The Pros & Cons of Joint Accounts
Posted by Gail | Filed under Money Management
One of the questions I am asked most often comes from people who have recently paired up and want to know the best way to handle their money. I’ve talked about a variety of options, from running your financial lives completely independently (most often recommended when you have nothing in common financially), to throwing your money together completely and acting as if you’re one financial entity (which I don’t at all recommend because there are some things, like credit, that you should NOT share.)
Most often I recommend the Yours, Mine & Ours approach to money which will let you work together on joint goals and expenses, but keep your individual retirement savings and credit in place so you also have a financial identity that’s all yours. This is important if you divorce or your partner dies and you end up on your own. Too much “joint” could leave you a non-entity in the financial world, so a little bit of financial independence can be a good thing.
I get some push back on the idea that throwing it all together may not be in your best interests. The argument I hear most often is that “the point of getting married is to share everything, including the money.” Hmmm. I thought the point of partnering up was to share a life. Nobody says you also have to stir control of the money into the mix. In fact, it’s been my experience working with a lot of people that those who make Yours, Mine & Ours work have the healthiest attitudes toward money.
Whether you open an Ours account as part of your Yours, Mine & Ours approach to money management, or because you’re lumping it all together, it’s important to know the rules. A joint account, be it a savings or a chequing account, is one that has two (or more) people’s name attached to the account. Both people can make deposits or withdrawals just as they could with an individually owned account. Either person is 100% entitled to the money in a joint account at any time. It doesn’t matter who put the money in, how you’ve agreed to manage the money in the privacy of your kitchen, or who makes more money. If you’re both signed on the account, either one of you can empty the sucker out at any time, blow the mortgage payment on your on-line shopping or gambling habit, or run the account into overdraft, affecting both people’s credit histories in one stupid move.
So should you have a joint account? Well, if you do:
- You’ll find paying joint bills easier since there’s no need to transfer money between accounts.
- You can manage all the household bills, and track your expenses, far more efficiently than if you divvied up the bills between you.
- Since you’re both signed on the account and can see the statements, there should be very little in the way of secrets because ou can both see where the money is going, providing you are both paying attention.
- If either one of you gets hit by a bus, the other one can keep paying the bills.
- You may also feel like more of a team because there is a psychological bonding element to joining up financially.
When should you skip the joint account? Consider taking a pass if:
- One of you has a habit of bouncing cheques. No point in ruining two credit histories.
- One of you tends not to pay their taxes or credit responsibly. Neither the tax man nor the lender much care whose money is in the joint account, they’re going to grab what they can if they can.
- One of you is a saver and likes to accumulate a cushion and the other can’t see $10 without spending it; the joint account will just be another reason to fight and I have a feeling you have plenty enough of those.
- You want a little privacy. Hey, if you go out and buy your special someone a lovely gift, and the transaction shows up in the joint account before the gift has even been wrapped, that can take the mystery out of the experience, eh? Another case for having a separate account at least for some of your money.
On a completely separate note, my son’s school is studying World War II and the Holocaust in history. As part of it, they are continuing the Pebble Project started a couple of years ago. From their letter:
“During their study, the question of “What does 6 million look like?” arose. At Goowin Learning Centre, we are working very hard to create a peaceful community with the hope of taking that peace and carrying it with us through our lives…”
The children’s goal is to collect 6 million pebbles. Pebbles are significant in Judaism because when family and friends visit a grave, they leave pebbles to serve as a visible sign that they came to visit and remember. Last night, at a presentation that included readings by the children and a presentation by a Holocaust survivor (yes, I cried) I learned that they’ve collected 2.5 million pebbles so far. From their letter:
“If you are willing to help us out, please forward your pebble to the address (below). If you have the time, we would appreciate any information you could send us about the pebble (where it’s from, is it in meory of someone, a picture of yourself with the pebble, etc.) We would like to extend our most sincere thanks for taking the time to read our letter. Please know that we will do our best to spread the message of peace as we build our community at Goodwin Learning Centre and travel beyond these walls into our global community.”
The letter is signed by all the children in the school. If you would like to make a contribution to this project, please send your letter and pebble to :
Goodwin Learning Centre
149 English Settlement Road
RR #4
Trenton, ON K88V 5P7
Canada
November 10, 2009 at 7:48 am
Gail,
With regards to the Joint accounts, I’ve found that it’s much nicer and very easy to manage by having joint accounts. The other thing I’ve kept separate is the debt I brought into the marriage. It’ll be paid off sometime next year. After that we will only have a joint credit card and joint chequing account, of which the credit card is paid off monthly.
