A Legal Guide for Lesbian & Gay Couples [Paperback]

Denis Clifford Attorney (Author), Frederick Hertz Attorney (Author), Emily Doskow Attorney Attorney Attorney Attorney Attorney Attorney Attorney (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1413310915 | ISBN-13: 978-1413310917 | Publication Date: March 28, 2010 | Edition: Fifteenth Edition

America's estimated 20 million lesbians and gay men need to take specific legal steps to define and protect their relationships in the eyes of the law. This practical guide shows them how to: obtain domestic partner benefits; plan for medical emergencies; buy property together; provide for each other at death; understand the practical and legal aspects of having and raising children. The guide includes living together contracts, sample wills and a durable power of attorney.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Most legal guidebooks -- including those written for lawyers -- ignore lesbian and gay couples. For almost 20 years, this has been the outstanding exception, and it remains the standard for lesbians and gay men who want solid, basic answers." (Matt Coles, Director, Lesbian and Gay Rights Project, ACLU 20080309)

"A good primer for couples wanting basic legal advice on domestic partnerships, parenting, making financial and medical decisions, buying a home together, and estate planning." (Curve 20070407)

"A guide that lovers will do well to embrace. Buy this book." (Bay Area Reporter )

"The edge of the law will be much less fearful for those who have this book." (Los Angeles Times )

About the Author

Doskow is a practicing attorney and mediator who has worked with families in the Bay Area for more than 15 years. She specializes in family law, including adoption, parentage issues, domestic partnership formation and dissolution, and divorce. She is a graduate of the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California at Berkeley.

Denis Clifford, a graduate of Columbia Law School, where he was an editor of The Law Review, is a lawyer who specializes in estate planning. He is the author of many Nolo titles including Quick and Legal Will Book and Make Your Own Living Trust and co-author of Plan Your Estate and A Legal Guide for Lesbian and Gay Couples. He has been interviewed by such major media as The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Money Magazine.

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 and A Legal Guide for Lesbian & Gay Couples. He lives and works in Oakland, California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Nolo; Fifteenth Edition edition (March 28, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1413310915
• ISBN-13: 978-1413310917
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #257,330 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #43 in Books > Law > Family & Health Law > Domestic Relations
  • #96 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Nonfiction > Civil Rights

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars We Are Family - Helping Us Protect Our Relationships, September 21, 2010

By 

L. Kirk "Technologirl" (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Legal Guide for Lesbian & Gay Couples (Paperback)

(What's this?)

The book, A Legal Guide for Lesbian and Gay Couples, by NOLO press, offers a wealth of information for same-sex couples seeking to create legal protections for one another in a complex, ever-changing (and oftentimes unfriendly) climate. The terms marriage, civil union, and domestic partnership are quite varied in their interpretation and implementation. Due to the significant differences between federal and state laws, this book can't possibly serve as a substitute to the expertise of an attorney in your home state, but it does provide same-sex couples a guide toward legally protected partnerships.

This book is not a DIY estate planner, but, to its credit, it doesn't bill itself that way. While it provides guidance about what sort of protection gay and lesbian couples can seek, it does not presume to say there is a definitive path to those protections. The book recognizes there are many different versions of what a gay or lesbian family looks like. The book explores the varied ways we choose to organize our lives and our relationships. This is a strength of the book because no matter what your family circumstances are, or how you and your partner want to financially set up your relationship, this book offers information on what steps must be taken. However, to ensure that you have the security that you desire for yourselves and your loved ones, the book is always quick to recommend that you seek the expertise of attorneys (estate planning, adoption, etc.).

Another great strength of the book is that it comes with a CD that has numerous generic forms (wills, power of attorneys, etc.) that you and your partner can use. These forms can be used to save time and money on the path to legally protecting your domestic and financial partnerships. This book is well worth its modest price for the significant guidance, resources, and peace of mind it provides.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Practical guide for same-sex couples, June 24, 2010

By 

Hank Drake (Cleveland, OH United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: A Legal Guide for Lesbian & Gay Couples (Paperback)

(What's this?)

