Are UK Joint Bank Accounts a Recipe for a Happy Marriage?

Joint bank accounts can be a convenient and sensible approach to organising your finances, but recent research by Abbey has revealed that they can be a bone of contention between couples when it comes to how the money is used.

It seems that marriage and finances can, at times, prove to be a difficult mix, with partners having different ideas and experiences when it comes to managing finances. According to recent research by Abbey, joint bank accounts can prove to be a bone of contention between partners, with a quarter of all couples arguing over how the account is used, leading to mounting frustration, arguments and general falling out with one another.

Most joint accounts allow either person to make withdrawals on the account without the other's knowledge. For many, fears that a partner is using the joint account to fund purchases for themselves is well-founded, with the Abbey research showing that one person in five have admitted to doing so. The research also shows that, although men and women are equally to blame for using joint accounts for their own purposes, men tend to be more suspicious of their partner.

The research also found that most couples are happy to use a joint account to pay for household bills such as gas, electricity and mortgage payments; whereas supermarket shopping, home and kitchen appliances and holidays were also acceptable areas for spending joint funds. However, most couples weren't happy with their shared money being used to buy gadgets, with only one in three believing that joint funds should be used to buy items such as games consoles, MP3 players or mobile phones.

Steve Shore, head of banking at Abbey said of the findings:

"Money has always been a common source of dispute between couples, and joint accounts are proving to be no exception … It's important that couples are open and honest with each other from the start and discuss exactly what the joint account rules are, to avoid arguments at a later date."

Sharing your finances with another person can be a convenient and sensible approach to organising your money. Many couples pool their resources and have their salaries paid directly into a joint current account, so it is important to establish ground rules between each other about how the account will be used. For example, establish an order in which bills, utilities and other household expenses are paid, and avoid the temptation to splash out before taking care of the essentials.

In addition to the Abbey research, Halifax and Alliance & Leicester also conducted recent studies into the spending patterns of joint account holders. The Halifax research discovered that 8.5 million Britons lie to their partners about the true cost of purchases, with the average consumer found to spend a secret £772 each every year. The Alliance & Leicester study revealed that only eight percent of cohabiting couples shared a joint bank account, but this figure rose to 44 per cent after marriage.

Author - Paul McIndoe - Finance advisor in London

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