ACADEMICS at a Scottish university are developing a board game to help the public negotiate the complex legal world of marriage.

Called Legally Wed, the game’s prototype was unveiled yesterday. It has been inspired by the work of academics at Glasgow University’s School of Law – professor Jane Mair, Dr Frankie McCarthy and Felicity Belton.

They have drawn on their research in family law and the wedding stories of family and friends to create the game’s tasks and challenges, which mirror real-life wedding mishaps on the way to the big day.

Players will have to race to plan their wedding and be first up the aisle to win the game. Along the way, in addition to choosing venues, food, outfits and the other trappings of a modern-day wedding, players must complete all the steps required for a legal marriage. If not, no matter how good they look in their Insta story, they will end the day without a spouse.

Mair, who is head of the School of Law, said: “About 30,000 wedding ceremonies took place in Scotland last year, and with the advent of same-sex marriage and legal recognition given to humanist wedding ceremonies, the choice to get married is open to a greater number of couples than ever before. However, the legal consequences of marriage – and the legal differences between marriage and long-term cohabitation – are poorly understood. Our research has explored how the law regulating marriage, divorce and cohabitation is applied in practice by the courts, solicitors and other legal practitioners in Scotland.

“Through partnership with industrial collaborators, and thanks to funding from the University of Glasgow we can now explore the potential of games as a medium for changing public understanding of the law.”

The team received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) Business Booster Fund to develop their prototype.