Living Together: A Legal Guide for Unmarried Couples

by Ralph E. Warner

Living together out of wedlock can mean anything, especially in court -- unlike married couples, most unmarried couples don't automatically inherit or receive protection under the law. Consequently, you must document everything from property ownership and children to wills and other estate plans.

An essential resource for any unmarried couple, Living Together

-the legality of living together
-having and raising children
-the many types of ownership agreements
-relationships with a prior family
-getting authorization to make medical decisions for an ill or injured partner

Living Together

-a complete overview of important legal documents, including a living together contract
-instructions to filling out these documents
-sample forms
-legal agreements

This edition provides the latest law in readable 50-state charts, and includes many fill-in-the-blank legal forms. It also discusses the laws covering same-sex marriages and civil unions, which are often so broad, they affect unmarried heterosexual couples as well.

Genres: Nonfiction

377 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 15, 2008

About the author

Ralph "Jake" Warner, co-founder of Nolo in 1971, was a trailblazer in the do-it-yourself law movement. He helped make legal guidance widely accessible through books, software, and online resources. A prolific author and editor, Warner wrote titles like Retire Happy and Save Your Small Business. He earned his law degree from Boalt Hall at UC Berkeley and his undergraduate degree in history from Princeton.

Reviews

[Gregory Eakins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thorough and straight to the point, Living Together: A Legal Guide for Unmarried Couples helps the unmarried navigate the more challenging legal world of living a life together without official government approval.

This book is far less of a read than it is a reference guide. It covers just about every key topic that you could think of - from living together, to money issues, to housing arrangements, families and custody, coparenting, to death and separation.

Most of this information is not specific to unmarried couples. For example, writing a will is basically the same for everyone.

You can tell this was written by lawyers. It is dry as Sahara sand. But the information is there. Not a great read, but skim it and come back to it as a reference for when you get into one of these situations in life.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very thorough; covered almost every imaginable situation with special notes for same sex couples