A Legal Guide for Lesbian & Gay Couples

by Frederick Hertz Attorney, Emily Doskow Attorney

Overview

Protect yourself and your loved one with sound legal planning

Gay and lesbian couples have gained a lot of legal ground in recent years. Although same-sex marriage is legal across the U.S., laws governing civil unions and domestic partnerships continue to vary from state to state.

It’s still important to define your relationship in the eyes of the law—and A Legal Guide for Lesbian & Gay Couples can help. This plain-English guide shows you how to:

• have and raise children through adoption, donors, surrogacy, or foster parenting
• jointly buy a house or other property
• make decisions about living together, marrying, or registering as legal partners
• make a will or living trust
• make medical decisions for each other, and
• deal with the end of a relationship.
  

The 19th edition is completely revised to provide the latest on same-sex relationships and parentage laws.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781413325430
Publisher:	NOLO
Publication date:	05/30/2018
Edition description:	Nineteenth Edition
Pages:	432
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Frederick Hertz is a practicing attorney-mediator and the author of other Nolo books including, A Legal Guide for Lesbian & Gay Couples, Living Together: A Legal Guide for Unmarried Couples , and Making It Legal: A Guide to Same-Sex Marriage, Domestic Partnership & Civil Unions. You can visit Frederick's website at http://www.frederickhertz.com.

Emily Doskow is a practicing attorney and mediator who has worked with families in the Bay Area for more than 22 years. She specializes in family law, including adoption, parentage issues, domestic partnership formation and dissolution, and divorce. She is a graduate of the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California at Berkeley. She is the author of Nolo's Essential Guide to Divorce and coauthor of A Legal Guide for Lesbian & Gay Couples.

Table of Contents

Your LGBT Family Companion
1. Defining Family: Basics of Marriage, Domestic Partnership, and More
2. Money, Insurance, Name Changes, and Immigration Issues
3. Renting a Home Together
4. I'm Mom, She's Mommy (or I'm Daddy, He's Papa)
5. Medical and Financial Matters: Delegating Authority
6. Looking Ahead: Estate Planning
7. Living Together Contracts for Lesbian and Gay Couples
8. Buying a Home Together (and Other Real Estate Ventures)
9. Going Separate Ways: Issues at the End of a Relationship
10. Help Beyond the Book
Appendix: Using the Interactive Forms
Index

Interviews

Same-sex couples can marry in every state in the U.S., but there are still many particular issues that are pertinent to unmarried LGBT couples, and that’s where this book is so valuable.



Some of the challenges are legal: what does it mean to state-register as domestic partners rather than marry, and what are the implications of being civil union or state-registered domestic partners? What are the consequences of being in a long-term relationship? And what is required to become the legal parent of a child born to or adopted by one’s partner?



This book provides answers for those couples who aren’t interested in marriage, but want to protect their rights.

Editorial Reviews

"Hertz and Doskow present readers with the eighteenth edition of a comprehensive guide to maneuvering the law surrounding same-sex partnerships and marriage from state to state throughout the United States. The authors cover the defining of family; money, insurance, name changes, and immigration issues; renting a home together; parenting matters; medical and financial matters; estate planning and many other related subjects. Frederick Hertz is a practicing attorney in California. Emily Doskow is a practicing attorney and mediator in California." Eithne O'Leyne Editor, ProtoView



"Informative for any unmarried couple." San Francisco Chronicle



"The edge of the law ... will be much less fearful for those who have this book." -Los Angeles Times



"Provides a legal roadmap for anyone looking for guidance towards protecting his or her family." Elizabeth Birch, Executive Director, Human Rights Campaign

From the Publisher

Most legal guidebooks -- including those written for lawyers -- ignore lesbian and gay couples. For almost 20 years, this has been the outstanding exception, and it remains the standard for lesbians and gay men who want solid, basic answers.
— Matt Coles

ACLU

This first-rate guide demystifies the legal process and provides an invaluable resource for gay and lesbian people engaged in the process of family creation.
— Urvashi Vaid

Policy Institute of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

This book provides a legal roadmap for anyone looking for guidance towards protecting his or her family. I commend its authors for making available this important information.
— Elizabeth Birch

Human Rights Campaign

A guide that lovers will do well to embrace. Buy this book.

Bay Area Reporter

Excellent, comprehensive reference.

Modern Maturity

Informative for any unmarried couple.

San Francisco Chronicle

A good primer for couples wanting basic legal advice on domestic partnerships, parenting, making financial and medical decisions, buying a home together, and estate planning.

Curve

The edge of the law... will be much less fearful for those who have this book.

Los Angeles Times