North Carolina legal guides for the decisions that matter.
Practical explanations from a Huntersville law firm serving families, employees, businesses, drivers, and neighbors across Lake Norman. Search the full library, choose a topic, or begin with a featured guide.
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Each path connects legal articles with the related Adkins Law practice-area guide.
Divorce & Family LawDivorce, alimony, agreements, property division, and protective orders.Find family-law guides →
Custody & Child SupportParenting schedules, decision-making, support, relocation, and enforcement.Find custody guides →
DWI & TrafficSpeeding tickets, license consequences, testing, evidence, and DWI defense.Find driving guides →
Employment LawDiscrimination, retaliation, wages, leave, investigations, Garrity, and the EEOC.Find workplace guides →
Estate PlanningWills, trusts, powers of attorney, health-care directives, and legacy planning.Find planning guides →
Civil Matters & Local LifeContracts, defamation, civil disputes, mediation, and the Lake Norman community.Find civil guides →
Clear starting points for common questions.
Open any card to read the complete article, then follow the related links for deeper guidance.
CHILD CUSTODYWho decides where a child goes to school?School choice, joint legal custody, and resolving parental disagreement.Read the guide 
PARENTINGHow joint legal custody decisions are madeSchool, medical care, therapy, activities, and other major decisions.Read the guide 
SEPARATIONCan a separation agreement be changed?Understand modification, enforcement, consent, and court-order distinctions.Read the guide 
PROTECTIVE ORDERSWhat a court must find in a DVPO caseA practical case-law guide to evidence, findings, and protective orders.Read the guide 
PROPERTY DIVISIONStipulations and equitable distributionHow agreements and trial positions can shape a North Carolina property case.Read the guide 
CHILD SUPPORTSelf-employment income and child supportDepreciation, business income, documentation, and support calculations.Read the guide 
ALIMONYAlimony overpayments and reimbursementWhat a recent appellate decision teaches about payments and remedies.Read the guide 
CIVIL LAWDefamation in North CarolinaA broad overview of reputational harm, defenses, and civil claims.Read the guide
Choose a category, then go directly to the answer.
These subject boxes collect useful starting points from the Adkins Law archive. Open an article now, view every result in that topic, or continue to the complete chronological archive below.
Divorce & Separation
Agreements, property division, complex assets, and practical steps before and after separation.
Custody & Parenting
Decision-making, parenting schedules, school issues, modification, and third-party custody questions.
Support & Alimony
Income, self-employment, enforcement, contempt, overpayments, and changing financial circumstances.
DWI & Traffic
Stops, checkpoints, breath and blood testing, license consequences, speeding tickets, and defense.
Employment & Public Servants
Discrimination, retaliation, pay, leave, internal investigations, EEOC charges, and employee rights.
Wills, Trusts & Estates
Wills, powers of attorney, health-care directives, trusts, beneficiaries, and practical legacy planning.
Civil Litigation
Contracts, reputation, property disputes, statutory protections, and resolution through litigation or mediation.
Huntersville & Lake Norman
Local history, community change, and legal issues affecting the place Adkins Law calls home.
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The newest resources appear first. Use the search above to find a specific issue, or move through the archive to reach all 499 published articles.
Top Reasons to Consider a Trust
Control distribution of assets- You wouldn't hand over your car keys to a child who has not had proper preparation driving, and chances are you would not want to hand over all your assets to a teenager either. But if both parents die at the same time, or while their children are still minors, the ...
What is Portability?
When a married couple dies, they are able to exempt a certain amount of their estate from taxes. Portability allows the first spouse who dies to transfer their unused estate tax applicable exclusion to the other, living, spouse. This amount can then be used for their gift or estate tax purposes when the second spouse ...
Adkins Law Estate Planning
Adkins Law is prepared to plan and help your family with an Estate Plan!Having a basic estate plan is essential to ensure that your family is cared for after youare no longer here, and your finances are distributed in the way that youdesire. This plays a significant role inreducing stress and frustration for your loved ...
2018 Business North Carolina Legal Elite Winners
Business North Carolinamagazine has honored lawyers since 2002 by publishing Business North Carolina's Legal Elite. This is a listing of the state's top lawyers in different categories. Business North Carolina's Legal Elite has become the model for other awards and lists, but it remains unique as the only award that gives every active lawyer in ...
Why do I need a Will?
What happens to you after you die is a question with no answer. What happens to your stuff, however, is much more clear. If you own property and assets, you should strongly consider drafting a will. That way you, and not your state government, can decide who gets your property and assets when you die. ...
Where can I bring suit for equitable distribution? – 2018
Often people ask where they are able to bring suit forequitable distribution. A wife, for example, may continue to live in the marital home in Iredell County while her husband, who separated from her, lives in Wake County. The wife may work in Mecklenburg County and wish to move to Mecklenburg County as soon as ...
When does child support terminate in Mecklenburg County?
When does child support terminate in Mecklenburg County? Child support terminates in North Carolina when a child reaches eighteen years of age, except:1. It stops sooner if the child is emancipated.2. If a child is still in high school when the child reaches eighteen, child support payments continue until the child graduates, ceases to attend ...
How do I file an action for child custody?
In North Carolina, when you separate from your child's other parent, there are a lot of things to consider and plan for. In most cases, it is best to have a consent order entered as to your child custody arrangement, and any child support obligations. A custody order is required to enforce any agreements as ...
