Is it wrong for my husband and I to have seperate checking accounts?

Question

My husband and I have been married since June of this year. Well i decided that it would be best to have seperate checking accounts because it seems to always be an issue about Him payin most of the bills, so i opened my own and said i will go half of every thing. We he thinks that is completely wrong that my money is his money and his money is mine but when we had a joint account it was always him sayin well I pay all the bills. Am I in the wrong for opening my own account??

Answer 1

He's wrong for stating that only he was paying the bills when it came from a joint account. You might just want to talk to him about his attitude toward the finances, and then recombine your funds. Your marriage is a team effort, and keeping things separate can give it an air of there being two opposing teams... but he definitely must acknowledge your contribution into the family fund.

Answer 2

I work at a bank and let me say it's completely right for you to have your own account. So many people don't think about all the things that can go wrong in a joint account. Does he say he pays all the bills because he makes more money, or because he physically makes sure they get paid on time? If the former, he's kind of jerky, if the latter, just make sure you make a deposit of your share into his account at least a week before the bills are due.

Answer 3

My husband and I have a joint checking account for all of the bills, and we have our joint savings account. We also each have seperate checking accounts for anything we might want to purchase on our own. We don't literally split bills 50/50, but we do put the same percentages of our pay into the checking/savings accounts and personal checking accounts. Looks like you guys don't agree about money, and you should get on the same page with that ASAP to avoid major problems down the road.

Answer 4

What you could do is put some of both of your money in a joint account that's purpose is to pay all the household bills. That way it will show who's contributing to the household. Both of you contribute half of what is needed for the bills. It would be easy enough to track with bank statements who's income was put in there.

Then keep your separate accounts for whatever else you want. if you want a new suit, or he wants fishing poles, or you want to buy gifts for each other, then it will be YOUR money and HIS money being spent for the other person's gift, or for your own acquisitions.

This way you will be able to manage your own money he will manage his, but you will both be taking responsibility for the household expenses too.

After a while, it will be as he says, all every family members' money, and not yours and his, but "ours".

Congrats on the recent marriage.

Answer 5

Married couples have community or conjugal assets and property. What you earn goes into the community property as well as his earnings. There's NO definition or assignment of who pays what for how much. If he has an issue about paying bills and actually assumes he does all the paying even if you contribute to the community funds - then he's a big time ******. I would suggest you maintain your personal checking account until you both discuss who pays for what and how much. If you both use the amenities and facilities at home, then both should pay for it. But frankly, a man who thinks like this is not worth much by my standards. A man should provide for his wife.

Answer 6

No you arent wrong but this is defiantely something you should sit and discuss. My mom always told all of us girls to have at least one account he doesnt have access to. A woman shoudlhave enough money aside so that if something happens to the relationship she can leave without having to ask for help. it may sound pessimistic but very true. My mom and dad had an account they used strictly for bills and household expenses. They agreed on a set amount that they contributed each month equally and the rest of what was left of their check went into their own individual account.

Answer 7

Yeah. I have to say it's a problem, both financially and through trust.

Here's the thing. Instead of it being "your" money and "his" money, it needs to be "our" money. And the fact that you're only kicking in part of your income while holding back tells your husband that you're only partially committed to the marriage. What's more, while he's paying the bills, he's probably wondering what you're doing with the money you're keeping back. So you've just created a big fat trust issue between you and hubby.

Then, of course, there's the bookkeeping nightmare of transferring money between accounts.

Look, you give yourself in marriage, emotionally and financially. That means giving up a big part of yourself to join something larger.

Answer 8

If I learned anything from my Mama, is that you always, ALWAYS have separate accounts! As she put it, "You never know when the S.O.B. is going to leave you and take all of the money! Protect yourself!" VERY sound advice which I put into practice in my own marriage - good thing too 'cause my ex-SOB was spending $100's on porn every 3 months - which would've been my money he spent too if I we didn't have separate accounts!

Answer 9

no,what you should do is decide who pays for what bills that way no one feels one is paying more then other also the one thats has less money gets the bill thats so ..con ed cable food or washing your own cellphone each mate should pay there own and he should get like car note ,insurance etc......but haveing your own checking acct there is noting wrong with that

Answer 10

My wife and I have always had separate checking accounts. We will sometimes write two checks for one bill splitting it while on some of the others we just divide out between us to try to make them equal. It works for us so if I think it is wrong then I wouldn't do it.