I do agree with your reasons to keep things separate, however I’m lucky that my wife and I aren’t in any of those boats. The last reason is hog-wash as far as I’m concerned if I want to buy something for my wife and don’t want her to know about, I just go to the bank and take out the cash. You often say on your till debt do us part show, that cash isn’t trackable.
In the end we track everything and we both have access to look at how it’s spent. I think we have done a great job of budgeting and simplifying our financial lives and I think the joint accounts were part of that.
November 10, 2009 at 8:09 am
I’ve been married almost 22 years and we’ve had everything joint..except obviously our rrsp’s and as of 2009 tfsa’s…one other point though…credit cards are not joint…one person is the primary cardholder and the other is the additional card holder…the actions on that card affect the primary cardholder, so if you are looking to build/maintain your credit you should each have a card where you are the primary cardholder…and if you are the additional cardholder on a card be respectful of it and the effect your actions can have on the primary..
November 10, 2009 at 8:56 am
For us, we have a joint account and makes it easier to pay bills, mortgage, car payment, etc. It was difficult in the beginning when we had separate accounts because I was always asking my husband to pay whatever bill. With automated withdrawals, it all comes out of the same pot.
We each still have our own credit cards plus he’s co-applicant on my points card. Wrong, I know, but it works out well for us and the balance is paid every month.
November 10, 2009 at 9:15 am
At the beginning we had a joint account of sorts. I had kept my own as well as I was attending University in a dif city for the first couple years of marriage. Once I was home, the joint account concept was not successful for us. While I was not a paragon of virtue, he saw money in the account as money to spend and if, when mortgage came around (or groceries) well that’s what overdraft is for. After all, overdraft is ‘his’ money too *eye roll*.
The bills are paid separate now. The joint account still exists but he is the only one who really uses it. His account is always still in maximum overdraft and thankfully, mine isn’t.
November 10, 2009 at 9:34 am
I like running the money and Hubby likes that I run the money so we have one points credit card on which I am the primary and he is the additional cardholder. All our bills come out of the credit card which is paid in full every month. The points add up so quickly and I redeem them for $25 gift certificates. I’ve never paid for an oil change yet.
That said, he does not willfully remain in the dark about the finances. He is the primary on all the bills so he also has a credit history. We have a budget binder (larger than the one you use on the show) which we review together two or three times a month. It has everything in it: the holdiay budget, the dwindling running total of our debt, the increase in savings for our next big purchase, the dates all the bills arrive and are due. At the end of each month I print out a spreadsheet of how we made out that month and we both check it out.
Since we both have pretty much the same attitude about money, joint works very well for us. As for the Christmas presents showing up on the cc, I kind of liked knowing how much the earrings cost. He had worked a lot of overtime so we could pay the bill in full.
November 10, 2009 at 9:41 am
My husband and I hooked up a loooooooooong time ago when we were both very young (teenagers).
Since we started our journey together with nothing, and have built up our assets together, everything is joint (except RRSPs and TFSAs).
I do have one account that is in my name solely. This is because there are no guarantees in life and if he were to walk out/ acquire a gambling habit or something else unexpected were to happen, I have to look after myself and my children.
I would counsel my children (especially my daughter), no matter how secure her relationship and no matter how financially compatible she and her partner are, to maintain her own account and her own credit – just in case.
November 10, 2009 at 10:02 am
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November 10, 2009 at 10:16 am
Gail,
I read your posts every day, and needless to say you advice has helped me soooo much! Thank you!
I will be sending some pebbles—probably this weekend—and if you can get your hands on a copy (our local video store has it—or maybe it’s even on YouTube), I highly recommend you and yours watch a documentary called (I think!) “Paperclips”, especially in light of your son’s project. I’m not sure if I got the title right, but it’s about some kids in a small town in the southern US that undertake a similar project…
Have a great day, Gail. You are a special woman and mom. Thank you for all you do.
