Home is where the protection is: in the absence of a marriage license, the title of a home is a state-recognized document that links you and your partners names in print. But don't rely on that alone to protect your relationship.(PERSONAL FINANCE)

Publication: The Advocate (The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine)

Publication Date: 28-MAR-06

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Susan Abbott and her partner of 11 years, Lynn Heald, have found many different ways to legally protect their relationship, including registering as domestic partners in the city of Oak Park, Ill., where they live. They both have powers of attorney for health care and finances, and wills as proof of their wishes. And Heald completed a second-parent adoption of the two sons to whom Abbott gave birth.

"The coparent adoption is one of the most binding things we've done," says Abbott, program director for the Oak Park Area Lesbian and Gay Association. "It's saying very consciously that this is my child's parent."

What's the next most binding thing? Some legal experts say it's the three-bedroom home they purchased together in the Chicago suburb.

Documents that might seem mundane to opposite-sex couples can act as invaluable protections for same-sex couples forbidden to marry. Among them,...

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