what to do about bank accounts once your married?

ianbar0

i am wondering what people tend to do once married etc? we get married in 9 weeks. i bank at hsbc and o/h at lloyds. as i have a better grasp of numbers etc i am the one to organise the money more, we don't have a mortgage but the whole thing is a bit confusing. although is providing relief from wedding planning lol :-p

lostinrates

One day i will sort it out. I still have my main maiden name acc. Think i have been married six years now!

Dh and i both have access to al our accounts though, for practicality.

pinkclouds

Notify your bank after you are married - just confirm your name and provide evidence of your old signature and your new signature. To convert bank accounts from sole to joint accounts, you'll also need a copy of your marriage certificate - the bank may have a standard form or you can write to them with the relevant details. (In fact, top tip: when you get married or have kids - or when someone dies - order at least 2 or 3 copies of the certificate because everyone and his dog will "need" to see it.)

If you are retaining your maiden name - for any reason - then you don't have to do a thing. In fact, if you have bills in your maiden name then you don't have to change those either. It's still legally *your* name - you're entitled to be known as both Miss A and Mrs B. I think I changed most of mine except the phone bill.

ianbar0

just sat thinking in a way different accounts may be better, bottom line o/h earns about£300 a month more than me so she would have more spare money after bills etc i am looking forward to having more numbers and jars to create though lol

cottonhead

We have seperate bank accounts where each of our wages are paid. We then have a joint account which is for bills. Each of us transfer a sum into the joint account for bills and whatever is left in our personal accounts is for us. Having said that - we share our money and dont keep tabs on who spends what. My husband often gives me his debit card or I give him money if he goes out. I might pay for coffee out then another time he pays for the cinema etc etc. He does pay more into the bills account though as he earns more.

Lola888

I got married Nov 2010, we still have separate bank accounts which our pay goes into. He's with Barclays and I'm with Lloyds TSB, but we have a joint account which both of us pay into when we get paid. We have a mortgage together so we both pay in £750 for that, bills and to try and save some money.

I'm not 100% sure its the fairest way to do things though as I earn more, but OH works on commission mostly so sometimes he gets way more than I do.

We discussed putting all of our money in one joint account, but things are working fine.

I only changed my name on some accounts as people gave us cheques for the wedding address to Mr and Mrs!!!! I still have to change my d/l and passport though.

pinkclouds

ianbar0 wrote: »

just sat thinking in a way different accounts may be better, bottom line o/h earns about£300 a month more than me so she would have more spare money after bills etc i am looking forward to having more numbers and jars to create though lol

If you're thinking more about financial practicalities, then it would be financially prudent to have at least one sole account in the name of the lower rated tax payer and distribute savings accordingly. It would also be sensible to check how much money both of you have stashed in the same financial institutions - it's always wise to spread the risk across more than one bank. And don't forget to update pensions, insurance, etc with the new beneficiary names.

fluffnutter

ianbar0 wrote: »

i am wondering what people tend to do once married etc? we get married in 9 weeks. i bank at hsbc and o/h at lloyds. as i have a better grasp of numbers etc i am the one to organise the money more, we don't have a mortgage but the whole thing is a bit confusing. although is providing relief from wedding planning lol :-p

You don't have to do anything. I assume you already live together and are therefore managing to pay the bills without too much administrative hassle. In which case, why do anything? If you're changing your name, you'll need to get your account names changed (you can do this easily by taking your marriage certificate into the branch) but you don't need to get a joint account, or do anything else if you don't want to.

In my marriage, I organise the money side of things simply because he moved into my house and everything was already in my name. He transfers some money by standing order each month into my account, I continue as I did before he moved in. I didn't change a thing when we married.

ETA: apart from change my work policies (pension and payout on death) to name him as the beneficiary. I did this before we married I think.

pinkclouds

ianbar0 wrote: »

she

Noticed the gender. If you are a bloke, then you don't need to do anything unless you are changing your name outside of convention e.g. double-barrelled, taking her family name, etc. It's pretty much the same as what a woman would do - write to the bank with formal notification that you are now known as Mr A-B instead of Mr A and provide evidence of signature and ID. And so on.

System

We both have seperate bank accounts. 12 years ago the bills, shopping and everything went out of his account and i had no need for mine.

We split up for a period of time in 1999 and the bills were transfered into my name and came out of my account. I hadnt got a clue what needed to be paid, how much and when and it took ages to get to grips with it all. When he moved back in again he came back under the condition that the financial situation stayed the same. Never again will i be in the postition where i am financially clueless as to how much our house costs to run. Every month a few days before the Direct Debits are due (they all go out on the 1st) he transfers money from his account to mine to pay them. Every week he transfers the money i spend on groceries into my account.

Mind you, it has its drawbacks.... if i dont have the money in my account to pay the bills its me i presume that will be taken to court for non payment.

Caroline73_2

We have a joint account, all wages go in and all bills come out of there. We have joint savings too.

We also maintained our own personal accounts. each month we transfer a set amount into each of our own accounts for pocket money.