Legal Documents For Cohabitating Partners

If you're in a committed relationship but have skipped the wedding, there are definite steps you can take now to assure your legal rights are honored.

Legal and financial experts recommend that committed but unmarried couples consider making the following legal documents part of their portfolio:

Powers Of Attorney

A "durable power of attorney" and "" (sometimes called a "durable power of attorney for health care" will give your partner the right to handle your finances and health care decisions in the event of an accident or illness that leaves you incapacitated. This can prevent disputes with family members, who otherwise might be legally entitled to make these decisions.

Wills

Without a will, your entire estate will go to your relatives, not your partner. So if you're intending for your partner to receive even a portion of your estate, it's important to say so in a will.

Letters of Instruction

A "Letter of Instruction" lays out your wishes for burial or cremation, and can name your partner as the person responsible for making any decisions not covered by the letter of instruction.

Federal Estate Tax Planning

A married couple can benefit from federal estate tax laws that allow them to leave unlimited assets to each other free of federal estate tax implications. Unmarried couples must plan more carefully how to allocate sizable estates. It's important to see an estate planning lawyer who understands tax laws.

Beneficiary Changes

You're allowed to name a beneficiary on many accounts, such as:

• Individual retirement accounts
• Life insurance policies
• 401(k) accounts
• Some stock accounts

Beneficiary designations on these accounts override your will, so it's important to make sure the money in these accounts is going to the appropriate beneficiary, either your partner or someone else.

Cohabitation Agreements

More and more unmarried couples living together are putting together contracts known as "cohabitation agreements" that outline:

• How living expenses are to be split
• Who pays the mortgage and when
• How your property will be divided if you break up
• Who pays the expenses of selling the property (such as a shared house) in the event of a breakup
• Who currently owns what property and what property will be jointly owned in the future

It's important to sign the cohabitation agreement in front of witnesses. And if both of you can afford to get your own attorneys to look over the agreement, that's even better. That way, neither person can later complain they didn't understand what they were doing in signing the agreement.

Property Titling

For unmarried couples, property ownership is determined strictly on the basis of how the assets are titled. It's important to talk with a local real estate attorney to find out whether your want to own property as joint tenants with rights of survivorship (which means that when one partner dies, the other automatically becomes sole owner), or whether some other type of ownership would best suit your needs.

Documents Pertaining To Children

If you're unmarried but have children together, or have children from previous relationships living with you, it's important to put your partner's name on emergency medical care forms, school pickup forms and so forth. Otherwise, your partner may be unable to care properly for your child in an emergency.

Retirement Planning

Unmarried couples don't qualify for Social Security survivor benefits or survivor benefits under more traditional pensions. So it's important to set aside additional assets to cover retirement plans.

With some extra planning, you can assure that your unmarried partner has the same legal rights as a married partner.