The Couples Contract for a Lasting Relationship

This book is up-to-date. There are no alerts.

We review the laws of all states every January and whenever we need to print more books. If we find anything that affects this book, we will notify you here. Check back from time-to-time to see if alerts are posted.

Legal Essentials for California Couples

August 22, 2005

Page 224 - Supreme Court: presumption of parenthood is gender neutral. Where two women in a same-sex relationship decided to have a child together using a sperm donor, the court held that (1) a child can have two parents who are both women; (2) Family Code 7611(d), about when a man is presumed to be a father, applies to women as well; and therefore (3) the woman who did not bear the twins is presumed to be a parent under that statute because she received the twins into her home and openly held them out to be her children. To download the full text of the case of Elisa B, click here.

June 8, 2005

Nolo Arbitration Rules. The file on the CD was accidentally protected in a way that prevents printing. Sorry. To download a fixed file, click here and save the file to your computer.

May 28, 2005

New Health Care Directive. We have updated the HCD (on the CD) by adding new clause (1.7) giving the appointed agent full power and authority to access and disclose medical records. Some people argue that the agent already has such authority, but many medical records keepers do not see it that way because of the Federal law known as HIPAA, which added a high degree of complexity around patients' privacy. Therefore, anyone who has or wants to have a Health Care Directive should update it to add this important clarification of the agent's authority. To download the new form, click here.

January 2005

The new edition is entirely up-to-date. There are no alerts.

Check back from time-to-time to see if anything has changed.