Living Together: A Legal Guide for Unmarried Couples

All the law cohabiting couples need to know

Laws that protect married couples―on property ownership, divorce, inheritance rights, and more―don’t apply to unmarried couples. To define and protect your relationship―and your assets―you need to take specific legal steps and use the right documents.

Whether you’re just starting out or are one of the growing number of older couples who choose to live together, this revised edition has the information you need. It covers all the big issues facing unmarried couples living together, including:

Money and Property
Clarify how you’ll share money and other assets.

Estate Planning
Leave your assets to whomever you wish, including children from a prior marriage.

Breaking Up
Divide property and share child custody fairly.

Children
Protect your kids by confirming that you are their legal parents.

The House
If you buy a house together, spell out ownership shares in writing.

Medical Decisions
Make important medical decisions for each other if necessary.

With downloadable forms:customize more than a dozen legal forms, including living together and property agreements, house ownership contract, acknowledgment of parenthood, property settlement agreement, and more.

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.

Lina Guillen is a trial attorney, with over 15 years of experience in a wide range of legal matters, including family law and civil litigation. As Nolo’s Family Law Legal Editor, Lina has edited a variety of Nolo books, written numerous legal articles on divorce and family law issues, and managed the development of legal content on several Nolo websites. In addition to being the coauthor of Neighbor Law, and Divorce & Money: How to Make the Best Financial Decisions During Divorce, Lina has been quoted in several publications, including New York Times, U.S. News, Real Simple Magazine, and How Stuff Works. Lina is an active member of the California State Bar and received her law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Before law school, she was an editorial assistant for The Press Democrat newspaper in Sonoma County