Charlotte Hopkins is widely known as Terry Bradshaw’s former wife and the mother of his daughters, Rachel and Erin Bradshaw. Professional and historical records identify her more precisely as Charla Hopkins Bradshaw, a board-certified Texas family lawyer with a career dating back to 1993.
Although her connection to the former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback drives much of the public interest in her life, Bradshaw has built a substantial professional identity of her own. She is a shareholder at KoonsFuller, an experienced mediator, a legal writer and a longtime contributor to the development of family law in Texas.
Quick Facts
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Documented name | Charla H. Bradshaw |
| Birth surname | Hopkins |
| Also known as | Charla Hopkins, Charla Hopkins Bradshaw |
| Birthday | April 17; birth year not publicly confirmed |
| Hometown | Denton, Texas |
| Occupation | Family law attorney, mediator and legal author |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Education | Texas Woman’s University; SMU Dedman School of Law |
| Father | Charles Edwin Hopkins |
| Mother | Carolyn Long Hopkins |
| Former husband | Terry Bradshaw |
| Current husband | Rick Hagen |
| Children | Rachel Bradshaw and Erin Bradshaw |
| Current firm | KoonsFuller, P.C. |
| Known for | Texas family law and former marriage to Terry Bradshaw |
| Professional website | KoonsFuller attorney profile |
Is Charlotte Hopkins’ Real Name Charla Bradshaw?
Most entertainment websites call her Charlotte Hopkins, but the strongest available records use the name Charla.
A contemporary Los Angeles Times report identified Terry Bradshaw’s bride as Charla Hopkins in 1986. Texas Woman’s University recorded the same name in its official bridal archive, while her current professional profiles identify her as Charla H. Bradshaw. Her Southern Methodist University commencement record used the fuller form Charla Hopkins Bradshaw.
“Charlotte Hopkins” appears to have become the more familiar name through celebrity websites and search results rather than through her legal or professional records. For editorial accuracy, she is best described as Charla Hopkins Bradshaw while acknowledging that many readers search for her as Charlotte Hopkins.
Her name should also not be confused with several unrelated public figures, including a British lawyer, a marine-conservation academic, a Pittsburgh-based writer and an American track athlete.
Her Early Life in Denton, Texas
Bradshaw has deep ties to Denton, where she spent much of her early life and later established her legal career. She attended Denton High School and was involved in student activities during her senior year.
Her father, Charles Edwin Hopkins, was a prominent local builder and civic official. After working as a teacher, he took over his family’s custom home-building business and developed hundreds of homes around Denton. He also served two periods on the Denton City Council between 1980 and 1986 and held the position of mayor pro tem.
Charles had Charla and her brother, Rodney “Hoppy” Hopkins, with his first wife, Carolyn Long Hopkins. Beyond these documented details, little reliable information has been published about Charla’s childhood. Claims that she grew up in an unusually wealthy household are not supported by dependable evidence.
Education Prepared Her for a Career in Family Law
Bradshaw earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas Woman’s University in 1987, graduating summa cum laude. She also completed extensive graduate-level work in marriage and family therapy.
Professional accounts indicate that she finished the academic requirements for a master’s degree apart from her thesis before leaving the program to attend law school. Although she did not complete that graduate degree, the training became relevant to her later work with divorcing couples, parents and children.
She received her law degree from Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law in May 1993. The State Bar of Texas licensed her on November 5 of that year.
Her combination of legal education and family-therapy training helped shape an approach that considers both the legal and interpersonal dimensions of divorce. Her firm says that background allows her to recognize family dynamics and explore alternatives to courtroom litigation when appropriate.
How Charla Bradshaw Built Her Legal Career
Bradshaw has practiced family law for more than three decades. Based in Denton, she represents clients across Texas in matters involving divorce, child custody, property division and post-divorce disputes.
Her practice covers both litigation and negotiated forms of conflict resolution. She is a certified mediator and handles collaborative-law cases, allowing clients to pursue settlements outside a conventional trial when their circumstances permit it.
