IN DEPTH: Those lacking marriage's legal benefits need to get things down on paper

[NVMojo]

When it comes to the law, married couples have it easy.

Who gets what after a divorce? Will a spouse be able to make medical decisions for an incapacitated spouse? Married couples have at least a general idea of where they stand on such issues because of the legal recognition that the law bestows on marriage.Advertisement






But unmarried couples who live together? That's a bit more tricky and good reason for cohabiting couples to draw up a few basic legal documents.

Nevada doesn't recognize common-law marriage, notes Mary Chapman, a Las Vegas attorney who does estate planning for unmarried couples. That means the legal protections offered to married spouses don't automatically come to unmarried couples, no matter how long they have lived together.

While married partners enjoy community property rights, inheritance rights, survivorship rights to such things as Social Security and legal standing to sue if something should happen to their partner, unmarried couples don't, Chapman says.

Unmarried couples also can find themselves at a disadvantage in matters of health insurance and health care.

"Absolutely, hands down, we get more complaints about health issues than anything else," says Nicky Grist, executive director of the Alternatives to Marriage Project, a New York City-based advocacy organization for unmarried couples and single people.

Many employers won't offer insurance to an employee's unmarried partner or anybody other than "what the insurance defines as 'family,'" Grist says.

Similarly, unmarried couples often can't take time off to care for partners or use their bereavement days for, say, the death of an unmarried partner's parent, Grist says.

In a medical emergency, a hospital might not recognize the right of an unmarried person to make medical decisions for his or her partner. In contrast, Chapman says, "they will generally accept a spouse's (decision) because the spouse is the one with legal standing."

However, unmarried partners can take steps to prevent such issues from becoming a problem.

more...

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Nov-19-Sun-2006/news/10572719.html

[TechBear_Seattle]

1. Sure. Spend thousands of dollars to get a few of the rights that marriage offers

AND in a form that can be easily -- and successfully -- challenged by family members.

All because the bigots don't want us to have the thousands of absolute, rock-solid rights that come with a $55 marriage certificate.

[pepperbear]

2. My friend, you're absolutely right....

and the sad thing is, their reasoning is "if they want to live that disgusting lifestyle, it is perfectly OK to make them jump through hoops", never mind the obvious.

[election_2004]

3. What I've never understood

How can anti-gay family members successfully challenge a person's living will (when the contract has been enshrined on paper), if the gay/lesbian couple were of sound mind when they finalized that will (and specifically designated each other as mutual beneficiaries)?

[JeremyWestenn]

4. That's something that's conufsed me to...

First off I think if the family members have any sort of investement in anything I think they can throw some claim to it. That is an issue. More so though I believe that the issue of that can be handled by the state legislature under the guise of state laws strengthening wills so as to prevent family members from God knows where from swooping in and stealing things via the court system when it has been legitametly left to someone else. The issues with wills being challenged isn't just a gay one, it affects straight people do via the same stance(unmarried couples) and it also affects a multitude of other situations(deaths of family members, friends, etc.). Talk to your state legisature about it, generally their very easy to contact and it's not like the unreachble Congressional members. You can call them, talk to them, and even get them to call you back.

[TechBear_Seattle]

6. All it takes is a bigoted judge to rule the will invalid

"I see no evidence refuting the family's claim that (deceased) was living a heterosexual lifestyle until he met (survivor), and no refutation of the family's claim that (survivor) seduced (deceased) into changing his will in an effort to cheat (deceased)'s family from (deceased)'s estate. The court hearby rules that this will is invalid, and the estate pass to the legal next-of-kin."

Unfortunately, that happens pretty frequently. In a marriage, the legal next-of-kin is the marriage partner; family that hates the wife or husband has a significantly more difficult path in prosecuting such a case and very rarely will win. Just a few more benefits bestowed by a $55 marriage license that thousands of dollars in attorney fees can not duplicate.

[TaleWgnDg]

5. Uuummmmm . . . does this newspaper lack

.

Uuummmmm . . . does this newspaper lack journalistic objectivism? Is this an ad (passing as journalism) for this attorney? Unfortunately, it's a half-baked "news" article to hype this attorney's area of law. An "ad," if you will, hyping her wares, and "filler" for this newspaper, period. (And, this is said by an attorney-at-law who specializes in this area of law, i.e., family law.)

The short and long of it all is that unless you are in a same-sex marriage, then run (don't walk) to your local (in your own state) lawyer who specializes in this area of law, i.e., family law including GLBT law. However, even if you are same-sex married, you may still need legal advice as to out-of-state and out-of-country legal matters and how it may impact you and your married partner. DU certainly isn't the forum to expect legal advice.

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