November 10, 2009 at 10:23 am
My husband and I tried having me be the bill payer and he would give me cash for half of everything. After a week of not getting the cash (I despise asking for money from anyone, even when they owe me), I’d go into O/D, have a cheque bounce, whatever. This was not working for us. When we bought our first house 14 years ago, he took the mortgage and taxes out of his account, his work vehicle payment came out of his account, as did his insurance. I took care of all other payments (child care, household bills, my car pmt, etc). When I started finding things tough, we re-evaluated and saw that I was making less money but paying out more, so he took over groceries.
Now almost 18 years later he still has the new mortgage and insurance while I have all else (RESP’s, my RRSP, vehicle, insurance, household, groceries, etc.) but it works percentage-wise in comparison with our incomes. He also takes on home improvements right now because he has the extra cash and I don’t, but where before it would’ve been a huge thing, now we know that we’re both covering our fair shares in comparison to our incomes, and whenever he wants to buy a $X dollar whatever or I want to buy the same, we go ahead without feeling like the other is cutting short on bill payments or short-changing the family.
I’m hoping my kids keep their things separate as well, and to always either have their own income or be readily available to make an income in the event they split up from their future spouses with a couple of kids to feed. I believe it’s the best way to remain autonomous and secure in a very unsecure world. I’ve seen 30 year marriages breakdown and one person left with NOTHING, so no amount of words can make me believe things are forever and when someone says they love you and will always take care of you, they’ll mean it forever. I may be jaded, but I AM a realist, and I won’t ever be left penniless and reliant on anyone else!
November 10, 2009 at 10:48 am
What happens with a joint account if one party dies? Is there a period where the account is frozen? This has been one of my concerns and my reason for a complicated his, hers and ours system!
November 10, 2009 at 11:05 am
@ Shelley, Gail and the others can correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the bigger problem is if someone dies and there isn’t a joint account. My wife and I have a joint account, and if I die… well nothing happens. It’s still a joint account, I just probably won’t be making many withdrawals. On the other hand, if I have money in a personal account for just me, then if I die she has to jump through hoops to get access; with the joint account she already had access.
My wife and I have a joint account and merged our finances together but did so literally, including merging of credit building initiatives. For instance, the mortgage is in her name but I’m a guarantor, but the line of credit is in my name ($0 balance) and so are the credit cards. Utilities are split down the middle. RRSPs are also separate. I have an extensive positive credit history already (paid off car, paid off student loans, had a mortgage on my loft before our house) so think we’re both well covered. Offtopic, I’m currently considering whether or not we should do a post-nuptial agreement just in case as well… anyone go through this?
November 10, 2009 at 11:13 am
Geoff – I also wonder about pre/post nup agreements. Things are very amicable now between my partner & I but I’m sure everyone in a nasty divorce has thought they would never get into that situation.
If you have built up assets together or rolled your original assets into your current asset (loft->home) I’m not sure what you could ever separate as pre-owned money. But I have no experience in this area at all so I’m also interested if anyone else has gone through it!
I have another divorce question – do rrsps just get thrown in the marriage asset mix? Or are they considered separately owned items.
November 10, 2009 at 11:33 am
We have the Yours, Mine and Ours accounts and I don’t find them complicated at all. We have been together for 12 years and married for 6. We started this system because when we got married we didn’t feel the need to suddenly put everything in one account. We split everything 50/50 and we have never (and I mean never) argued over money. We have very different hobbies – he plays guitar and I scrapbook. Once the bills are paid and money is put into emerg and long term savings if he wants to spend $350 on a new guitar he can and if I want to spend money on scrapbooking supplies I can as well.
I remember a friend of ours getting in an argument over $5 because they had agreed to not spend any money and he went for lunch to McDonald’s. Yikes!
November 10, 2009 at 11:35 am
Kerry – I always just agreed that any money we brought into our marriage was rolled together. I’d never try to get back the $50,000 I put down on our house; and it’s actually fair since though I came up with the downpayment, she actually earns more (much more) than me so it balances out. RRSPs are part of the martial asset mix and so would get portioned out; as would things like future pensions, etc. Loans however are paid back separately. I believe this is why inlaws who are clever and don’t like their child’s partners will “loan” a gift of money at 0% interest, rather than ‘give’ it to them where the partner gets 50% of the money
November 10, 2009 at 12:17 pm
I’m just not sure why the money has to be all in joint, or all separate. My husband and I have a joint account for all of our expenses (and joint savings). Both paycheques go in that account, but every month we make withdrawals to our separate accounts which we use for our separate spending. That way, we function as a unit, but we keep some breathing room.
