For 30 years, we have helped families across Alabama and Florida understand their options, protect what they have built, and create thoughtful plans for the future.
We believe good planning starts with education, continues with a strategy built around your family, and lasts long after the documents are signed.
You should understand your options before making important legal decisions.
That is why we have spent decades teaching families through public seminars, webinars, articles, FAQs, videos, and other educational resources.
Many families already know they need a trust.
Our role is to help determine whether a simple living trust is enough or whether your family, assets, taxes, and long-term goals call for a more customized approach.
Estate planning and tax planning often work together.
Our attorneys help clients consider estate taxes, income taxes, capital gains taxes, retirement accounts, business interests, and other tax concerns as part of the larger plan.
A good estate plan should still work when you are no longer here to manage it.
Through trust administration and professional trustee services, we can continue helping your family carry out your wishes for years to come.
Founding partner
Gary Hicks is a founding partner of the law firm of Ryan, Hicks, Cumpton & Cumpton, LLP. Mr. Hicks practices in the areas of tax efficient estate planning, complex trusts, and trust administration. He also deals with some of the firm’s most complex international client issues.
Mr. Hicks was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1956. In 1978, he received his Bachelor of Arts from Samford University. He attended law school at Cumberland School of Law, and in 1981 he received his Juris Doctorate. While in law school, he served on various Student Bar Association committees.
Mr. Hicks is a member of the Alabama State Bar, the Florida State Bar, the Elder Law Section of the Alabama State Bar, and the American Bar Association. He is also a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. Mr. Hicks previously served as a member of the Board of Governors of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.
Mr. Hicks has co-authored two books on estate planning, Using Living Trusts, and The Attorney’s Textbook: RLT Planning. He also authored numerous academic papers, including Estate Tax Considerations (NBI, 2012), The Federal Estate Tax Update (NBI, 2014), and Grantor Trust Planning and Tax and Estate Planning for Pensions and IRAs (NBI, 2018).
He has given presentations to numerous attorney groups discussing many of the legal issues outlined in this booklet, and he is recognized nationally as a leading figure in this area of law.
Mr. Hicks is married to Karen Perkins Hicks, and they have two children, Chason and Katherine, and several grandchildren.
Founding partner
L. Thomas Ryan, Jr. is the firm’s managing partner in Huntsville, Alabama, and he is a founding partner of the firm. Mr. Ryan earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Alabama School of Law, where he was the Articles Editor for the Law and Psychology Review. He also completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Alabama, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology.
Mr. Ryan is a member of the American Bar Association, National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, National Network of Estate Planning Attorneys, and the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys. He is admitted to practice before all courts in the State of Alabama, as well as the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama and the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
Mr. Ryan is a frequent speaker on estate planning topics, and regularly presents educational seminars for public and private audiences. He has authored numerous academic articles on the topics discussed in this booklet.
Mr. Ryan has two sons. He is a former Board member and two-term former President of the Foster Children’s Alliance, a non-profit corporation that provides assistance for foster children. His concern for the welfare of children also led him to serve as a board member of the National Children’s Advocacy Center. Mr. Ryan served on multiple occasions as a Bar Commissioner for the Alabama State Bar, and he is the current president of the Alabama State Bar’s Elder Law Section. He also currently serves on the committee drafting the updated Alabama Probate Code.
Founding partner
Michael L. Cumpton is a founding partner in the law firm of Ryan, Hicks, Cumpton & Cumpton, LLP, where he practices in the areas of tax planning, complex trusts, capital gains tax planning, charitable foundation planning, and business tax planning.
Mr. Cumpton has also worked with members of the United States Senate Finance Committee and the United States House of Representatives advising on pending tax legislation. He has received honorary recognition from governors of four states, and from other public officials, for his work in the community.
Mr. Cumpton was born in Delhi, Louisiana in 1966. In 1988, he received his Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, from Northeast Louisiana University. In 1992, Mr. Cumpton received his Juris Doctorate (with honors) from Loyola University in New Orleans, Louisiana. While in law school, he was a member of the Loyola Law Review, and the Loyola International Moot Court Team. Mr. Cumpton also served as Articles Editor of the American Constitution Journal of Law and Public Policy.
Mr. Cumpton is a member of the Alabama State Bar and the Florida Bar. He is a member of the Alabama State Bar’s Elder Law Section, the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, the Mobile Bar Association, and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. He has served on numerous bar association committees, and he is involved in church and community activities. Mr. Cumpton is the primary author and editor of Using Living Trusts, and The Attorney’s Textbook: RLT Planning. These books are used to teach attorneys and other planning professionals how best to use trusts to help their clients. He has written over 30 academic papers, and most recently, he wrote a lengthy article explaining special business tax credits and tax refunds available under federal law.
