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Living Together
A Legal Guide for Unmarried Couples
Publication Date February 2008
Edition 14
ISBN 9781413307559
Pages 296 pp
Forms 20 forms
Book w/CD
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Description
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 as tear-outs and on CD-ROM
The 14th 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.
Forms
- Agreement of Joint Intent Not to Have a Common Law Marriage
- Agreement to Keep Property Separate
- Attachment A (Separately Owned Property)
- Agreement to Share Property
- Attachment B (Jointly Owned Property)
- Agreement for a Joint Purchase
- Agreement Covering Rented Living Space
- Letter Requesting Permission to Add a Roommate
- Contract for Equal Ownership of a House
- Promissory Note
- Contract for Unequal Ownership of a House
- Agreement for One Person to Move Into the Other's House and Become an Immediate Co-Owner
- Agreement for One Person to Move Into the Other's House and Become a Co-Owner Gradually
- Acknowledgment of Parenthood
- Will
- Codicil
- Short-Term Agreement Regarding Separation and Housing
- Agreement to Protect Property During a Split-Up
- Agreement to Mediate and Arbitrate
- Home Buyout Agreement
Table of Contents
1. Living Together: An Introduction
2. The Legal State of Living Together
- Sex and the Law
- Domestic Partners
- Common Law Marriage
- Living Together Contracts
- To Be Safe, Write It Down
- What Happens to Your Written Living Together Agreement If You Get Married?
- Special Issues for Seniors
3. Living Together Agreements: Why and How
- Ten Tips for Writing a Living Together Agreement
- Property Agreements
- Agreement to Share Ownership of a Joint Purchase
- Agreement Covering Joint Projects
- Agreement Covering Homemaker Services
- Agreement for Artists and Inventors
- Agreement for People in School
- Agreement to Protect Person Who Moves a Long Distance or Gives Up a Job
4. Debt, Credit, Taxes, and More: Practical Aspects of Living Together
- Debt and Credit
- Buying and Investing Together
- Discrimination
- Sharing Your Last Name
- Income Taxes
- Social Security
- Retirement Plans
- Public Benefits
- Insurance
- Liability for Medical Care of a Mate
- Making Medical and Financial Decisions for Your Partner
- Wrongful Death and Loss of Consortium Lawsuits
5. Renting and Sharing a Home
- Discrimination on the Basis of Marital Status
- Leases and Rental Agreements
- Moving In Together
- Dealing With Objections When Moving Into the Rental Home of One Partner
- Getting Your Security Deposit Back
6. Buying a House Together
- May Sellers Discriminate Against Unmarried Buyers?
- How to Find and Work With a Real Estate Agent
- Househunting Online
- Home Financing and Mortgages
- Proceeding With Your Purchase: Offers, Inspections, Escrow, and Closing
- Taking Title to Your New Home
- Contracts for Couples Owning a Home Together
- Contract for Equal Ownership of a House
- Contract for Unequal Ownership of a House
- Agreement for One Person to Move Into the Other’s House and Become an Immediate Co-Owner
- Agreement for One Person to Move Into the Other’s House and Become a Co-Owner Gradually
7. Starting a Family
- Having a Child: Legal Obligations of Unmarried Parents
- Naming the Baby and Getting a Birth Certificate
- Naming the Father: Paternity
- Legitimacy of Children Born to Unmarried Parents
- Adopting a Child
- Public and Private Benefits for a Child of Unmarried Parents
- Inheritance Rights of a Child of Unmarried Parents
8. You and Your Ex-Spouse and Children From a Prior Relationship
- Getting a Divorce While Living With Someone Else
- Living Together and Impact on Custody of Children From a Prior Marriage
- Visitation With Children From a Prior Marriage
- Child Support for Children From a Prior Marriage
- The Effect of Living Together on Alimony and Child Support From a Prior Marriage
9. Wills and Estate Planning
- What Happens If You Don’t Do Any Estate Planning?
- The Effect of Living Together Contracts
- Figuring Out What You Own: Taking Inventory
- An Introduction to Wills
- Preparing a Basic Will
- Avoiding Probate
- Estate and Gift Taxes
- Balancing the Needs of Your Partner and Your Children
- Funerals and Other Final Arrangements
10. Moving On—When Unmarried Couples Separate
- Rules of the Unmarried Dissolution
- The Process of Separation
- Ten Steps to Resolving Your Conflicts
- Mediation, Arbitration, and Other Ways to Resolve Disputes
- Lawyers and Lawsuits: Going to Court
- Solutions for Property Division Problems
- Putting It All Together: Preparing a Settlement Agreement
- Children: Custody, Visitation, and Support
11. Lawyers and Legal Research
- Doing Your Own Legal Research
- Hiring a Lawyer
Appendix A: How to Use the CD-ROM
- Installing the Form Files Onto Your Computer
- Using the Word Processing Files to Create Documents
- Forms on the CD-ROM
Appendix B: Tear-Out Forms
- Agreement of Joint Intent Not to Have a Common Law Marriage
- Agreement to Keep Property Separate
- Attachment A (Separately Owned Property)
- Agreement to Share Property
- Attachment B (Jointly Owned Property)
- Agreement for a Joint Purchase
- Agreement Covering Rented Living Space
- Letter Requesting Permission to Add a Roommate
- Contract for Equal Ownership of a House
- Promissory Note
- Contract for Unequal Ownership of a House
- Agreement for One Person to Move Into the Other’s House and Become an Immediate Co-Owner
- Agreement for One Person to Move Into the Other’s House and Become a Co-Owner Gradually
- Acknowledgment of Parenthood
- Will
- Codicil
- Short-Term Agreement Regarding Separation and Housing
- Agreement to Protect Property During a Breakup
- Agreement to Mediate and Arbitrate
- Home Buyout Agreement
Index
Sample Content
Introduction
Living together has never been more popular. According to the 2000 Census data, over 5.4 million unmarried couples live together (which translates into 10.8 million people). This is a whopping 72% increase since 1990. Forty percent of unmarried households have children. The number of cohabiting seniors tripled in that same period and is continuing to rise. The average American spends the majority of his or her life unmarried.