The other thing to consider with retirement savings is that you may actually still be partnered with the same person when you retire. And if you are, it’s a really good idea tax-wise, to have equal RRSP incomes. It’s also a tax benefit in the mean time to have the higher earner making as much of the RSP contributions as possible (into both partners’ accounts).
I definitely get what Gail is saying about protecting yourself, but if go through life thinking your partner is going to jerk you around, then you’re in for an unhappy life.
November 10, 2009 at 12:23 pm
I find this topic very interesting. My husband and I have been joined financially since a year into our relationship (we are now at year 16). We do each have at least one credit card in our own name – but we don’t look at them as his and mine – they are just credit cards.
I’ve always wondered how a marriage could be solid – if the money was separate – but from reading this blog I have become so educated on this. Not everyone is as compatible when it comes to money as my husband and I. Sometimes who you love isn’t as wise with the cash (or is wiser) then yourself and some protection has to exist.
I know that my husband and I will be together till one of us dies – to some this may sound unreal – but our relationship has already been through hell and back (I suffer from severe chronic depression and most marriages can’t survive it – I was basicaly house bound for 3 years – and he stood by me – we are “stuck” with each other for life).
I know that if either of us lost the other – we would keep our money separate from any future relationships. We have learned we are different than most couples – blending everything in life is only feasible for a select few – I am happy we are one of the few who can do this. But love is love – and if you can make it work without completely merging finances all the power to you.
Sorry, went on a little long.
November 10, 2009 at 12:44 pm
I’m currently living with my boyfriend in my house. He pays rent and I take care of all the expenses related to the house. I had a lawyer advise me on how to do this to ensure there was no question about property entitlement should we split.
He is a spender, I am a saver. We have rubbed off on each other and he is on track to pay off his CC’s before me! He has cut one up already!
We decided that if and when the time came to get married, we would have his/mine/ours. The ours would take care of living expenses, groceries, savings, emergency fund with each of us being responsible for our own car payments (I drive mine to the ground, he likes fancy), cell phone (I am basic, he is bells and whistles) and spending money. We are planning on contributing proportionately (same percentage of income). The rest is ours to do as we will. Hopefully it works out!
November 10, 2009 at 1:21 pm
A post-nuptial? This is a new concept to me. Would love to hear more about it.
November 10, 2009 at 2:11 pm
One of the misconceptions about joint accounts is that the other person can come in at anytime and make a full withdrawal. If the account is set up as joint either/any that is true, but if it is set up that joint signatures are required, than the other person won’t be able to abuse the account.
At the end of the day, it’s all about doing what makes sense for your and your spouse. My wife and myself share a joint account where our pays go in and all the investments and expenses come out. We also have our own individual thrift account, where equal monies from the joint account go to each of our personal accounts. The money in our thrift account can be used for whatever we want without any questions asked. It works for us, never argue about money which makes life so easy.
With vehicles in our own names, separate savings accounts and line of credits, enough credit has been established over the years that there will never be a problem to get credit in the future.
Get on the same page with your spouse and it will all work out.
November 10, 2009 at 2:19 pm
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November 10, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Another no no to joint accounts is NEVER put money from a bequest inheritance or insurance settlement in a joint account.
Keep the exclusive character of it protected.
Have it separate account
In Ontario it survives the net family property on separation or subsequent divorce.
Keep any paperwork that accompanies the payments from insurance companies or lawyers etc.
Photocopy the cheque as well before depositing.
The other partner or soon to be former can’t touch it.
If its placed in a jiont account the exclusive character is lost.
Additionally I have heard and know of one case of late that some banks are not letting the other spouse into joint accounts after the ones death unless they have the paperwork from a lawyer.
eg will
Anybody heard this or can verify in Ontario?
November 10, 2009 at 2:50 pm
All individuals on divorce or death have to file a net family property in Ontario
All assts and liabilities have to be disclosed
Even exempt ones
November 10, 2009 at 3:00 pm
separating assets ( outside of a formal legal document) during a marriage is moot. In the event of a divorce, the “spender” in the relationship is entitles to half of everything the “saver” has accumulated during the marriage. It’s best to deal with money issues upfront and find a balance where is comes to spending and saving. Money issues are a big part of a marriage. How can you be totally committed when you have a “yours, mine and ours mentality”.
