Parents would no longer be able to disinherit their dependent children by cutting them out of their wills under new proposals which amount to the most radical shake-up of Scotland's inheritance laws in a generation.

Spouses and dependent children would be given greater protection against being disinherited while co-habiting partners would see their rights to make a claim on an estate extended under the proposals.

And in cases where a person dies without leaving a will, surviving spouses should inherit their entire estate, according to the Scottish Law Commission (SLC), which published the proposed reforms yesterday.

Scotland's inheritance laws, otherwise known as the laws of succession, are in need of a radical overhaul to reflect changes in society such as the legal recognition of gay relationships, the increasing number of step-families and divorces, according to the SLC. The report from the SLC deals with two major issues: the position of surviving spouses, civil partners and co-habitants when a person dies without having made a will; and the protection of close relatives from being disinherited.

It says that the current rules governing intestacy, when a person dies without a will, sometimes fail to provide a fair result for surviving partners and therefore should be changed. At present if a person dies and leaves a large estate or a mainly heritable one - in other words one comprising land and buildings - and is survived by a spouse or civil partner but has no children, the spouse will be the major beneficiary.

However, a substantial proportion may go to the dead person's parents, siblings and even the sons and daughters of siblings who died before them. In some circumstances they can inherit more than the spouse.

The SLC proposal is that in this situation the surviving spouse or civil partner should be entitled to the whole estate.

The other major proposal contained within the SLC report deals with close relatives who are disinherited. Under Scots law someone who makes a will is able to disinherit any member of his or her close family by leaving all of their estate to other people.

The SLC said: "There is strong and consistent public support for some protection for spouses, civil partners and issue and dissatisfaction with the existing regime of legal rights applicable to them."

It proposes that in these circumstances spouses and civil partners should be entitled to a quarter of what they would have got had there been no will, and that dependent children should be able to apply to court for maintenance from the estate. The definition of who would qualify as a "dependent" child under the new proposals has still to be decided.

It also recommends that co-habitants be entitled to a share of the estate in these circumstances.

The report also calls for new legislation to prevent a person evading the protections against disinheritance by giving property away before they die instead of leaving it in a will. Currently in Scots law there is nothing to prevent a person doing this.

The SLC proposals were welcomed by academics and legal practitioners alike.

Alan Barr, a partner with Brodies LLP, said: "I think these proposals are entirely reasonable.

"It's not a root and branch removal of the law as it stands, but it's modernising and deals with problems that people have perceived about it.

"There is always a balance to be struck between whether on the one hand you should be able to do exactly what you like with your estate, and on the other whether people should be bound to provide for at least some of their family.

"This is an attempt to change that balance slightly and to simplify what is very complicated law."

Michael Meston, emeritus professor of Scots law at the University of Aberdeen and one of the foremost authorities on the Scots law of succession, said: "The law in this area is undoubtedly in need of improvement.

"These proposals are very welcome and address a much-needed improvement in the law."