Customer Reviews

Living Together: A Legal Guide for Unmarried Couples

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Readers should note that this book was written for unmarried opposite-sex couples only. Same-sex couples should instead read _A Legal Guide for Lesbian and Gay Couples_ by Hayden Curry and Denis Clifford, also published by Nolo. Although many of the issues overlap regardless of sexual orientation, this book considers specifically the concerns facing unmarried male-female partners.

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!

This book is great. It made me think about a lot of things, being unmarried to my live-in partner and having a young child. However, we are moving to Illinois soon, and this book does NOT apply to unmarried, heterosexual couples there. Illinois is one of a handful of states that has laws against cohabitation. If you live in Illinois or another state that still has these types of laws on the books, none of the legal documents that this book helps you prepare are going to hold up in court. I think it's great, however, that a book like this exists and is so detailed and helpful. Cohabitating couples, especially those of us who have children together and plan to buy homes or own property together, need to know the legal issues as individuals and as a couple. I highly recommend this book, though it probably isn't worth your time if your state still has the anti-cohabitation laws.

NOLO's Living Together: A Legal Guide for Unmarried Couples is such a wonderful resource. I would encourage all couples who are living together to purchase and read this book. It details a little bit of history of how laws have changed regarding unmarried couples who live together. This guide has been published and updated since 1979; there have been a lot of changes!

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.

Each section starts with a form and then simply explains how to fill it out. The book does a good job of explaining things in clear language, but it does not go into great detail. There is a small section on durable power of attorney and health care directives but it does not include forms. The book points you to Quicken Lawyer Personal Deluxe for that. It deals with issues that might pertain to couples receiving social security and those with children and/or ex-spouses. But I don't think there is enough information for young "DINKs" (dual income, no kids).

Buying a house with my darling boyfriend, we wanted an agreement up front that would spell out what would occur in the unlikely event that we decided to split--but we didn't even know what to call that kind of agreement. I talked to a couple of local attorneys who offered to help me put together something like this for around $500. I made the appointment, then decided one last time to search and see if I could find something we could make work. I found this book, ordered it and canceled my appointment within 20 minutes of the book arriving at my house. The forms in the book--available in the back and on the CD--were just what I was looking for. My boyfriend and I were able to use one of the forms as a starting point for our own agreement. Took us twenty minutes to get it all filled out, and our closing attorney's admin notarized it for us for free. A great resource!

This book is the best legal book I have seen for unmarried couples living together. I teaches how to do taxes, contracts of all sorts, and the dos and dont's. Its very in depth but easy to understand. Excellent choice.

Thought there would be a bit more specifics in this book. In my opinion it is very general. For instance, the section on how to arrange to split a mortgage interest deduction is not helpful at all. For some reason when I did a google search months ago, a quote from this book came up and impressed me and I bought the book. I should have really looked more closely at it. Focuses a lot on what to do with the kids.

As Judge Judy points out to her audience, there are no courts that protect couples living together. People who decide to live together, need to set up a legal contract. When things fall apart, the last thing needed is the distress and lawsuits that don't have any validity of who or what is owed. In a society that pushes marriage on men and women, it's refreshing to know that there are people who choose to be happy with an alternative lifestyle. When the marriage falters, couples have to seek legal assistance to end their marriage. And divorce drags on for years because the courts fuel the fire which drains both parties emotionally and financially. And children are caught in this mudslinging. Perhaps an alternative to marriage may change the divorce laws in this country.

Toni Ihara & Ralph Warner
The Living Together Kit:
A Legal Guide for Unmarried Couples

(Berkeley, CA: Nolo Press, 1997--8th Edition) about 250 pages

This book is recommended for everyone who wants help
creating legal agreements for non-married relationships.
Get the most recent edition, which will include the latest changes
in state and federal laws applicable to unmarried couples.
Major chapters discuss: financial and practical sharing;
renting; buying a house; having children; prior families;
dividing property when separating; wills and estates.
The book is well organized, discussing the issues one by one.

The authors are two lawyers who lived together for 19 years
and then decided to get married for the sake of their daughter.

If you would like to discover other such books,
search the Internet for the following exact words:
"UNMARRIED COUPLES---RELATIONSHIP CONTRACTS---BEST BOOKS".

James Leonard Park, author of Designer Marriage: Write Your Own Relationship Contract.

The best resource I've found for unmarried couples. I read a few others, but this one had all the info I wanted, was well-organized and useful. Worth the price for sure, especially for the legal templates included on CD.