Includes index.

Your LGBT family companion : How we see our relationships -- How this book can help -- Using the forms in this book -- ch. 1. Defining family: basics of marriage, domestic partnership, and more : Defining family -- Domestic partnership -- Employee benefits for domestic partners -- Other benefits -- Marriage and marriage-like relationships in the United States: an overview -- Can you get married? -- Creating marriage-like relationships by contract -- Ending a relationship -- Keeping up with legal changes -- ch. 2. Marriage and marriage equivalent relationships : Same-sex marriage in the marriage equality states -- Marriage equivalent: California's domestic partnership law -- Other marriage equivalent laws -- Pre- and postpartnership agreements -- Marriage lite: relationship recognition in Wisconsin and Colorado -- Is marriage (or its equivalent) right for you? -- ch. 3. Money, insurance, name changes, and immigration issues : Cash and credit -- Insurance ; Name changes -- Foreign lovers: visits and immigration -- ch. 4. Renting a home together : If a landlord discriminates against you -- Sharing a rental -- Sharing one partner's rental home -- Renter's insurance -- Moving on -- Public benefits and living together -- ch. 5. I'm mom, she's mommy (or I'm daddy, he's papa) : Legal parents and the second-parent trap -- Having a child -- Adopting a child -- Foster parenting -- Becoming a guardian -- Agreements with teenagers.

ch. 6. Medical and financial matters: delegating authority : Health care decisions -- Physician-assisted suicide -- Burial and body disposition -- Estate planning note -- Durable power of attorney for finances -- ch. 7. Looking ahead: estate planning : Death and living together contracts -- Wills -- A sample will -- Estate planning beyond a will -- ch. 8. Living together contracts for lesbian and gay couples : Living together contracts are legal -- When you need a living together contract -- What to include in a living together contract -- Sample living together contracts -- Contracts for jointly acquired items -- Modifying your agreement -- Beware the tax man! -- ch. 9. Buying a home together (and other real estate ventures) : Finding a house -- How much house can you afford? -- Proceeding with your purchase -- Taking title to your new home -- Contracts for home purchase and ownership -- ch. 10. Going separate ways: issues at the end of a relationship : Breaking up: an overview -- Separation process: what to do -- Getting to yes: how to work toward resolution -- Ideas for solving some common problems -- Breaking up when there's no legal relationship -- Dissolving a same-sex marriage -- Dissolving a straight marriage -- Domestic violence in same-sex relationships -- ch. 11. Help beyond the book : Hiring a lawyer -- Doing your own legal research -- Legal organizations -- Appendix. Using the interactive forms : Editing RTFs -- List of forms.