joint or separate accounts?

GentleGiant_2

Should a married couple who currently have no financial links go for a joint bank account or keep them separate.

Possibly may go for joint mortgage in the future, but not certain on that.

And advantages/disadvantages.

Essentially this would be to both get benefits from a paid bank account, but not if it could have a detrimental effect.

sueeve

Having made the legal links the financial links seem natural to me, especially if they both have good financial ratings. We each have a personal account, with a joint account to whch we pay in for the household. This means I can buy presents and have little treats without having to justify myself. But the joint account always has first call on money. Big bills mean that pocket money goes for that month.

Chuzzle

I agree with sueeve.

Me & OH only have joint current and joint savings a/c's. I want to change this to us having a joint a/c for household bills and then personal accounts for our pocket money ..... unfortunately he will not accept this and cannot give me a reason why, I begrudge paying for his hobby (cycling) - but thats a completely seperate thread on a different forum

So back to the point of this..... I was always told by my dad that having a joint account was a must for household bills incase either one of you died then the account would still continue and pay bills unlike a personal a/c that gets put on hold while things are sorted out. I don't know how true this is nowadays though.

Money_Saving_Mommy

We have a joint account for Household Bills and separate accounts for personal bills and savings.

Works for us (i don't want to be paying for my OH's stuff!)

anselld

Check both credit reports first. Any past (or future) bad marks will affect both individuals if you become linked via a joint account.

Koicarp

We just have a joint account which both of our wages are paid into, and the missus puts cash into my wallet when it looks a bit thin. I haven't used a cash machine in years.

thomasdown

Koicarp wrote: »

We just have a joint account which both of our wages are paid into, and the missus puts cash into my wallet when it looks a bit thin. I haven't used a cash machine in years.

I mean this in a light hearted sort of way! How can you live like that? That would drive me potty lol.

I agree with many others and fall into the same category as many others we get paid into our own accounts and then we each make a direct debit into the joint account where things like mortgage, bills, food etc get paid? We always pay over into this account, some months only by £60 - £70 and some £150 - £180.

CharlieH86

Hi,
I'm new to the forum and wanted to tag on the end of this discussion. I'm thinking about setting up a joint savings and current account with my partner when we move in together this month in order to start saving for our own house.

Further up in the discussion it said to do credit checks for each person as past bad ratings will be applied to both people - is this correct? My rating is squeaky clean :A but my partners less so so would it be better to save and pay bills from individual accounts until we have sufficient for a deposit?

Advice very much appreciated!

TimBear

I'm not married so perhaps not best qualified to answer, but I'm in the same boat as the others who have responded.

We both have our own current accounts into which we're paid, and we have a joint account which we both pay in equal amounts each month from which our bills are paid out of.

I wouldn't want to have a joint savings account or anything, and my own spending money is exactly that - my own. I don't have to ask if I may spend it or check what it can be used for.

GentleGiant_2

The last line will be untrue once you are married

JimmyTheWig

CharlieH86 wrote: »

Further up in the discussion it said to do credit checks for each person as past bad ratings will be applied to both people - is this correct? My rating is squeaky clean :A but my partners less so so would it be better to save and pay bills from individual accounts until we have sufficient for a deposit?

Probably depends on what you mean by "less so" and what your near future plans are.

Basically, when you get an account together your finances become linked. So if you then went to the bank for a loan they would check your record and see your details and your partner's details.
Lets say your partner has a history of taking out loans and not repaying them. Do you think the bank would then lend you the money?
If you don't have any joint products then you aren't linked and the bank would only see your details.
But if your partner has been pretty good apart from one late payment a couple of years ago then it probably won't hurt.

If you're on the brink of getting a large personal loan then it's probably best to wait.
If, however, you've got no plans to apply for credit before you get a joint mortgage then it makes no difference - as the joint mortgage application will go in both names anyway.