Living Together: A Legal Guide for Unmarried Couples

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 explains:

. 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 includes:

. 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. It also discusses the laws covering same-sex marriages and civil unions, which are often so broad, they affect unmarried heterosexual couples as well.This book is completely updated for 2013, with the latest laws affecting unmarried people in a wide variety of areas--family law, debt and credit, real estate, taxes, medical care, insurance, estate planning, and more.

-- Download forms for book at nolo.com

Ralph "Jake" Warner, a pioneer of the do-it-yourself law movement, founded Nolo with Ed Sherman in 1971. Nolo began publishing do-it-yourself law books written by Jake and his colleagues after numerous publishers rejected them. When personal computers came along, he added software to many Nolo books. When the Internet arrived, he championed the move online, where Nolo published huge amounts of free legal information.

In addition to running Nolo for much of its first 40 years, Warner was an active editor and author. He wrote many books, including Retire Happy: What You Can Do Now to Guarantee a Great Retirement and Save Your Small Business: 10 Crucial Strategies to Survive Hard Times or Close Down & Move On. Today, he operates a storytelling repertory group, Jake's Tales, devoted to keeping alive the tradition of telling children wonderful stories.

Warner holds a law degree from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California at Berkeley and an undergraduate degree in history from Princeton.

Toni Ihara is an anthropologist turned lawyer turned graphic artist. Toni is an original member of the Nolo family and has been involved in the modern people's law movement since its inception in the early 1970s. Coauthor of The Living Together, her articles have appeared in New West, Ms. and Harper's Bazaar.

Frederick Hertz is a practicing attorney-mediator and the author of Legal Affairs: Essential Advice for Same-Sex Couples (Owl Books) and co-author of Nolo's Living Together: A Legal Guide for Unmarried Couples, A Legal Guide for Lesbian & Gay Couples and Making It Legal: A Guide to Same-Sex Marriage, Domestic Partnership & Civil Unions.