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All About the Green Stuff …

I have some friends that recently got married and started combining assets. It happens whenever two people decided to get married and move in together. The combining of the assets — furniture or money. Wifey™ and I did it right away. We combined our money into one checking account, which we both have access to through ATM or checkwriting privileges. I figured this was the normal way to go until my friends started telling me about how they combined assets.

Basically they got a checking account which she has total control over and if he wants to take money out, he has to get her to co-sign first. He might have ATM access with some sort of limit, but she can manage the account totally by herself. When asked about it, she said that she doesn’t trust him to have access to the account because he’d buy something “stupid” with the money. Erm. Okay, in her defense, he DOES have a sweet tooth for Star Wars memorabilia, but I think that if he was told or asked not to buy that stuff with their money, he’d probably comply. Also, I believe he has a separate account which a portion of his money goes into for spending money. So, it’s not like he doesn’t have ANY money.

The problem I have is that when you get married there’s a certain amount of trust you have to have with each other and by not allowing your significant other to have access to your joint money, it’s not showing that you trust them. Not to mention … why does she get to call the shots on how the account will be set up?

It’s really none of my business how they set up their money situation as long as they are both happy with it, but it just caught me as odd. Personally, I’ve never heard of an arrangement like this before and would never go for it myself. I have no problem with each person having a separate account for spending money, but the joint accounts should be able to be accessed equally by both parties.

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