The firm won the Marketing Innovation Award for its website www.cohabitation-law.co.uk, the first dedicated resource for couples who live together but aren’t married.
The awards, hosted by Mock the Week regular Zoe Lyons, celebrate the most pioneering individuals, firms and legal service providers in the industry.
Cohabitation-law.co.uk is the first website of its kind in the country and offers practical guidance to couples who are setting up home together but aren’t married. Following research commissioned in 2017 with YouGov, the firm surveyed 1,000 cohabiting couples to highlight the myth of common law marriage and examine the financial and legal issues facing them. More than one third (35%) either believed they had the same rights as married couples or didn’t know. The results were startling given that cohabiting couples are the fastest growing family unit in the UK with figures rising from 1.5m to 3.3m in the past 10 years.
Sue Brookes, Principal Associate at Mills & Reeve said: “The lack of knowledge is why we have launched the first legal resource for cohabiting couples. The site covers the issues people need to think about at every stage of their relationship: from moving in together, buying a property, having children and thinking about marriage, through to what happens if the relationship were to break down and how they can protect their family and finances around ill-health and death. We try to answer the questions that couples may not have even thought about.”
Trevor Comyn, Director of Knowledge, Learning and Development at Mills & Reeve said: “We are dedicated to building an innovative culture in the firm, it’s not just about big ideas and Eureka moments, but about acting on ideas that improve the way we work. The cohabitation website was about us acting on a need in the market and being ahead of the curve.”