A lot of people in the UK still think that there is such a thing as "common law marriage" in England and Wales, which confers rights to unmarried couples after a period of time.

In reality, no such thing exists. If you aren't married or have a civil partnership then you have very few rights when you split up or one of you dies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_law_marriage#United_Kingdom
http://www.divorce.co.uk/hottopics/articles/cohabitants.htm
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Remind me to change my signature to something more interesting someday