Includes index.

1. Living together : an introduction -- 2. The legal state of living together -- Sex and the law -- Domestic partners -- Common law marriage -- Living together contracts -- To be safe, write it down -- What happens to your written living together agreement if you get married? -- Special issues for seniors -- 3. Living together agreements : why and how -- Ten tips for writing a living together agreement -- Property agreements -- Agreement to share ownership f a joint purchase -- Agreement covering joint projects -- Agreement covering homemaker services -- Agreement for artists an inventors -- Agreement for people in school -- Agreement to protect person who moves a long distance or gives up a job -- 4. Debt, credit, taxes, and more : practical aspects of living together -- Debt and credit -- Buying and investing together -- Discrimination -- Sharing your last name -- Income taxes -- Social Security -- Retirement plans -- Public benefits -- Insurance -- Liability for medical care of a mate -- Making medical and financial decisions for your partner -- Wrongful death and loss of consortium lawsuits -- 5. Renting and sharing a home -- Discrimination on the basis of marital status -- Leases and rental agreements -- Moving in together -- Dealing with objections when moving into the rental home of one partner -- Getting your security deposit back -- 6. Buying a house together -- May sellers discriminate against unmarried buyers? -- How to find and work with a real estate agent -- Househunting online -- Home financing and mortgages -- Proceeding with your purchase : offers, inspections, escrow, and closing -- Taking title to your new home -- Contracts for couples owning a home together -- Contract for equal ownership of a house -- Contract for unequal ownership of a house -- Agreement for one person to move into the other's house and become an immediate co-owner -- Agreement for one person to move into the other's house and become a co-owner gradually -- 7. Starting a family -- Having a child : legal obligations of unmarried parents -- Naming the baby and getting a birth certificate -- Naming the father : paternity -- Legitimacy of children born to unmarried parents -- Adopting a child -- Public and private benefits for a child of unmarried parents -- Inheritance rights of a child of unmarried parents -- 8. You and your ex-spouse and children from a prior relationship -- Getting a divorce while living with someone else -- Living together and impact on custody of children from a prior marriage -- Visitation with children from a prior marriage -- Child support for children from a prior marriage -- The effect of living together on alimony and child support from a prior marriage -- 9. Wills and estate planning -- What happens if you don't do any estate planning? -- The effect of living together contracts -- Figuring out what you own : taking inventory -- An introduction to wills -- Preparing a basic will -- Avoiding probate -- Estate and gift taxes -- Balancing the needs of your partner and your children -- Funerals and other final arrangements -- 10. Moving on, when unmarried couples separate -- Rules of the unmarried dissolution -- The process of separation -- Ten steps to resolving your conflicts -- Mediation, arbitration, and other ways to resolve disputes -- Lawyers and lawsuits : going to court -- Solutions for property division problems -- Putting it all together : preparing a settlement agreement -- Children : custody, visitation, and support -- 11. Lawyers and legal research -- Doing your own legal research -- Hiring a lawyer -- Appendixes -- A. How to use the CD-ROM -- Installing the form files onto your computer -- Using the word processing files to create documents -- Forms on the CD-ROM -- B. Tear-out forms -- Agreement of joint intent not to have a common law marriage -- Agreement to keep property separate -- Attachment A (separately owned property) -- Agreement to share property -- Attachment B (jointly owned property) -- Agreement for a joint purchase -- Agreement covering rented living space -- Letter requesting permission to add a roommate -- Contract for equal ownership of a house -- Promissory note -- Contract for unequal ownership of a house -- Agreement for one person to move into the other's house and become an immediate co-owner -- Agreement for one person to move into the other's house and become a co-owner gradually -- Acknowledgment of parenthood -- Will -- Codicil -- Short-term agreement regarding separation and housing -- Agreement to protect property during a breakup -- Agreement to mediate and arbitrate -- Home buyout agreement.