Ladies, it's time we stop being bamboozled by this lie.

A family member of mine had to learn the hard way.

She and her boyfriend of 6 years lived together and had two kids together. He refused to marry her. We talked to her about it multiple times after the first child, but she said she wasn't able to convince him. She then had a second child with him. They also lived in a state where common law marriage was not recognized.

Tragedy struck. We found out he had a rare form of stage 4 cancer and he died 3 weeks later.

He died without a will. The small sum of money he had in the bank went to his kids, nothing directly to her. She had no automatic right to inherit anything.

The children receive social security/death benefits, but she gets nothing.

She couldn't file a lawsuit regarding medical malpractice concerns. She could sue on behalf o the children but she herself had no right to sue.

Because they weren't married, his parents planned his funeral, not her. This is cultural I guess, but still signifies the lack of respect of her role as a "forever girlfriend" rather than his wife/legally recognized spouse.

Six years building a life with this man and when he died, it is as if she never existed. It was no different as if she had just been his baby mama who he co-parented with and lived in a separate house from.

Ladies, there's a reason why LGBT groups were protesting and filing lawsuits for the right to marry. There are over 1,000 legal rights that "piece of paper" gives you. https://now.org/resource/civil-marriage-v-civil-unions/

The "marriage is a piece of paper" saying is a lie. The U.S. Constitution is also just a piece of paper, do you hear them say it is not that important?