Protect yourself and your loved one with sound legal planning Gay and lesbian couples have gained a lot of legal ground in recent years. Although same-sex marriage is legal across the U.S., laws governing civil unions and domestic partnerships continue to vary from state to state. It's still important to define your relationship in the eyes of the law--and A Legal Guide for Lesbian & Gay Couples can help. This plain-English guide shows you how to: have and raise children through adoption, donors, surrogacy, or foster parenting jointly buy a house or other property make decisions about living together, marrying, or registering as legal partners make a will or living trust make medical decisions for each other, and deal with the end of a relationship. The 19th edition is completely revised to provide the latest on same-sex relationships and parentage laws.

Author Biography

Frederick Hertz is a practicing attorney-mediator and the author of other Nolo books including, A Legal Guide for Lesbian & Gay Couples, Living Together: A Legal Guide for Unmarried Couples, and Making It Legal: A Guide to Same-Sex Marriage, Domestic Partnership & Civil Unions. You can visit Frederick's website at http: //www.frederickhertz.com. Emily Doskow is a practicing attorney and mediator who has worked with families in the Bay Area for more than 22 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. She is the author of Nolo's Essential Guide to Divorce and coauthor of A Legal Guide for Lesbian & Gay Couples.