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    Making It Legal: A Guide to Same-Sex Marriage, Domestic Partnerships & Civil Unions
    Unavailable
    Making It Legal: A Guide to Same-Sex Marriage, Domestic Partnerships & Civil Unions
    Unavailable
    Making It Legal: A Guide to Same-Sex Marriage, Domestic Partnerships & Civil Unions
    Ebook340 pages6 hours

    Making It Legal: A Guide to Same-Sex Marriage, Domestic Partnerships & Civil Unions

    By Frederick Hertz and Emily Doskow

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Although same-sex marriage is now legal nationwide, there is no federal recognition for domestic partners or civil union registrants, and many couples have messy and unresolved agreements and/or registrations that need to be cleaned up. Couples also need to consider whether they want to extend marital rights (and duties) retroactive to when they first starting living together as a couple, and those with children may need to resolve issues of legal parentage.

    All of these issues will be addressed in the new edition of Making It Legal, which provides a brief history of the same-sex marriage movement, an overview of emerging trends, and a discussion of the factors involved in the personal decision to marry, including:

  • Is a pre-nup agreement advisable and what does it involve?
  • Whether you will be responsible for your partner’s debts if you’re married
  • How to evaluate the effect of taxes on shared lives
  • When to turn to professionals for help during disagreements
  • When a will or living trust might be needed
  • and more!
    • LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNOLO
    Release dateApr 15, 2016
    ISBN9781413322934
    Unavailable
    Making It Legal: A Guide to Same-Sex Marriage, Domestic Partnerships & Civil Unions
    Author

    Frederick Hertz

    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.

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    Reviews for Making It Legal

    4/5

    16 ratings7 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This book is the tech support manual for a same-sex relationship. Planning on getting married? You need this book. Not planning on getting married. You still need this book. The laws regarding same-sex couples vary from place to place (and they keep changing). Making It Legal will help you make your way through things.It's not the most romantic thing to cuddle up with your honey and discuss the legal and financial implications of getting married. Of course, it's even less romantic to stay unmarried because you fear the legal implications are worse than they really are or to get married and find some unanticipated wrinkle.It's just a book and it can't answer everything. Some things are still unanswered. I look forward to future advice from Nolo on this subject.
    • 3/5
      Because gay marriage, and its variations (domestic partnerships and civil unions), are controlled by the states, responsibilities and rights can vary significantly. California's domestic partnership is the equivalent of other states' marriage, and differs from Maine's domestic partnership, including whether a divorce is required.If you move to another state, or live in a different state from where you marry-domestic partner-civil union, then the state where you reside may or may not recognize your relationship, depending on state law and state case law. Thus, Texas will recognize your marriage but you cannot be divorced there!Making It Legal covers these details, sometimes in agonizingly boring detail. It also covers estate planning, and prenuptial agreements. If you are gay and considering a legal relationship with your better half, then this book will be useful.
    • 3/5
      Working with LGBT people professionally, I thought this book might be a good resource, but I had my doubts given how frequently the laws in the area of same-sex relationship recognition are changing. I was glad to see that the book attempts to address the issue by providing frequent reminders to access up-to-date information (at the NOLO website, though legal professionals, etc). A lot of the book is focused on relationship advice and the social aspects of same-sex marriage and civil unions. Some of this seemed like filler, included only to cushion the fact that little solid legal information can be conveyed at this point. I'm just not sure how useful it would be to same-sex couples on a practical level. It would be a good primer for a college term paper on issues facing same-sex couples seeking legal recognition.
    • 3/5
      I love Nolo's books and always find them to be full of good advice. However, I found "Making It Legal" to be a book unsure of what it was supposed to be. Part of the problem is that the law in this area is changing daily. (For example, my home state of Maryland should be passing a law permitting same-sex marriage within the next few weeks.) Part of the problem seemed to be a lack of focus - there was a crazy mixture of legal, financial, social, and relationship advice for same-sex couples. Ultimately, the parts that I found the most interesting had already been pretty well-covered in other Nolo books such as Living Together, which also appeal to a wider audience.In short, this book is worth checking out from the library if you are looking into entering a permanent relationship with your same-sex significant other and want to be convinced not to (or at least know all the risks). But I am in the niche audience this book is marketed to, and I found that it was not really useful.
    • 5/5
      While this book is a great resource for same-sex couples embarking on the legal aspects of commitment, it should be required reading for any and all joined in such bliss. NOLO has again created a great legal resource. This book does a good job of explaining what the legalities of union mean, what assets and liabilities are at stake, social and emotional ramifications, how to prepare for the future--both joyful events and less so, and the various localities that recognize same-sex union. Kudos, as well, for explaining the history of marriage and its inherent biases. The weakness of this text is that apart from cataloging such info in one binding and recent changes at state levels, there's not really any new information in it, and some of it will without doubt be short-lived as marital landscape changes. Examined as a thorough introduction, this text opens up great dialogue and sheds insight on what questions to ask, what points to consider, and where to go from there.
    • 4/5
      An extremely good guide to same-sex relationships. This book is a great guide for the LGBT community. Nolo’s fare is usually more attorney-friendly, this book isn’t quite as full of “legalese” as other’s that Nolo offers. It is definitely far more user-friendly. Being a paralegal, this book will serve me well. It’s already getting that used look! I expect, however, that a new edition (this being the 2nd edition) will be forthcoming because of the New York state decision to recognize same-sex marriage in June of 2011! Hopefully, same-sex marriage will be a reality in all fifty states soon!
    • 5/5
      The NOLO guide entitled “Making it Legal” is one of those rare books concerning legal matters that is written, by design, so that almost everyone can use it. Which in my opinion doesn't happen enough. The subject legalizing relationships, with the emphasis being on Same Sex Marriage, Domestic Partnerships, and Civil Unions, is a very pertinent one right now with all the discussion and the various legal proceedings presently under way. The best way teat such guides as this is to use them. Is it useful? Is it easy to find the answers you are looking for to your questions. Does the book make one think more about the subject of legalized relationships? What are the responsibilities and what would expected of you and your partner. The answer to these topics and many others are to be found within the covers of this volume. One of the features I thought very interesting was the Marriage License Test to be found towards end of the book. Don't leave home to get a License without taking this test! It will help you think about those things that should give thought about before beginning any long term relationship. I think I can recommend this book very highly. It can definitely be used to guide you though the legal maze that so many couples enter into so quickly and unknowingly.