The Scottish Executive has published its plans for reforming divorce and parental laws.

Under the proposals, waiting times would be reduced from two years to one in uncontested divorce cases and from five years to two where divorce is contested.

Unmarried couples will also receive additional rights - unmarried fathers registering the birth of their child with the mother will be granted full parental rights, while co-habiting couples would be able to go to court if there is disagreement over dividing assets.

Justice minister Cathy Jamieson said the changes were needed to reflect current times.

"The status quo isn't an option where so many children are left with families without proper legal safeguards," she said.

"We are not proposing that co-habitation should have the equivalent legal status to marriage, but our objective is to introduce legal safeguards where a relationship ends or one party dies.

"Where we can help is in providing the right kind of support when families hit a rocky patch.  We have a role in providing a sensible framework of legal safeguards when, sadly, family relationships break down.

"This legal framework exists already in Scotland but there is widespread consensus that it no longer provides the safety net of legal safeguards for the way Scotland's people now live their lives."

However, Conservatives warned against relaxing the laws too much.

"We must not get into a situation where our laws encourage quickie divorces that trivialise marriage and turn it into a conditional contract, terminable at short notice," said the party's justice spokeswoman Annabelle Goldie.

Grandparents

The executive's proposals also came under fire for not including specific rights for grandparents, which are lacking in the current system.

"My hope is that grandparents will have the right of contact and when a contact order is given by the court, the court will enforce it," said Grandparents Apart leader, Lydia Reid.

"I would like to see a court system being centred around what the child wants and needs, because at the moment that really does not happen."

However, Jamieson defended the move.

"To grant grandparents an automatic right of contact could potentially be to ignore the views of the child and that's why I don't believe that a simple right of contact is the best way forward," she argued.

"However, I do want to ensure that wherever possible we have continuity of relationships between children and their grandparents."