November 10, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Because money given to you by your parents while living(just one example) is exactly that…. to YOU not the spouse… unless they state otherwise(not to likely) and that is why it can be made exempt and allowances for it.
In ontario
November 10, 2009 at 3:20 pm
I do not believe in the whole, whats mine is yours, and whats yours in mine concept. My spouse earns over 3 times what I do and works hard for it. It is not mine, I earn my own income. Up until a few months ago when he was scheduled for major surgery did we get joint accounts and that was only “in case” the worst happened. We have 2 set of joint accounts, a chequing and savings each., and our own personal credit cards. We do not ever touch each others account. We split all groceries and household bills 50/50. Each pay day, we tally up what was spend and who spent it. The one who spent less than transfers the difference into the others account. He looks after the small mortgage since he makes far more and I look after my own car pymt & insurance and all personal expenses. It works great for us, and if it were not for the hassle of getting new accounts I would revert back to the single accounts and just transferring money back and forth. Our relationship is solid and finances are never a concern. In a previous marriage, it was a melting pot of its all “our” money I got robbed blinded and I will not be in that position again. Nothing is written in stone and I have seen many relationships that I thought were rock solid split apart at the seams and then things can turn ugly real fast.
November 10, 2009 at 3:22 pm
John, in order to access a joint account after the death of a partner, you must open an account with a clause that states a right of survivourship. Otherwise, you will need the legal paperwork you mentioned. You are correct in your advice about inheritances, but I also believe that any growth on that inheritance is a part of the marital assets.
November 10, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Yeah I figued that pice of paper had to be done for joints lots of times it isn’t.
In Ontario here its all exempt the wills stuff, insurance proceeds still if the exclusive character is maintained.
Had a relative go thru that recently.
But most seem to just quickly take the path of least resistance and dump it into a joint account…ops!!
November 10, 2009 at 3:45 pm
I think it really comes down to if your similiar in how you handle your finances.
My fiance and I joined our finances when we moved in together a year ago and everything has been great since! I would of never agreed to join our finances completely unless I knew we were practically indentical in how we handled our money.
We both have our own RRSP’s and TFSA’s. We each have one credit each in our names with the other as a cardholder. We keep the credit limit on those very low in the event something does happen it can be easily paid off.
If this situation ever stops working for us then we will try something different.
Every couple is different and they have to find out what works for them.
November 10, 2009 at 4:08 pm
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November 10, 2009 at 4:26 pm
I really am skeptical about couples who keep their finances separate. I’ve been engaged to my fiance for two years now, with him for three, and we’ve had entirely joint accounts since we bought a house together a year ago.
Here’s the thing; he works more than I do, and when he does, he makes more. I’m in school full-time, working a part time minimum wage job. My tuition is more expensive than his ($8500 for me vs. $3000 for him). So basically, he’s supporting me financially.
We’ve received a lot of flak (mostly from his relatives, who are oddly prone to divorce) for this setup. Personally, I don’t like to prepare for the seeming eventuality of divorce. Eventually, when I’m earning more than he is, I’ll pay him back, in a manner of speaking.
It’s not my money or his money. It’s our money. We have common goals. Why not share a common financial basis for those goals?
November 10, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Manda – I’m with you, and was when I was the primary financial provider and now that I’m not (I make agood living, wife makes a better one) I still believe that. But I can trust my wife to not spend $250 on shoes without asking me, and she can trust me to not drop $250 in some kind of investment scheme. I personally agree, yours, mine and ours doesn’t really work that well with money anymore than it would with anything else (what, I’ll take care of kid #1 and you take care of kid #2? oops kid #1 needs braces, that’s your problem!)
November 10, 2009 at 5:10 pm
We keep our finances separate except for one joint credit card, and we divvy up all the bills between us according to our incomes. This has worked very well for us over the past 8 years and it does not mean that we are not entirely committed to one another.
We also have a complete set of paperwork done with wills, beneficiaries, and legal and medical powers of attorney so in the event of the death or incapacity of the other, we have access to each others’ accounts.
November 10, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Right now my fiance and I have everything separate with a joint account for in-and-out money (we each put in 1/2 of rent, utilities, car payments, etc. as needed). Our roommate can deposit her rent there, but she does not have access to the account. We both can withdraw money. When we first opened it we knew the only risk was the other one taking off with a month of rent money.