If you are part of an unmarried couple living together, it’s probably comforting to know that you are far from alone. However, this doesn’t mean that you can ignore how the law affects your relationship. This book explains the wide range of legal and practical rules that affect opposite-sex unmarried couples living together—from sharing money and property (contract law) to owning a house together (real estate law) or sharing an apartment (landlord-tenant law) to having a child with your partner (family law) to writing a will (estate planning).
Resource: If you are part of a gay or lesbian couple living together, see A Legal Guide for Lesbian & Gay Couples, by Denis Clifford, Frederick Hertz, and Emily Doskow, also published by Nolo.
When you understand the law, you and your partner can make informed decisions about how to structure your life, finances, property ownership, and family relationships to best meet your needs. Failing to learn about the law and take measures to protect yourself and your partner can have negative consequences. The special rules governing married couples (such as those relating to property ownership, divorce, and inheritance rights, to name a few) don’t apply to unmarried couples. In order to compensate for this, you’ll have to do some extra work. For example, you may want to write a will to ensure that your partner gets your property when you die, sign paternity statements to ensure that a father’s parental rights are preserved, or create a “living together contract” to avoid protracted court battles over property if you split up.
To help you, we provide dozens of written documents (both as tear-out forms and on CD) that unmarried couples can use to spell out their individual legal and financial arrangements, including:
- living together contracts regarding your money and property—whether you want to keep everything separate, pool all assets, or something in between (such as share ownership of a car or specific item)
- house ownership agreements—whether you’re sharing costs and ownership equally or not
- basic wills and estate planning forms
- parenting agreements, paternity statements, and other documents relating to children you have together (or bring into your relationship from a previous marriage), and
- property settlement agreements for use in the event you separate.
We believe that most unmarried couples can safely and easily master the majority of legal rules that affect them. However, it’s also true that an experienced lawyer’s advice can be invaluable when it comes to dealing with more complicated situations. We’ll point out how and when a lawyer’s expertise can be helpful—for example, if one of you has children or substantial assets, or you’re dealing with complicated estate planning.
There are many reasons why people choose to live together without getting married. Some don’t see the need for the state’s approval of their commitment to each other. Many couples view it as a trial period before marriage. Some avoid marriage because they have gone through a messy divorce. Young people in expensive urban areas often live with partners in order to reduce housing costs. A growing minority choose not to marry because they don’t wish to participate in an institution that excludes same-sex couples. And the fast-increasing number of unmarried couples over 45 that live together—over one-fifth of all unmarried couples fall into this category—often have financial concerns that come into play. For example, by not marrying they don’t become legally obligated for their partner’s medical treatment, and they reduce the risk of paying tax on Social Security benefits. And by not marrying, many avoid tricky inheritance issues if one or both partners have children from a previous marriage or own substantial assets.
One of the most common reasons older couples choose to live together instead of marrying is to avoid joint liability for debts, especially for long-term care or medical bills. Staying unmarried also enables each partner to qualify individually for public benefits, such as Medicaid, without draining the other partner’s resources. There are detailed rules about how this must be structured to avoid inadvertent triggering of joint liability, so if you are considering such a strategy, consult with an attorney specializing in elder law before you make any big decisions.
Finally, changing social attitudes and values have made living together less of a stigma; living together is not considered as rare (or immoral) as it was 25 or more years ago. In fact, the American Law Institute, an influential organization of lawyers, judges, and legal scholars, recently recommended sweeping changes in family law, including recommending that family courts and state lawmakers begin to treat living together relationships more like marriage—even recommending that laws provide for alimony-like payments when unmarried couples split up after a long time together.
Whatever your reasons for not marrying, this book arms you with information to tackle most of the legal issues that arise during unmarried partnerships, including better managing your financial affairs, protecting your property, buying a house or other property together, having or co-parenting children, planning for your death, and dealing with a breakup.
Legal Updates
Here are summaries of important legal or procedural changes that affect the latest edition of this product.
What's New in the 14th Edition of Living Together: A Legal GuideOverview of What's New
The 14th edition of Living Together: A Legal Guide has new information on seniors living together and an expanded section on homebuying.
Who Needs the New Edition?
You need the new edition if you are interested in the additional information on homebuying or seniors living together.
Chapters Most Affected
Chapters 2 and 6.
Forms That Have Changed
None.
Estate and Annual Gift Tax Exemptions RaisedConnecticut Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Same-Sex Marriage
Maine Same-Sex Marriage Legislation Repealed