Mr. Cumpton is married to Susan O’Brien Cumpton, who is also a partner in the law firm of Ryan, Hicks, Cumpton & Cumpton, LLP. They have three children, Patrick, Catherine and John-Thomas.
Senior partner
Susan O’Brien Cumpton is a senior partner in the law firm of Ryan, Hicks, Cumpton & Cumpton, LLP. Mrs. Cumpton practices general tax law and tax planning.
Mrs. Cumpton was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana in 1967. In 1988, she received her Bachelor of Arts from McNeese State
University. While in school, she was involved in a number of academic and social organizations, and she served as president of her sorority.
In 1992, she received her Juris Doctorate from Loyola University in New Orleans, Louisiana. While in law school, she served on the Loyola International Moot Court Team, and she was on the staff of the American Constitution Journal of Law and Public Policy.
After graduating from law school, Mrs. Cumpton attended the University of Alabama School of Law, where she pursued additional studies in the field of taxation, and she received her Master of Laws in Taxation (L.L.M.) from the University of Alabama School of Law.
Mrs. Cumpton is a member of the Alabama State Bar and the Mississippi State Bar. She is also a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys and the Elder Law Section of the Alabama State Bar.
She has co-authored numerous academic papers, including: Grantor Trust Planning as an Estate Planning Option (NBI, 2014), An Alabama Lawyer’s Guide to Probate and Estate Administration (NBI, 2017), Tips and Traps when Dealing with Elderly Clients (NBI, 2018).
She is married to Michael Cumpton, and they have three children, Patrick, Catherine and John-Thomas.
Junior partner
Amanda J. Miller is a junior partner in the law firm of Ryan, Hicks, Cumpton & Cumpton, LLP, where she practices in the areas of tax efficient estate planning, complex trusts, and trust administration.
Mrs. Miller was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1981. In 2004, she received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Georgia. While in college, she was involved in a number of academic and service organizations. She also served her sorority in several leadership roles, including service on the chapter’s Honor Board, as well as the president of her sorority. During this time Mrs. Miller also completed an internship on a congressional campaign and studied abroad at Oxford University in Oxford, England.
In 2007, she received her Juris Doctorate from Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama. While in law school, she was a member of the law school’s National Mediation Team and was a finalist in several mediation and moot court competitions. During this time she also earned two legal clerkships with the Alabama Attorney General’s Office.
Mrs. Miller is a member of the Alabama State Bar and the Florida State Bar. She is a member of the Alabama State Bar’s Elder Law Section and a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys. She has given presentations to numerous groups, discussing many of the legal issues outlined in this booklet.
Mrs. Miller is married to Scott Miller (also from Atlanta, Georgia) and they have one child, Benjamin.
Junior partner
Edwin M. Cook (“Win”) is a junior partner at Ryan, Hicks, Cumpton & Cumpton, LLP. Mr. Cook’s practice encompasses all aspects of estate planning and estate administration, including the preparation of wills and trusts, probate and trust administration, and business succession planning.
Mr. Cook was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Vanderbilt University in 2004, and in 2008 received his Juris Doctorate from Vanderbilt University Law School. While in law school, Mr. Cook was president of the Student Honor Council.
Prior to joining Ryan, Hicks, Cumpton & Cumpton, LLP, Mr. Cook practiced at Duncan Spratt, P.A. in Atlanta, Georgia where he specialized in estate planning for high-net-worth families.
While in Atlanta, Mr. Cook actively contributed to several bar organizations and was the Georgia board chair for Youth Villages, a national nonprofit dedicated to helping children with emotional and behavioral issues. He is a 2024 graduate of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel’s Southeast Fellows Institute.
Mr. Cook is married to Stephanie Ann Cook, and they are the parents of three young sons: James, Charlie, and Wesley.
You have spent years building your home, savings, investments, business interests, and family legacy.
Protecting all of that takes more than filling out forms.
At Ryan, Hicks, Cumpton & Cumpton, we help you understand the risks, explore your options, and build a plan around the people and priorities that matter most to you.
For 30 years, families across Alabama and Florida have turned to us for complex trust planning, tax strategy, probate, trust administration, and professional fiduciary services.
Whether you are planning for the future or helping your family through what comes next, we are here to guide you.
Start by reserving a seat at a free public educational seminar or register to watch a free educational webinar.