It’s getting a little out of hand though because between my banking (savings, chequing, RRSPs) and his (savings, chequing) we use 4 banks.
Sometimes I miss the simplicity of living alone, utilities included, no car, one bill coming every month (landline, internet, and cell in one), one credit card, two banks, and RRSPs and gym membership coming off my paycheque. We’re still trying to figure out what’s going to work for us. There seems to be a reason why we should maintain each and every account with these branches.
November 10, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Also – if splitting your costs works in your relationship then power to you… but I can’t imagine how you work that out when children come into the mix…
November 10, 2009 at 8:34 pm
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November 10, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Presently, my spouse and I are working really hard to get out of the debt we accumulated while he was out of a job. Everything is considered as being “ours”. I can’t see how we would manage getting out of that hole if we had “yours, mine, ours”. We don’t have anything left after paying the mortgage, the debt, the monthly expenses, the emergency fund, the savings fund, etc. For now, having everything together works for us: we’re in this together and we’re managing to make a dent in that debt of ours.
November 10, 2009 at 10:26 pm
Disagree with you here. Accounts are joint and it’s the only way to build trust and unity in the family. My wife owns the cars and the house – it’s for liability purposes only.
November 10, 2009 at 11:50 pm
To Frugalistas,
Sorry for the misunderstanding. English not being my first language, I really thought that by saying that everything was “together” or “ours”, I was also meaning that everything was “joint”. I’ll take a few more minutes to read back what I wrote the next time
Like I said, my spouse and I are in this together. We had tried in the past to have separate accounts, but it did not work. Since the day we’ve put everything together, it seems that the “management” part is now easier. And as a result, figuring out a strategy to get to debt free has become easier. There is hope for us and having everything together is what works for us!
November 11, 2009 at 1:28 am
My boyfriend (of two years) and I have a joint savings account (our house fund) and we recently opened a joint chequing account. We figured out how much rent and utilties are each month and then decided on a fair bi-weekly amount that each of us would contribute to the account.
The three household bills, and rent, are taken from this account – and the rest is managed fairly individually (except for groceries where we each put $100 in a jar each pay day).
November 11, 2009 at 8:18 am
I am never skeptical about couples who have their finances separate.
You don’t know their in and outs of it….. the personal details.
Let alone a legal/business reason for such.
Most of the time like us you wouldn’t know we or they have a joint bank account besides.
Its simply not the other partners business if a mother/father in law gives your partner money.
Why is it your business? You got it spent already? Its not your parents who handed it out.
My parents did this while living to me they came down and handed off cash to me with a comment like this is for you.
Lots of zoomers parents did it.
With a comment like that is it for anybody else ?
No
But they also would phone and ask the wife would she like to go out for dinner and get a break from the kids to.
November 11, 2009 at 11:57 am
What I’m getting from Gail’s post is it’s not a ‘what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is yours’ view, but rather that while you join your life spiritually and emotionally with another, you must still maintain a separate financial identity for the sake of your credit history should things fall apart. It isn’t that you don’t trust your partner or doubt their love, it is about being financially responsible for yourself. The Bank doesn’t care that your spouse cleaned out the joint account and you can’t make bills. As many posters have stated, figure out what works for you as a couple. Life happens – the high divorce rate is quite evident that vows made can be broken. I believe it’s just prudent to make sure you still maintain your own credit history while ‘jointly’ managing the bills and having fun money for each to spend as s/he wants which doesn’t affect the daily expenses of life. It’s about making sure that you are never solely (wholly) dependent on another for your financial well-being.
November 13, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Joint accounts are very important in a relationship if you are married and especially if you are common-law. When my common-law spouse was diagnosed with Cancer we opened a joint account, closed all open bank account and moved everything to the joint account. Very glad we did this because it made it easier for me to pay the rent and his bills when he was in the hospital for two months.
On another note, a joint account is important when the other partner does not have a Will, especially in a common law relationship – tried to get him to complete a Will but that is another story. He passed away with out a Will and if his accounts – in his name only – were existing upon death all the money in those accounts would have went to his next of kin – mother, father, sister ect. and not to me because we were not married. At least I had money in the joint account that his family could not touch!!
If you are in a common law relationship get joint accounts ASAP!!!