Should we get a joint account?

andrew_scfc

In the next few months me and my girl friend are going to move in together She will be moving into my house where I pay rent, bill etc currently.

We have discussed this and at the moment, we both think we should have a joint account. The main reason for this is psychological; we will have shared outgoings and we will both have take responsibility for paying for them between us. There will be a clear central place where the bills go out of, we can both see it and together we'll have to find a way of paying for them.

This is opposed to the alternative arrangement where my girl friend sends me all the money to pay the bills to my account. I think this is asking for trouble as I will receive a big block of money and she won't be able to see what I do with it. She trusts me of course but I'd rather we both take responsibility for the outgoings rather than me being the big bad man who asks for money for the bills!

The only financial negative I've found to this is that your credit scores are linked. We both have a good record so I'm not concerned about that personally.

The basic question is, should we get a joint account? I guess this a borderline relationship question rather than a financial one but I'm interested in both sides.

Thanks!

Mojisola

andrew_scfc wrote: »

We have discussed this and at the moment, we both think we should have a joint account.

The basic question is, should we get a joint account?

If you both think you should get one, then yes, you should.

grumbler

Mojisola wrote: »

If you both think you should get one, then yes, you should.

Rubbish.

Thinking something and understandigng something are different things.

Joint accounts create serious problems while having no advantages against sole accounts except an extra debit card. Especially if it's a joint account with a "girl friend".

Luckily, the OP does understand the possible problem resulting from a financial association.
Another serious problem is the sole liability of each account holder for the joint debt. All people opening joint accounts believe that their relationship will never break, but in reality this happens all the time causing very serious problems.

Mojisola

andrew_scfc wrote: »

We have discussed this and at the moment, we both think we should have a joint account.

I guess this a borderline relationship question rather than a financial one but I'm interested in both sides.

grumbler wrote: »

Rubbish.

Thinking something and understandigng something are different things.

Joint accounts create serious problems while having no advantages against sole accounts except an extra debit card. Especially if it's a joint account with a "girl friend".

Assuming that andrew and his GF are sensible adults, they will have discussed the pros and cons of a joint account.

As they seem happy with each other's financial standing, it's more of a relationship issue and there is no right or wrong way of doing it. If having the household account as a joint one feels right for them, it's right for them. It wouldn't suit other people.

grumbler

Assumptions...
I might be old-fashioned, but the word "girlfriend" doesn't inspire much confidence to me. Nothing wrong with this in general, but IMHO a joint account is best to be avoided at this stage.
All people having problems with a joint account felt that it was right for them when opening it.

Coming off a joint bank account.
Joint account with ex
Closing an empty joint current account
Joint bank account
...
...

Want more examples? Google for 'revenge !!!!!!', 'ex-girlfriend' etc.

Mojisola

grumbler wrote: »

Want more examples? Google for 'revenge !!!!!!', 'ex-girlfriend' etc.

Don't need more examples. Of course it can go wrong but what you won't find by googling are all the relationships that happily function using a joint account for the household bills.

That's why it's down to the OP and his GF to decide what they are happy with.

andrew_scfc

Thanks for the replies. I have thought about the horrible situation if it all goes wrong. That's the reason I've posted really. I just can't think of another way of keeping the expenses transparent without me being the bad guy asking for money all the time.

Maybe we go a bit softer and we maintain a spreadsheet of monthly expenses that she knows I'm paying for and she sends me the block of money that reflects the sum of all that? That means I personally am still technically liable for all the expenses - a bit one sided. It's a difficult one!

Mojisola

andrew_scfc wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. I have thought about the horrible situation if it all goes wrong. That's the reason I've posted really. I just can't think of another way of keeping the expenses transparent without me being the bad guy asking for money all the time.

If you have concerns, open another account in your name but give her full access to it so she can see the money going in and out.

You shouldn't need to keep asking for money - she should have a SO transferring money into the household account every month.

Archi_Bald

I think you should be using budgeting software such as YNAB to plan your spending and record the outgoings and payments. You can both share the YNAB data so it will all be totally transparent.

YNAB also will also give you a lot more knowledge about your joint finances than a current account could ever do.

The fact that bills get paid from an account that's just in your name should be neither here nor there, and you can show your girlfriend your transactions or your statements and/or your bills.

andrew_scfc

Mojisola wrote: »

If you have concerns, open another account in your name but give her full access to it so she can see the money going in and out.

You shouldn't need to keep asking for money - she should have a SO transferring money into the household account every month.

Is that technically legal to give a non-named account holder 'access' to an account. Does that basically mean telling the other person your access details? Wouldn't you have no fraud recompense if the bank found out?

The best mid-way solution would be for one of us to have an account in one of our names (don't care who) and the other has 'read-only' access to that account. That way it's transparent but has none of the awkward log jam problems if things go wrong. The standing order stops and whoever is living in the house continues to pay the bills. No weird joint sign-off to close the account stuff.

grumbler

andrew_scfc wrote: »

I just can't think of another way of keeping the expenses transparent

What can be more transparent than a monthly statement of a dedicated sole account?

without me being the bad guy asking for money all the time.

It's 'billing' or 'budgeting' rather than 'asking'.

That means I personally am still technically liable for all the expenses - a bit one sided. It's a difficult one!

This seems to prove that I was right.
With a sole account "technically" you are liable for making payments, not for expenses. With a joint account you both are jointly and solely liable, so it doesn't address the 'technical' issue that you have problems with.