Living Together: A Legal Guide for Unmarried Couples with CDROM [Paperback]

Within this scope, this book does a wonderful job of exploring every legal detail unmarried couples should consider when sharing a household. This is the stuff you'll hopefully never have to consider if your lives go happily ever after, but just in case they don't, both you and your partner will be glad to have in writing certain understandings that spouses automatically have granted to them by law. The authors make this wonderful suggestion: "Approach the task in the spirit of clarifying your understanding and preserving the shared memory of two fair-minded people." At its best, using this book will not only hammer out legal essentials but strengthen your relationship with your partner.

The book covers "living together" contracts, finances, sharing real estate (rented or purchased), estate planning, starting a family, confronting issues that stem from one partner having previously been married, and what to do if you separate. A lot of it is common sense, but common sense may vary by state, and the book does a good job of noting exceptions. It's written in plain language, and if you're not a lawyer, I guarantee you'll find stuff in here that you'd never think of in a million years but could be vitally important. (For instance, if your partner owns a home in her name only but the two of you have agreed in writing to keep all your personal property separate, her homeowners' insurance will not cover your property if a disaster occurs!)

If you love creating neat and tidy forms electronically, you'll love the companion CD-ROM, which has all the forms discussed in the chapters. If you're not so great with computers, don't worry -- most of the forms are available at the back of the book to be torn out and filled in by hand or by typewriter.

Planning to maybe someday get married? Using this book is still a good idea, plus it includes a section on pre-marital agreements and explains whether or not a living-together contract qualifies as one for your circumstances.

My only complaint -- I wish making all of the necessary decisions were as easy and straightforward as this book was to read!

It is clear, concise, and user friendly. There are forms to set up all kinds of agreements, whether your intention is to join all your assets and property or keep them all separate, or anywhere in between. The book includes a CD so you can modify any of the agreements you want to use.

This guide makes it clear that not having written agreements like these can cause major problems if ever your partnership should end. The guide is suprisingly informative about lots of small legal details and does provide some information about how certain laws differ from state to state.

This is a wonderful resource and I recommend it to all, including heterosexual couples who don't want to be legally married but aren't sure of their rights if they don't marry.