Complex financial matters have been an important part of her work. Since the 1990s, she has written and spoken about retirement accounts, employee benefits and Qualified Domestic Relations Orders, commonly known as QDROs. These orders determine how certain retirement benefits are divided following divorce.
The Texas Board of Legal Specialization certified her in family law in 2000. Board certification requires experience, continuing legal education, peer evaluation and a specialist examination beyond the requirements of an ordinary law license.
She later became managing shareholder of KoonsFuller’s Denton office. Her current State Bar profile lists family law, collaborative law and alternative dispute resolution as her principal areas of practice.
Her Influence on Texas Family Law
Bradshaw’s professional work extends beyond representing individual clients. She has served on the Texas Family Law Council Legislative Committee since 2009, contributing to discussions about proposed changes to state family law.
In 2011, The Dallas Morning News reported on her involvement in efforts to expand Texas spousal-maintenance law. The changes gave courts broader authority to order support in qualifying divorces, particularly those involving long marriages or spouses who could not meet their basic needs independently.
Her professional leadership has also included serving as president of the Texas Academy of Family Law Specialists and chair of the State Bar of Texas District 14 Grievance Committee. She previously directed the Advanced Family Law Course, one of the state’s major continuing-education programs for attorneys.
In 2016, her peers elected her as a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation. She is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and the International Academy of Family Lawyers.
Legal Writing, Media Work and Professional Recognition
Writing and professional education have remained consistent parts of Bradshaw’s career. She co-authored the second edition of Protecting Your Assets from a Texas Divorce, published in 2009. That edition credited her under the professional name Charla Bradshaw Conner.
Her other writing has addressed child custody, grandparents’ rights, prenuptial agreements, social-media evidence, retirement benefits and the emotional challenges children experience during family-court proceedings.
One title commonly misrepresented online is “Who Gets the Family Pet in a Divorce?” Some biography websites call it a book, but it was actually an article published by Good Life Family Magazine in 2019.
Bradshaw has also provided commentary for television and radio. Her firm reports that she appeared on NBC5 in connection with an international child-abduction case and discussed parental “nesting” on Dallas radio station KLIF. Nesting allows children to remain in the family home while separated parents alternate living there.
Her experience with horses has given her another distinctive area of knowledge. Bradshaw and her husband have owned a horse-and-cattle farm, and she has discussed the complicated valuation and division of horses, breeding rights, embryos and other equine assets during divorce.
Her professional recognitions include repeated selections by Texas Super Lawyers and The Best Lawyers in America. She was named Best Lawyers’ 2024 Lawyer of the Year for family-law arbitration in the Dallas–Fort Worth area and appeared in the Lawdragon 500 Leading Family Lawyers for 2024 through 2026.
Charlotte Hopkins and Terry Bradshaw’s Marriage
Charla Hopkins married Terry Bradshaw on February 15, 1986, at the Little Chapel in the Woods on the Texas Woman’s University campus. The university’s bridal-book archive and a newspaper report published the following day confirm the date.
Bradshaw was already famous as the quarterback who led the Pittsburgh Steelers to four Super Bowl championships. The marriage was his third, following earlier relationships with former Miss Teenage America Melissa Babish and professional figure skater JoJo Starbuck.
Numerous later biographies place the wedding in 1983, but that date conflicts with both the contemporary report and the university’s archival record. February 15, 1986, is consequently the better-supported date.
Their marriage ended in 1999. Terry later spoke publicly about experiencing serious depression around the time of the divorce, but those comments describe his personal mental-health experience and should not be interpreted as an account of Charla’s conduct or the private reasons their marriage ended.
She and Terry Bradshaw Have Two Daughters
The former couple welcomed their first daughter, Rachel Bradshaw, on May 13, 1987. Rachel studied at Belmont University and pursued a career as a country singer and songwriter. She has also appeared on television, including her family’s reality series The Bradshaw Bunch.
Their second daughter, Erin Bradshaw, was born on June 27, 1989. Erin developed an early interest in horses and became a professional rider and world-champion equestrian. She married horse trainer Scott Weiss in 2017, and they later welcomed a daughter.
