Everything on this site
Site Map
Every topic page, reference page and article, organized so you can find what you need quickly.
Everything on this site, organized. If you are not sure where to start, the FAQ answers sixty common questions and the glossary translates the vocabulary. The Local History section covers the towns themselves.
Main topics
| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Home | The overview: how a North Carolina family case works and where to start |
| Divorce & Separation | The one-year rule, separation, agreements and the claims you can lose |
| Separation Agreements | What makes an agreement enforceable and what belongs in it |
| Absolute Divorce | Requirements, filing, name changes and timing |
| Property & Debt Division | Marital, separate and divisible property; the house; retirement |
| Alimony & Support | Dependency, misconduct, structures, taxes and modification |
| Child Custody | Legal and physical custody, best interests, schedules, mediation |
| Parenting Plans | The eight sections every plan needs and language that holds up |
| Child Support | Income shares, worksheets A/B/C, add-ons, deviation and modification |
| Domestic Violence & 50B | Protective orders, the ten-day hearing, evidence and defense |
Process and courts
| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| How a Family Case Works | Filing, service, temporary orders, mediation, discovery and cost |
| Mediation & Settlement | The three mediation programs and how a session runs |
| Mecklenburg County Family Court | The uptown Charlotte docket and what to expect on a hearing date |
Local guides
| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Huntersville | Local court, schools, commuter schedules and housing equity |
| Lake Norman | Cornelius, Davidson, Mooresville and the Mecklenburg-Iredell line |
Reference
| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| FAQ | Sixty answers across six subject areas |
| Glossary | Fifty North Carolina family law terms in plain English |
| About Christopher Adkins | Background, mediation credentials, court admissions and books |
| Resources | The Adkins Law network, the books and public help |
| Contact | How to reach Adkins Law and what to have ready |
| Articles | The full article archive |
Local history
Twenty long-form histories of the towns, the river and the lake this practice serves, written by Charles Christopher Adkins and collected on the Local History landing page. Where sources disagree, the articles say so rather than picking a side.
| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Local History (landing page) | Thumbnails, a map of the series and the four regional groupings |
Lake Norman and the Catawba
| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| How Lake Norman Was Made | Duke Power, Cowan’s Ford Dam and the filling of North Carolina’s largest man-made lake |
| The Communities Lake Norman Covered | What was actually moved, bought and cleared before the water rose — and what was not |
| The Catawba River Before the Dams | Fords, ferries, fish traps and mills on a river that ran free |
| McGuire Nuclear Station | Why a reactor sits on the lake, how it uses the water and what the licenses say |
| Cowan’s Ford: Battle and Dam | The 1781 crossing, Davidson’s death and the dam that took the ford’s name |
| Mountain Island Lake | The older, smaller lake downstream that supplies Charlotte’s drinking water |
The towns around the lake
| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Huntersville | Cotton, the railroad and a crossroads that became a town of nearly seventy thousand |
| Cornelius | A mill vote, a cotton dispute and the village that grew from it |
| Davidson | The college, the town that formed around it and the land it sits on |
| Mooresville | Mills, the depot, and how the town became “Race City” |
| Sherrills Ford and Denver | The west side of the lake in Catawba and Lincoln counties, from the ford to the shore |
The wider Piedmont
| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Charlotte | Gold, the mint, cotton, banking, and the county seat the whole region turns on |
| Gastonia and Gaston County | Yarn, the Loray strike of 1929 and what the records actually show |
| Catawba County | German and Scots-Irish settlement, the wagon roads and the county’s founding |
| Newton | The county seat, its courthouse square and the rail line that reshaped it |
| Hickory | From a tavern under a hickory tree to a furniture and fiber-optic center |
| Salisbury and Rowan County | The Great Wagon Road, the Confederate prison and the railroad shops |
| Statesville and Iredell County | Fort Dobbs, the herb trade and the county the lake’s north end sits in |
The High Country
| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Boone and Watauga County | The Watauga settlements, the railroad that climbed the mountain, and the university |
| West Jefferson, Fleetwood and Ashe County | Cheese, Christmas trees and the New River |
All articles
En español
Every core page of this site has a Spanish counterpart at its own address, listed below and reachable from the Español button in the header of any page. The English version governs if the two differ.
Cada página principal de este sitio tiene su versión en español con su propia dirección. Puede abrirlas desde la lista de abajo o con el botón Español que aparece en el encabezado de cualquier página. En caso de discrepancia, prevalece la versión en inglés.
Tiếng Việt
Every core page of this site also has a Vietnamese counterpart, listed below and reachable from the Tiếng Việt button in the header of any page. The English version governs if the two differ.
Mỗi trang chính của trang web này đều có bản tiếng Việt với địa chỉ riêng. Quý vị có thể mở từ danh sách dưới đây hoặc bằng nút Tiếng Việt ở đầu mỗi trang. Nếu có khác biệt, bản tiếng Anh là bản có giá trị.
The firm network
| Site | Covers |
|---|---|
| Adkins Law | Family, employment, civil, estate, traffic and DWI in Huntersville |
| LKN Legal Blog | Legal analysis for the Lake Norman community |
| Mediation Solutions | Divorce, custody, civil and estate mediation in NC and SC |
| Adkins & Purkey | General practice in Locust and Stanly County |
| Albemarle Law | Family law and estate planning in Albemarle |
| LKN DWI Defense | Impaired driving defense |
| The Book on Divorce in North Carolina | The book this site grew out of |
Still not sure where to start?
Call or text Adkins Law and describe what is happening. Two minutes on the phone will get you to the right answer faster than any index.
Adkins Law, PLLC · 9620 Sherrill Estates Road, Huntersville, NC 28078 · Calling or texting does not create an attorney–client relationship.
Keep reading
This page provides general information about North Carolina law for educational purposes. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney–client relationship. Statutes, court rules and local practice change, and the outcome of any case depends on its own facts. Speak with a licensed North Carolina attorney about your situation. Written by Christopher Adkins, attorney at Adkins Law, PLLC, Huntersville, North Carolina.