Cohabitees could be granted some of the same legal and financial rights as married couples in the event of separation or death, under proposals unveiled today.

The Law Commission has recommended giving live-in partners the right to claim maintenance and a share of each other's wealth after a break-up.

The suggestions include proposing divorce-style payments when cohabiting couples separate after an unspecified period of time, particularly when children are involved. The proposals would apply equally to gay and heterosexual couples.

The Commission, which advises the Government on law reform, will consult the public on the possible changes before a draft Bill goes before parliament next summer.

In a summary of its findings, it says the existing arrangements could be seen as illogical, uncertain and unfair - "a patchwork of statutory remedies and general propery law". It states that this leads to outcomes that many people would regard as unjust.

However, the Commission stops short of suggesting that existing divorce rules are applied to co-habiting couples, saying that this would not be appropriate. It argues that there while is a strong case for new remedies when couples live together with children, the case for legal intervention in childless couples is less evident.

It says: "The public interest in the welfare of those children justifies intervention in order to deal with any financial hardship that the primary carer, and thereby indirectly the children themselves, would otherwise sustain following relationship breakdown.

"Moreover, where they have children, it is likely that one parent will reduce paid employment, at least when the children are pre-school, in order to care for the children."

The report suggests that instead of a lengthy court inquest into the couple's financial history, a court would "look at the pluses and minuses which have resulted from the parties’ joint decisions, and ask whether the way in which the property is currently being divided between them is fair.

"It would then decide whether it should make an order to redress any resulting unfairness."

The proposals are likely to be criticised by traditionalists for legitimising 'living in sin'.

They have been broadly welcomed by family lawyers, who say that they would level the playing field for Britain's two million co-habiting couples, easing the financial hardship suffered after a separation.

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