Some online biographies incorrectly list Erin’s birth year as 1992. Reputable family reporting places her birth in 1989.
Another recurring error concerns Lacey Hester, who appeared with the family on The Bradshaw Bunch. Lacey is not Charla’s daughter. She is the daughter of Terry’s current wife, Tammy Bradshaw, and became his stepdaughter after their marriage.
Her Marriage to Rick Hagen and Life After Divorce
Bradshaw later married Rick Hagen, an attorney with experience in Texas government and public affairs. Her father’s 2022 obituary identifies Hagen as Charla’s husband, while professional profiles report that the couple has lived on a ranch in Denton.
Hagen has participated in amateur roping events, and their shared experience with horses has complemented Bradshaw’s work in equine-related family-law cases.
Some secondary websites claim that the couple married on July 29, 2012. That precise date has not been confirmed by a strong public record, so it should not be treated as established fact.
Unlike Terry and their daughters, Charla has not built her public identity around reality television. Her visible work has remained centered on law, professional education, community involvement and family.
Her Recent High-Profile Legal Work
Bradshaw received renewed public attention in 2025 when she represented Texas state Sen. Angela Paxton in divorce proceedings against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
A motion filed by Bradshaw sought to seal the couple’s divorce records from public access. A judge granted the request, prompting scrutiny from news organizations because both parties held prominent public positions. The reporting concerned the court’s decision and the broader rules governing sealed records; it did not establish misconduct by Bradshaw.
Her professional standing remains active. The State Bar of Texas lists her as eligible to practice and reports no public disciplinary history. KoonsFuller continues to identify her as a shareholder, and she received further professional recognition in 2026, including inclusion in the 2027 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.
What Is Known About Her Age and Net Worth?
April 17 appears to be Bradshaw’s birthday, supported by a birthday post on her public Instagram account. Her birth year is less certain.
Celebrity websites commonly give April 17, 1962, as her complete date of birth, which would make her 64 in 2026. No authoritative institutional record or direct public statement reviewed for this biography confirms the year, so her exact age remains unverified.
Her finances are similarly private. A figure of approximately $2.1 million circulates on entertainment websites, but it is not supported by financial disclosures, business valuations or credible financial reporting. Her legal practice is a clear source of professional income, but no dependable estimate of her personal net worth is publicly available.
Conclusion
Charlotte Hopkins is best understood through the documented identity of Charla Hopkins Bradshaw: a veteran Texas family-law attorney whose public life extends well beyond her former marriage to Terry Bradshaw.
She has practiced since 1993, contributed to family-law education and legislation, and raised two daughters with the former NFL quarterback. Although her exact age and finances remain private, her education, legal standing and professional achievements are well documented.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Charlotte Hopkins?
Charlotte Hopkins is the name commonly used online for Charla Hopkins Bradshaw, a Texas family lawyer and Terry Bradshaw’s former wife. She is also the mother of Rachel and Erin Bradshaw.
Is her real name Charlotte or Charla?
Contemporary reports, educational records and professional profiles use Charla. No authoritative source reviewed confirms Charlotte as her legal first name.
When did Charlotte Hopkins marry Terry Bradshaw?
Charla Hopkins and Terry Bradshaw married on February 15, 1986, at Texas Woman’s University in Denton. Their divorce was completed in 1999.
How many children do Charlotte Hopkins and Terry Bradshaw have?
They have two daughters: singer-songwriter Rachel Bradshaw and equestrian Erin Bradshaw. Lacey Hester is Terry’s stepdaughter, not Charla’s daughter.
What does Charla Bradshaw do for a living?
She is a board-certified Texas family-law attorney and shareholder at KoonsFuller. Her practice includes divorce, custody, property division, mediation and collaborative law.
Who is Charlotte Hopkins married to now?
Reliable professional and family sources identify attorney Rick Hagen as her husband. The couple has been associated with a horse-and-cattle ranch in Denton.
