Solicitors have said that children of unmarried couples who separate could benefit from proposed changes to the law, which would allow cohabitees in Britain and Northern Ireland similar legal status to married couples.

English law firm DWF said that the number of children who suffer from financial hardship after their family splits up could be greatly reduced if the Law Commission's new proposals come into force.

James Maguire, partner with DWF, said of the millions of children who live in families where the couple are unmarried: "If the partners separate, the one who is left looking after the children often experiences financial difficulties and has no claim against their former partner other than child support payments. The courts' powers to protect children in these circumstances are fairly limited.

"The new rules would put the interests of the children first. Where a couple have had a child together or have lived together for a minimum period - likely to be two to five years - it would give the primary carer greater rights and help protect the standard of living for children if they separated or if one of them died."

Mr Maguire concluded: "The proposals are not intended to undermine marriage as people who choose marriage usually do so for other reasons than legal ones. Nor do they propose giving cohabiting couples the same rights as married people. However they would result in a fairer deal for many thousands of children and young people.

"With a growing number of couples choosing to live together, the legal situation needs to be urgently addressed. The existing law is unfair and has a particularly bad impact on children."

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