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With decades of estate law experience, Melanie B. Holliman and John R. Holliman can advise you regarding the legal tools that will best serve your needs.

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ohn R. Holliman’s passion is to help families in Jefferson and Shelby Counties develop and implement the best long-term life care plans for their specific situations.  He is a creative problem-solver with strong interpersonal skills and an eternally positive attitude, as well as 32 years of legal experience. John has a talent for putting people at ease in stressful situations.

John says “estate planning is not only about where your stuff goes when you depart this earth, but also about taking care of yourself and your family while you are still alive”. For example, read this client’s story. He wants to help people make better estate decisions because he has seen so many suffer the consequences of preventable bad decisions. His practice is now focused on estate planning, elder law, special needs and probate after years in real estate law.

John R. Holliman has become especially knowledgeable about VA benefits and has successfully helped many families obtain benefits and develop life care plans that enable the families to care for their loved ones for the remainder of their lives.

 

AWARDS (2016-2021)

Ten Best Customer Satisfaction – Elder Law Division American Institute of Legal Counsel              2019
Top Attorneys in Birmingham Birmingham Bar Association & Birmingham Magazine             2019
Top Flight Attorney B-Metro Magazine             2019
Top Elder Law Attorney Birmingham Magazine             2018
Top Trust Attorney Birmingham Magazine             2017
10 Best Elder Law Attorneys American Institute of Legal Counsel             2017
Top Elder Law Attorney Birmingham Magazine            2016
Top Trust Attorney Birmingham Magazine            2016

Melanie B. Holliman (formerly Melanie B. Bradford) enjoys solving problems for people and helping them reach their goals during her seventeen years of legal experience in Alabama and Tennessee.  She listens, learns your circumstances, helps you plan, and find solutions tailored to your specific situation. These solutions become a course of action that produces a brighter tomorrow for you and your loved ones.

Melanie has become especially knowledgeable in the field of special needs planning and has set up numerous special needs trusts throughout Alabama, in addition to providing advice to clients, attorneys, and other professionals on establishing special needs trusts and properly administering them. As a result, Melanie is a frequent guest speaker at local events.

Please visit the Events page to see what free law seminars and workshops are planned for the near future.

With offices in Pelham and Scottsboro, Melanie B. Holliman serves Jefferson, Shelby, Jackson, Madison, Marshall and DeKalb Counties.

AWARDS (2016-2021)

2023 People’s Choice for Best Attorney in Jackson County 2024
Ten Best Customer Satisfaction – Elder Law Division American Institute of Legal Counsel 2019
Top Attorneys in Birmingham Birmingham Bar Association and Birmingham Magazine 2019
Top Flight Attorney B-Metro Magazine 2019
Top 100 – Wills, Estates, Trusts & Probate The National Advocates 2019
Women Attorneys to Watch B-Metro Magazine 2018
Top Elder Law Attorney Birmingham Magazine 2018
Top Flight Attorney B-Metro Magazine 2018
Attorneys to Watch in 2018

 

Attorney At Law Magazine – North Alabama edition 2018
Top Women Attorneys B-Metro Magazine 2017
Top Lawyer: Stars of the Bar B-Metro Magazine 2017
Top Probate Attorney Birmingham Magazine 2017
Top Elder Law Attorney Birmingham Magazine 2017
10 Best Elder Law Attorneys American Institute of Legal Counsel 2017
Top Elder Law Attorney Birmingham Magazine 2016
Top Trust Attorney Birmingham Magazine 2016
Top Lawyer:  Stars of the Bar B-Metro Magazine 2016

Representative Articles

  • 2019 Special Needs Trusts: What You Need to Know to Help Your Clients and Avoid Client Complaints
    Article in The Alabama Lawyer, September 2019 issue, Vol. 80. No 5. Overview of government benefits and the importance of special needs trusts. Emphasis on malpractice issues in cases where special needs trust options were not presented to clients.

Representative Lectures

Melanie speaks frequently to local groups and to attorneys for CLE conferences. The following is a sample of the presentations she has given:

  • 2021 Using Settlement Trusts
    CLE Alabama
  • 2020 Basic Government Benefits and Planning Tools for GALs and Probate Attorneys
    CLE Alabama
  • 2019 The “New POMS” Common Special Needs Trust Administration Issues and Ethical Considerations
    CLE Alabama
  • 2019 Alabama Medicaid Notice Statute – Alabama Act 2019-489
    Alabama Probate Judges Conference
  • 2019 Alabama Medicaid’s New Probate Notice Law and Update on Social Security POMS
    CLE Alabama
Laura Jenkins

Laura C. Jenkins – Attorney

Shannon–2

Shannon Brubaker – Paralegal

Samantha–7

Samantha Bufalo – Legal Assistant

Veteran Benefits

Helping families obtain benefits.

We develop life care plans that enable the families to care for their loved ones for the remainder of their lives.

What Our Clients Say

"I am incredibly grateful for the exceptional assistance provided by Holiman and Holiman law firm in obtaining Medicaid funding for my father's nursing home care. Their profound expertise in elder law and estate planning alleviated the overwhelming nature of the process, making it significantly more manageable from my point of view. I wholeheartedly endorse them with the highest recommendation possible."

Alan F.

Very, very good service. Melanie was very professional and excellent explaining what was needed to protect my business. She provided great guidance in setting up a trust, POA, and wills etc. I found out regular lawyers do not know much about estate planning. A professional in estate planning is what is needed. I recommend her services.

Faye G.

Thorough, expertise service from a dedicated professional. We were patiently and expertly shepherded through unfamiliar areas until we were comfortable and better informed of our undertaking. Our concerns were assuaged and all questions, even those we didn’t think to ask, were answered. Would highly recommend this service for anyone considering a will or trust.

Carl R.

John was very instrumental in helping me work my way through obtaining VA assistance with our fathers memory care expenses. He was professional and a joy to work with. I highly recommend him.

Susan Sconyers

John represented my mother when she applied for VA benefits. From the moment we first met with him I knew we had the right man for the job. Even though the VA threw us a couple of curve balls during the process I was confident that John would come through for us and he certainly did. He made what would normally be a very difficult process for me a very easy experience. I would not hesitate to recommend John for any of your legal needs.

Greg R.

We used Melanie when my mother in law passed to help with the closing of her estate. My wife and her brothers were very impressed with her professionalism. She was also easy to work with and showed compassion to the family. So we knew who we were going to use for our family needs. John has the same characteristics and we are very happy with the way he handled our Will. We highly recommend them for your needs.

Ronald and Jannie Dolberry

I've worked with several attorney's but Melanie is head and shoulders above any that I've been associated with concerning Elder Care Law. Her experience and professionalism helped me get my mother into an Assisted Living facility much quicker and prevented a certain train wreck from occurring based on the documents that I had signed from another attorney. What a Blessing it was to find you in my hour of need. I hope to bring many more clients to your doorsteps at Bradford & Holliman, LLC while I'm still living. Thank you Melanie!!!

Greg B.

John and staff were absolutely wonderful!! Always there to help and answer all questions without hesitation. He even answered questions we didn't even think about asking!! Have complete confidence in his ability. Made VA benefits process a breeze!!

Janet Key M.

Very professional and knowledgeable in handling our trust documents and VA claim. Recommend to any family or person needing state planning or VA claims help. Good job!

Marie B.