When it comes to the law, married couples have it easy.

Who gets what after a divorce? Will a spouse be able to make medical decisions for an incapacitated spouse? Married couples have at least a general idea of where they stand on such issues because of the legal recognition that the law bestows on marriage.

But unmarried couples who live together? That's a bit more tricky and good reason for cohabiting couples to draw up a few basic legal documents.

Nevada doesn't recognize common-law marriage, notes Mary Chapman, a Las Vegas attorney who does estate planning for unmarried couples. That means the legal protections offered to married spouses don't automatically come to unmarried couples, no matter how long they have lived together.

While married partners enjoy community property rights, inheritance rights, survivorship rights to such things as Social Security and legal standing to sue if something should happen to their partner, unmarried couples don't, Chapman says.

Unmarried couples also can find themselves at a disadvantage in matters of health insurance and health care.

"Absolutely, hands down, we get more complaints about health issues than anything else," says Nicky Grist, executive director of the Alternatives to Marriage Project, a New York City-based advocacy organization for unmarried couples and single people.

Many employers won't offer insurance to an employee's unmarried partner or anybody other than "what the insurance defines as 'family,'" Grist says.

Similarly, unmarried couples often can't take time off to care for partners or use their bereavement days for, say, the death of an unmarried partner's parent, Grist says.

In a medical emergency, a hospital might not recognize the right of an unmarried person to make medical decisions for his or her partner. In contrast, Chapman says, "they will generally accept a spouse's (decision) because the spouse is the one with legal standing."

However, unmarried partners can take steps to prevent such issues from becoming a problem.

An unmarried couple should have a valid cohabitation agreement, Chapman says. "That is a written contract that exists between the two parties. In that contract, you spell out, 'This is what we're doing, this is what we want, and if anything happens, this is the way we want things split.'"

The couple also should have a living will, Grist says. "That is a medical power of attorney that says, 'This is what I want to happen if I become ill and this is the person I designate to make my decisions.'"

Then the couple need a limited durable power of attorney, Chapman says. "That assigns somebody to be your attorney-in-fact. This is somebody who can take care of your financial matters and all legal matters if you are disabled.

"So you get in a car accident and you're in a coma. How do you get that person's paycheck? How do you apply for disability benefits or Social Security benefits?

"If you don't have a durable power of attorney, you're going to have to actually go to court and file to have guardianship imposed."

This is particularly important "if you have a partner who, maybe, doesn't get along with all of the members of your family," Chapman adds. "Since (an unmarried partner is) basically a nobody -- they're considered just a friend legally -- they have no legal standing, basically."

Finally, the unmarried partners each should have a will, "because, remember, your nonmarried partner is not necessarily going to get anything" after your death, Chapman says.