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"Any rights you would want to have as a married couple, you need to re-create in a legal document," says Todd G. Sears, a senior financial adviser who founded the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) financial services team at Merrill Lynch & Co.

That will require a lot of paper. Some of the documents needed, and the terminology, will vary from state to state, but here's a basic list that same-sex partners should have: