Joint accounts

[Andrew_Culture]

I have no idea where my money goes! I used to have money of my own when I ran my own business but I only spent it so I'm better off not having it. I'm the breadwinner and my wife doesn't earn enough to pay tax. I'm blissfully ignorant of our finances but know enough that we get by.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Many years ago I shared a house with a couple of mates so we had a joint account to pay bills, only one of the three of us wasn't on the account. Over the course of six months the chap not on the account stopped paying bills putting me and my other friend in a ton of nastiness. We kept calm and invited said friend to the bank so he could sign onto the account, once he signed on we signed off.
As we walked out of the bank the last thing we heard was our 'friend' being threatened with ejection if he didn't calm down.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Joint accounts here since before we were married - married 16 years ago. we both maintain our own sole accounts as well into which an equal amount of personal spends goes into and we both have a savings account. Wages go into the joint account and everything is paid for from the joint account. personal accounts & said money is for personal treats, birthday/christmas and occasionally anything we could not justify from the joint account such as a new iPod when the old one is still working...

My brother & his wife have the exact opposite - married for the same time. what they earn is their own money, they pay half the living costs each, she pays her petrol money for my brother driving her somewhere (e.g. to the supermarket to buy her food), she pays for her food in the supermarket, separate trolleys (and same if they eat out!) she earns 4 times what he does and their marriage is failing.

 

[MacB]

My brother & his wife have the exact opposite - married for the same time. what they earn is their own money, they pay half the living costs each, she pays her petrol money for my brother driving her somewhere (e.g. to the supermarket to buy her food), she pays for her food in the supermarket, separate trolleys (and same if they eat out!) she earns 4 times what he does and their marriage is failing.

Gosh, people are funny about money and relationships, the furthest we go is we both have some emergency funds, which we keep in premium bonds. Just in case something goes wrong or the other one bugs out in some way.

I do know people, predominantly the male/higher earner(delete as appropriate) that their partners don't even know how much they earn. That's an alien land to me there are plenty of ways of creating/keeping a level of autonomy without getting all secret squirrel with each other.

 

[compo]

Just a word of warning about joint accounts, which hopefully no-one will need.
When I split with my ex wife I moved towns. It all happened very quickly, pretty much overnight. After a few days she went to the bank to get some money and mentioned to the cashier (a friend of hers) she had split with me. The bank immediately froze the account. She had no access to any money at all. I had to go into a branch of the bank with the usual proofs of identity and sign away any interest in the account so my wife could become the sole account holder. By the time all this was done was about a fortnight that she had no money at all. I don't know if this was just the one bank's routine or if it is a widespread practice, but if you do split with your joint account partner get your money out before telling the bank, just in case.

 

[chqshaitan]

Just a word of warning about joint accounts, which hopefully no-one will need.
When I split with my ex wife I moved towns. It all happened very quickly, pretty much overnight. After a few days she went to the bank to get some money and mentioned to the cashier (a friend of hers) she had split with me. The bank immediately froze the account. She had no access to any money at all. I had to go into a branch of the bank with the usual proofs of identity and sign away any interest in the account so my wife could become the sole account holder. By the time all this was done was about a fortnight that she had no money at all. I don't know if this was just the one bank's routine or if it is a widespread practice, but if you do split with your joint account partner get your money out before telling the bank, just in case.

That is the norm bud, exactly the same happened to me when i had a joint savings account with my ex.

As soon as i spoke to the bank about the break up, they froze the account and it took weeks to get sorted out.

Due to all the messing about I left the bank as my ex was thinking it was me keeping hold of the money, when it was the bank, so that added extra hassle and stress, to an already stressful situation.

 

[brodiej]

Is this the norm with all joint accounts?

Surely the idea is you both have access to the contents independently - I wouldn't need my wife's sugniture to buy something or withdraw money.

Do you even need to be in a relationship to open a joint account and does the account become null and void if you split up?

It sounds a bit dubious

 

[Col5632]

I moved out with my girlfriend at the time when i was 20, lived together for 2 years and all money was paid into a joint account and we spent what we needed from that account and because we earned the same it didnt matter about who made more etc
That was all great until she met another guy and wanted me to move out and started saying i was due her money etc and because i bought the engagement ring through the joint account she made out that she paid half which wasnt the case.

For that reason when i move out again i will have a joint account for household bills and my own account for anything else.
I think it works for some people and others it doesnt.

 

[Col5632]

Is this the norm with all joint accounts?

Surely the idea is you both have access to the contents independently - I wouldn't need my wife's sugniture to buy something or withdraw money.

Do you even need to be in a relationship to open a joint account and does the account become null and void if you split up?

It sounds a bit dubious

I currently have a joint account with my mum but thats because im on the mortgage, not sure if you could do the same with a freind say

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I currently have a joint account with my mum but thats because im on the mortgage, not sure if you could do the same with a freind say

why not? my boyfriend and I held a joint account whilst we were students, (OK I later married him...)

 

[Col5632]

why not? my boyfriend and I held a joint account whilst we were students, (OK I later married him...)

I just wasn't sure if you could, i had one with my girlfriend but didnt know if you could with non-relations

 

[chqshaitan]

Another downside with joint accounts is that both of you are liable if the account goes overdrawn, also the person who get a joint bank account means that your finances are linked to theirs, so if you apply for credit this will be taken into consideration.

Worth making sure that they have a good credit rating or you could run into problems (even if yours is perfect).

 

[chqshaitan]

Is this the norm with all joint accounts?

Surely the idea is you both have access to the contents independently - I wouldn't need my wife's sugniture to buy something or withdraw money.

Do you even need to be in a relationship to open a joint account and does the account become null and void if you split up?

It sounds a bit dubious

in my case, the bank froze the account until they could ascertain how the balance was going to be split. She could have easily transferred it to her own personal account, which would have made it a nightmare for me to get what was mine. if it had not been frozen.

 

[chqshaitan]

found this useful link , worth a read

 

[Over The Hill]

Tried it - did not work for us.
I pay bills as late as i can and deal with big bills as they come along. Mrs OTH likes to put money aside in imaginary jam jars and pays bills as soon as the envelope hits the mat. My late paying bothers her and sending BT money 3 months before i need to bothres me!
Also you end up both dealing with the same things.
We just split the costs and deal with our own allocated jobs. I have not looked at the TV licence for 20 years and she has not looked at the house insurance for 20 years. Works for us like that.