GA. ADVANCE DIRECTIVE FOR HEALTHCARE
This crucial three-part document allows you to designate who you want to make healthcare decisions for you; designate your treatment preferences if you are terminally ill or permanently unconscious; and designate who you would want to be your guardian if you should need one. Georgia Equality (georgiaequality.com), the state’s largest LGBT political group, offers an easy place to download the healthcare directive.
FINANCIAL POWER OF ATTORNEY
This document allows you to designate someone (like your partner) to make financial decisions for you, either immediately or if you should become incapacitated. This can be very helpful for your partner if you become seriously ill or disabled and your assets are needed to maintain your home and care.
LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT
If you die without a will, your assets go to your legal heirs — and here in Georgia, that means your family, not your partner. A will lets you spell out exactly how you want your property divided and makes sure the person you love isn’t left out in the cold. It also lets you name who you want to be the guardian of your children.
PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT
A partnership agreement gives you the opportunity to think intentionally about how you will share assets, household expenses, child-rearing and other crucial issues. It also is a chance to agree in advance on how you will mediate disputes should your romantic relationship end.
Join the marriage fight
There are many groups working to secure the right for same-sex couples to legally wed. Here are a few who are leading the way. Visit their websites for how you can help them help you.
American Foundation for Equal Rights
AFER is the group bringing the high-profile federal legal challenge to Proposition 8, the voter initiative that ended gay marriages in California. The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case March 26; the broadest possible victory could allow gay couples to marry around the country, while narrower rulings could let gay marriage resume in California or keep the status quo. www.afer.org
Lambda Legal
A national LGBT legal group with offices around the country, including Atlanta, Lambda Legal has played a key role in legal battles for marriage rights nationwide. www.lambdalegal.org
Freedom to Marry
Freedom to Marry is a national voice for marriage equality, fighting for marriage rights at the state and federal level. www.freedomtomarry.com
Human Rights Campaign
The nation’s largest LGBT political group includes the Americans for Marriage Equality campaign, which helps bring national attention and resources to battles around marriage equality. www.hrc.org
Campaign for Southern Equality
The Campaign for Southern Equality, based in North Carolina, coordinated the recent “We Do” protests around the South — including in Decatur, Ga. — where same-sex couples applied for, and were denied, marriage licenses. www.southernequality.org
Georgia Benefits Counsel
This nonprofit was created to provide low-cost legal services to Georgians in same-sex relationships. Services include wills, financial powers of attorney and advance directives for health care; the cost is only what you would pay for a marriage license in your county. www.georgiabenefitscounsel.org