In September 2009, I reviewed Making it Legal: A Guide to Same-Sex Marriage, Domestic Partnership & Civil Unions. While that book contains useful legal information, it spent a bit too much space going into the history of legal issues for LGBT people, rather than a practical "how-to" approach which most readers would want.

Nolo's Legal Guide for Gay & Lesbian Couples (here in its 15th edition) is more useful in that respect. In addition to being more up to date, the book gives more details on varying legal statuses with regard to "civil unions/domestic partnerships" vs. marriages, and in general is a more practical guide.

Best of all, this book comes with a CD-Rom with ready-made forms for everything from partnership contracts, to Power of Attorney forms, to Wills.

As with Making it Legal, this Nolo guide is likely to be out of date soon due to rapidly changing marriage laws - at which point another edition will be necessary. Nevertheless, this book is a must for any same-sex couple. It will save many times its price in lawyer fees, and may help prevent a heartbreaking situation.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Marching Feet of Change Are Moving Strong!, June 11, 2010

By 

Lorenzo M. in the Hollywood CA Area "Movie Wa... (North Hollywood, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: A Legal Guide for Lesbian & Gay Couples (Paperback)

(What's this?)

Are you in a relationship? How serious do you think it is going? One for the long term? Then this may be a book that you want to read. At the very least, it will definately make you think. All the 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.

This book give you a 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.

Some the areas it covers include - 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, and some practical and legal aspects of having and raising children, marriage laws for all 50 states.

As the laws are evolving and changing - and hopefully Gay Rights will be treated as `CIVIL RIGHTS' issue and its opponents stop using the various `Religious' defenses (which by the way - I thought the reason this country was founded was the separation of Church and State) - that's where all the Lawmakers, Judges and Court Systems and general public need to realize. It's all Civil Rights. Remember when women couldn't vote? Remember when people of color or different ethic origin were treated like outsiders and in some cases criminals - just because of their differences?
This book also has a handy section on write living-together contracts, a plan for medical emergencies, planning for your estates, same-sex marriages as applied in each state, healthcare directives and even some interesting details on domestic partner benefits.

Denis Clifford, a graduate of Columbia Law School, where he was an editor of The Law Review, is a lawyer who specializes in estate planning. He is the author of many Nolo titles including Quick and Legal Will Book, Nolo's Simple Will Book and Make Your Own Living Trust and co-author of Plan Your Estate and A Legal Guide for Lesbian and Gay Couples. He has been interviewed by such major media as The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Money Magazine.
The writers are Frederick Hertz who is a practicing attorney and the author of Legal Affairs: Essential Advice for Same-Sex Couples (Owl Books) and co-author of Nolo's The Living Together Kit and A Legal Guide for Lesbian and Gay Couples. Hayden Curry, a graduate of Yale University who received his law degree from the University of Virginia, trained as a poverty lawyer and spent two years working with migrant workers in rural Florida. He moved to California in 1969 and worked in a legal services office in East Oakland. After leaving legal services, he worked as a law partner with Denis Clifford for several years and helped write A Legal Guide for Lesbian and Gay Couples. A proud participant of the Bay Area's gay community, Hayden died of AIDS in 1991.

Another plus - this edition contains the CR-ROM of handy forms and agreements that you can modify or adapt for your own personal needs/arrangements. They are in word documents (.rtf) - so you can adapt them quickly. Nice to have for some easy references.

The only real downside is that as the laws change - the book will have to be updated and revised on a yearly basis. The law can't seem to make up its mind on any `Civil Rights' issues. (Don't get me started!)

The book was a quick read for me and gave more insight to things to be aware of in this changing economic and social storm we are riding now in the first few decades of the 21st century. This book is something I would keep as great reference book for things you would never think of you need to consider. Add this one to you collection! 6-11-10