The Civil Partnership Bill is to be amended to relax the obligations that cohabiting couples would face under the legislation, the Sunday Business Post has reported.

Under the Bill as currently written, all couples living together for three years or more (two if they have children) face significant legal liabilities in respect of rights to property, maintenance payments, a share of pension entitlements or a claim on an estate.

Cohabiting couples can avoid these liabilities, but only by contracting a separate legal arrangement to that effect.

However, Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern is expected to extend the three-year period to five years when the sections of the bill dealing with cohabitation are discussed at committee stage in the Dáil.

A spokesman for Minister Ahern would not comment on specific changes, but said that ‘‘the minister raised the issue with officials earlier this week and discussions have taken place.”

The Post also reports that Minister Ahern is to rename the legislation the Civil Partnership and Cohabitation Bill, in order to underline the seriousness of the legislation for couples living together.

There is concern in some quarters over the extent of the legal obligations that the legislation will impose on couples living together. John Bryan, president of the Irish Farmers’ Association, said that couples cohabiting for ‘‘as little as three years’’ would be open to maintenance and property claims similar to those following a marriage break-up.

Fine Gael TD Denis Naughton, also a member of the Oireachtas Committee on Justice which is considering the legislation, said the three-year rule was too short and needed to be extended except where a child was involved. The committee has yet to consider ten sections of the bill relating to same-sex couples before moving on to the cohabiting provisions.

Research shows that most cohabiting couples have either split up or gotten married within five years of the start of their relationship.