Councils. He is a member of the Estate Planning and Probate sections of the North Carolina State Bar and has lectured extensively in North Carolina to individuals and groups on a number of estate planning and probate issues. He has served as Vice President and member of the Board of Directors of the Estate Planning Council of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In the community Mr. Hinshaw has served as an officer or director in the Winston-Salem Jaycees, Homebuilders Association of Winston-Salem, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, SCAN (Stop Child Abuse Now), the Clemmons Community Development Council, and Clemmons First Baptist Church.

Types of Clients:

The firm represents primarily individuals and owners of closely-held business enterprises wishing to accumulate wealth and to preserve and transfer such wealth to subsequent generations.

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Hinshaw & Jacobs
Robert D. Hinshaw
150 Kimel Park Dr., Suite 200
Winston-Salem, NC 27103

Gregory Herman-Giddens

Areas of Practice:

Gregory Herman-Giddens, a Board Certified Specialist in Estate Planning and Probate Law, assists clients in preserving their wealth and transferring it safely and effectively to younger generations. His areas of practice include gift and estate tax planning, asset protection planning, business succession planning, and estate and trust administration. Some of the techniques utilized by Mr. Herman-Giddens include family limited partnerships, dynasty trusts, generation-skipping trusts, private split dollar life insurance, grantor retained annuity trusts, charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts, and special needs trusts.

Mission Statement:

Mr. Herman-Giddens is dedicated to providing outstanding estate planning services tailored to the goals of his clients through individualized attention and use of the latest technology. He strives to keep abreast of cutting-edge estate planning techniques by annual attendance at the foremost national educational conferences and membership in leading professional organizations. Above all, he seeks to maximize client satisfaction by providing meaningful counsel and the best tools to achieve a client’s objectives.

Attorney’s Background:

Licensed in both North Carolina and Florida, Mr. Herman-Giddens has been certified as a specialist in Estate Planning and Probate Law by the North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization. He obtained a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1984, his law degree from Tulane Law School in 1988, and an LL.M. in Estate Planning from the University of Miami School of Law in 1993. In 1998, he became a member of the Bar of the United States Supreme Court.

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Gregory Herman-Giddens, J.D., LL.M., P.A.
1829 E. Franklin St., Ste. 700D
Chapel Hill, NC 27514

C. Michael Crisp

Areas of Practice:

C. Michael Crisp (Mike) is an associate attorney with Grier & Furr, P.A., an established civil practice on the Square in uptown Charlotte, NC.  Mr. Crisp centers his practice in the areas of estate planning and probate, with a primary emphasis on rendering sophisticated estate planning for high net worth individuals.

Because no two clients are identical, Mr. Crisp emphasizes a one-on-one, individualized approach to analyzing and implementing a particular client’s estate plan. His goal is to recommend a plan that is financially sound and tax-efficient while also taking into account qualitative concerns such as family dynamics, intergenerational wealth transfer and planning for individuals with incapacities.

In larger estates, tax planning is particularly important. To reduce the overall taxes payable in these estates, Mr. Crisp often recommends such strategies as annual gifting, use of the applicable exclusion amount, credit shelter trusts, and life insurance trusts. For clients with charitable inclinations, the use of various charitable trusts also is considered. The use of family entities to transfer wealth from one generation to the next is also an effective strategy, particularly in situations involving closely-held businesses. Additionally, Mr. Crisp counsels clients on the most tax efficient distribution of qualified retirement plans, in order to minimize the imposition of both income and estate taxes on these assets.

Finally, Mr. Crisp practices in the areas of probate and estate administration, focusing primarily on the representation of personal representatives, assisting with the preparation and submission of court documents, federal and state tax returns, insurance claims, and retirement benefits. He also represents estate beneficiaries in a variety of matters.

Other Grier & Furr attorneys practice in the areas of corporate and business law, business workouts and bankruptcy, commercial litigation, municipal law, and commercial real estate.

Attorney’s Background:

Mr. Crisp was born in Gastonia, North Carolina. In 1995, he graduated, with distinction, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in Business Administration. In 1998, he earned his law degree from UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Law. He is a member of the Mecklenburg County, North Carolina and American Bar Associations, as well as the Estate Planning and Probate sections of the Mecklenburg County and North Carolina Bar Associations. He also lectures to various professional groups on estate planning and probate topics. Mr. Crisp is active in the community as a Volunteer Attorney at the Children’s Law Center and as a second grade tutor in the Serving Our Schools project.

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Grier & Furr, P.A.
One Independence Center
101 N. Tryon St., Suite 1240
Charlotte, NC. 28246