Amanda Bowden Johnson

The Houser Law Firm, P.C. is a Professional Corporation and full service, General Practice law firm located in Jacksonville, that serves Onslow Jones and surrounding counties in Southeastern North Carolina.

We know that in these tough economic times, saving money wherever possible is important to most people. Our philosophy has always been to provide our clients with prompt, courteous and professional legal services at an affordable fee. While we never compromise on our legal professionalism, we do strive to manage our cost and expenses so that we can offer high quality legal services at fees that are reasonable and affordable.

North Carolina Central University School of Law

J.D. (2011)

University of North Carolina - Wilmington

B.A. (2008)

Founding Attorney & CEO

The Houser Law Firm, P.C.

2011 - Current

How To File For Uncontested Divorce In North Carolina

Avvo

2013

Why Hire An Attorney For A Simple Traffic Ticket?

Avvo

2013

Top Contributor Award

Avvo

2023

2013-2023

Client's Choice Award

Avvo

2022

2019-2022

A+ Accredited Business Rating

Better Business Bureau

2013

Onslow County Bar

Member

Current

North Carolina 4th Judicial District Bar Association

Member

Current

North Carolina Advocates for Justice

Member

Current

North Carolina State Bar

Member

2011 - Current

North Carolina

Since 2011

• Free Consultation
  Most consultations are free. Separation Agreements, Document Reviews have a consultation fee of $100 and Child Custody and other complex cases have a $250 consultation fee. However, any consultation fee will be applied to your quoted fee if you decide to retain us - so essentially the consultation ends up being free.
• Credit Cards Accepted
  MasterCard, Visa, Discover, American Express
• Rates, Retainers and Additional Information
  Most of our firm's fees are on a flat rate fee basis, not hourly, so that you know up front exactly how much the legal services you need will cost from start to finish. We also offer legal fee financing through Affirm.

Q. Does a complaint for absolute divorce have to be amended if the date of birth of a minor child was incorrectly put in?

February 11, 2021

A: It should be corrected - yes. There are several different ways to do this. If you did the divorce yourself, this is one of the prime reasons that is always a very bad idea. Especially considering that the only reason to even consider doing it yourself is to save money and with several NC firms able to handle it for you for a flat rate fee of around $395 - you likely won't save any money unless you are indigent (extremely low or no income) and eligible to have court cost waived. Had you hired an attorney for a total flat rate fee of $395 or so - they would absorb the cost of the mistake (if they made it). If you filed the divorce yourself - you have no one to look to but yourself for the extra cost and delay. This is on top of the fact that you have zero idea if what you are doing is the best thing in terms of whether your Divorce Complaint has stuff in there you don't need or often worse, doesn't have something you do need. If you did this divorce yourself, you should likely just consider scrapping and dismissing it and letting an attorney do things for you properly before you end up wasting any more time and money. Best of luck. ... Read More

Q. My 39 year old son finally moved out but he left all of his stuff behind. Can I legally discard all of his belongings?

February 6, 2021

A: Yes, but there are some steps you will likely need to follow. You are likely in a bailment situation where you will be required to take reasonable care of his property for some period of time and to provide him with formal notice to make arrangements to pick it up. If so, typically 30 days is sufficient time. So make sure his stuff is in a safe place, send him written notice to come pick it up within 30 days if he doesn't you can sell it and / or throw it away. If you want, you can move all his stuff into a storage unit and make it a condition of picking up his property that he reimburse you for the cost of moving and storage. Sometimes you can work out a deal with the storage facility to pay for 30 days at the end on which if he hasn't reimbursed you and picked up his stuff, they will take the steps to notify your son to pick up his property and will auction off the contents of the storage unit if he doesn't. Best of luck. ... Read More

Q. I lived in Philadelphia up until March 2020. my sons father took me to court for custody plenty of times he was denied.

February 6, 2021

A: If the children are with you in NC and have been here for at least six months - jurisdiction is likely here in NC unless another court retained jurisdiction. If the father sued for custody in NC but gave an old Philadelphia address for you there would be no benefit to doing that because you presumably would not get properly served there and the action can not proceed forward without you being properly served. Also, it appears you are aware of the custody action so the odds of him getting custody in a North Carolina court by attempting to pull a 'fast one' are likely less than slim and none. Especially in light of the fact that he has been denied before. You should consult with a local family law attorney who can review your specific situation in more detail and lay out your options for you but based on your description, more likely than not, all his custody suit will accomplish is an expense for him and an annoyance to you. Best of luck. ... Read More