Life’s not fair – but lawyers hope to make things a little fairer for unmarried couples when one partner dies without making a will.

The Law Commission has urged the government to change inheritance laws to let partners who have lived together for five years or more inherit from the other if one dies without leaving a will.

The lawyers also suggest the time limit reduced to two years if an unmarried couple has a child who lives with them when one partner dies.

Under current intestacy law, unmarried partners are entitled to nothing, but can go to court to apply for a family provision. The court make an award that reflects the lifestyle of the partnership and which provides a measure of long-term security to the surviving partner.

The Law Commission wants to scrap the current arrangements included in legislation passed in 1925 to bring the law up-to-date to reflect modern lifestyles.

Around 60% of adults in England and Wales do not have a will, and over the most recent five-year period for which figures are available, more than 300,000 applications were made for a grant to administer intestate estates.

The Law Commission explains this is just the tip of the iceberg as half of estates are administered without any formal grant.

Although 7.5 million people live together outside marriage, which is around 15% of all families, the Law Commission reckons they are among the least likely to have a will.

Lawyers point out that the new draft legislation arising from the report – the Inheritance (Cohabitants) Bill – offers more security to women who are more likely to survive their partners.

Other measures from the bill include:

• Making sure assets pass to a surviving spouse if a couple is married or in a civil partnership, where there are no children or other descendants

• Protecting the inheritance of an adopted child

• Dealing with “fossil” marriages – where a couple are living apart but have never divorced. Under the new bill, the surviving cohabitant has no entitlement to any of the estate.

However, lawyers also suggest making a will is the best way to handle inheritance issues.