Mendel & Associates Attorneys at Law 1215 West Eighth Avenue - Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: 907-279-5001

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Same-Sex and Non-Marital Relationships

If you are involved in a long-term same-sex or other nonmarital relationship, you need to take certain steps to protect yourself and your partner in case of death, break-up, or disability.  We can help you understand your rights, and draft the necessary documents.  However, there are things you can do yourself, to help protect your relationship:

• Talk about it.  You and your partner should discuss what belongs to whom, who pays the bills, who is responsible for debts, what you expect for the future.
• Write a contract.  The law in Alaska has evolved to the point where such contracts are supposed to be honored and enforced.  If your property is at all extensive, you should probably get an attorney's help.  As painful as it is, you should cover what happens if you break up.
• Write wills.  The law will not provide for the inheritance of the property of same-sex couples in the way you probably want.  The only way to protect the one you love is to write it down.  Beware of do-it-yourself wills.  Very few are intended for use by same-sex couples.
• Make beneficiary designations.  Many assets, such as retirement savings plans and insurance policies, let you designate a beneficiary without writing a will. 
• Write durable powers of attorney.  The law may not allow you to make decisions for your partner, or even visit your partner, if s/he becomes sick or disabled, unless you have something in writing.
• Get good tax advice.  Sometimes the rules intended not to benefit you end up providing unintended benefits.  The tax effects of a same-sex relationship are often bizarre and unexpected.
• Consider how your assets are titled, and what the consequences are.  Will you pay inheritance taxes to inherit what is already yours?  Are you paying more car insurance because you have separate policies?  Will you be able to access needed funds if your partner dies or becomes disabled?
• If you are raising children together, consider whether you have any legal relationship with your partner's children, and what kind of relationship you want to have.  You can write parenting agreements that may be of some help in case of death, disability, or break-up.

THE LAW IS IN A STATE OF FLUX.  DO NOT RELY ON BEING MARRIED, OR PLANNING TO MARRY, OR BEING IN A CIVIL UNION TO PROTECT YOU.