Your Go-To Attorney for the Law of Estate Planning, Trusts, Wills,
Powers of Attorney, Probate, and
Real Estate
James Griffin received a “Superb” 10/10 rating from AVVO as a top attorney in his field.
Experienced and Trusted
James Griffin grew up in Birmingham and now lives in Cullman. He has been married to Theresa for more than thirty years. They have an adult daughter. He serves as guardian for his disabled brother and has handled the probate issues and property of his late parents. He has represented hundreds of clients for estate planning and administration and drafted thousands of documents such as wills, trusts, durable powers of attorney, “living wills,” medical directives, healthcare proxies, petitions, and consents. He has handled complex estates involving wrongful death litigation, out-of-state heirs, missing heirs, and real property in more than one state. He has opened estates in probate courts from Madison to Montgomery and from Lake Tuscaloosa to Lake Wedowee. Most importantly, he takes the time to listen to the client to make sure he is doing the right thing.
Education & Admissions
B.A., Gordon College, 1984
M.A., University of Alabama, 1990
J.D., Vanderbilt University, 2001
Admitted to the State Bar of Georgia, 2001; Alabama State Bar, 2011
Areas of Expertise
Estate Planning
Estate planning is a creative process of evaluating assets and determining the best way to pass on your assets efficiently and precisely to the person(s) you want to have them. These assets could be as simple as a single-family home or as complex as an interest in oil and gas leases. In many cases, assets are transferred “outside the will,” such as retirement accounts- IRAs or 401(k)s- to a beneficiary named on the account itself.
Once you die, you cannot plan any longer, so it is best to take the time to think through everything you own and plan specifically how each asset would reach without fuss or expense the heir you select. The estate plan itself has several parts: your will, your financial power of attorney, your healthcare power of attorney, and perhaps a trust. In many cases, these documents need to be coordinated with those of your spouse. Yes, you could go to the internet, download form documents, and try to fill them out, but your family needs a qualified attorney to compose your estate plan (even if you do not think you need one). Get yourself an attorney: as my father, the Korean War veteran, used to say, “You usually don’t see the guy who shoots you!”
Property Law
Many clients need real estate services: sales of estate properties, transfers of trust properties, and estate planning related to condos, vacation homes, commercial property, timber lands, and rental properties. We want to help you transfer such properties to the heirs, and do it with the least expense and hassle. There are lots of ways to do this, such as Wills, Deeds, and Trusts.
Probating of Wills
Probating wills is a crucial legal process that must be carried out delicately out of respect for the decedent’s intentions as well as the requirements of the law. As an experienced probate attorney, James Griffin guides his clients patiently through often complex procedures. The executor of a will has a duty to obey the law and carry out the final wishes of the decedent. The process is “a turtle race,” so being deliberate and careful is more important than being fast. Many attorneys admit they lack the patience to probate wills.
Administration of Estates Without Wills
More than half of all Americans die without wills, including Abraham Lincoln, U.S. Grant, and Martin Luther King. Fortunately, there is a process called “intestate administration” by which you could settle the financial affairs of your loved one who dies without a will. It is more complicated than the other procedure, but we have opened scores of intestate estates, often for heirs who live outside of Alabama.
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