Legal Documents for Lesbians

These documents were provided by:
Beatrice M. Acland
(360) 734-3448
103 E. Holly St., #512
Bellingham, WA 98225
bea@aclandlaw.com 		Tracey L. Meek
(360) 714-9778
1639 Humboldt St #12
Bellingham, WA 98225
tmeek@qwest.net

These documents are provided free of charge and do not create an attorney-client relationship. You may wish to consult with an attorney to assist you.

The living will and durable power of attorney satisfy the statutory requirements for Washington. Copies are acceptable, but it's just as easy to sign several original copies. Keep one copy in the glove compartment of each car. Send one to your doctor and one to St. Joseph's hospital. Give one to your children, if any. Make sure the person who is named has a copy and understands exactly what you want.

The living will and durable power of attorney may not be valid if signed in another state. They are valid if they're signed in Washington then taken with you on vacation to another state. All bets are off if you go to a foreign country.

All documents are in PDF format and require the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.

If you'd like, I can send modifiable documents by email. Send requests to elisabeth@lesgo.com. Let me know whether you prefer MS Word, WordPerfect, RTF (Rich Text Format), or plain text.

To open a document, click the name. It will open in Adobe Acrobat Reader. With a 28.8 modem, this will take a few minutes. The document will be opened in a new window. Close the window to return to this page.

Faster: To save a document directly from this Web site to your hard drive, right click the name and select "Save Target (or Link) As."

Codicil to a Will

Domestic Partner Agreement

Estate Planning Tools. Indications that you may need a more complex will.

Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care. This is not a fill-in-the-blanks form: it needs more customization than most. Make sure you renumber sections if you delete some of the optional parts.

Limited Power of Attorney for Child Care

Living Together Agreement Keeping Things Separate

Living Together Agreement Sharing Most Property

Living Will

Will

The following documents were downloaded from The National Center for Lesbian Rights. Visit the Web site to obtain other valuable documents including: Fact Sheets for 2nd Parent Adoption, Custody Cases, and Adoptive and Foster Parenting Issues.

Partnership Protection Documents
Instructions for obtaining state-specific directives are included.

How to execute a will properly (this method works in any state).
  1. The testator and 3 witnesses go to a notary public and all stand together in the same room. The witnesses cannot be people who could possibly receive anything in the will.
  2. The testator tells everyone "This is my will," and signs it in front of them.
  3. The witnesses all sign the will as witnesses. 3a. (optional) The witnesses all sign a "self-proving affidavit." This way, when the testator dies, the executor doesn't have to track down the witnesses and get them into probate court to say that they witnessed the will and the testator was not under duress, which can be impossible or very expensive and without witnesses, the will can't be admitted to probate and is useless.
  4. The notary notarizes all 4 signatures.

Updated 04/23/2005