Protect your rights -- protect your relationship! Laws affecting LGBT couples are changing rapidly, and while it's an exciting time for all gay and lesbian partners, keeping up with the myriad ways the shifting legal landscape touches your family life can be daunting. Now more than ever, it's important that you take the proper legal steps to define and protect your relationship in the eyes of the law. If you don't, you run the risk of being shut out of each other's lives -- and the lives of children you co-parent -- in times of medical, financial or personal crisis. Fortunately, this practical guide is updated with the latest legal information and legislation that will help you and your same-sex partner protect and exercise your rights, and make sound decisions as a couple. A Legal Guide for Lesbian & Gay Couples covers these important subjects, and many more: . making practical decisions about living together . planning for medical emergencies -- making medical decisions for one another and taking care of each other's finances when one partner is incapacitated . domestic partner benefits and how to obtain them .

buying property together . providing for each other upon death . practical and legal aspects of having and raising children . marriage laws for all 50 states The updated edition of A Legal Guide for Lesbian & Gay Couples is updated to provide the latest information on same-sex marriage, civil unions and domestic partnerships in the U.S., Canada and around the world, as well as all the recent developments in same-sex partnership law. Plus, create essential legal documents using the step-by-step instructions included. --Download forms for book at nolo.

com.