I'm going to throw this out there for the married couples out there because this is a lesson I have now learned the hard way.
Randy had placed me on his PNC account and I really only used it when necessary. He always told me it's "our" money but I struggled with that concept.
Randy opened up a Huntington bank account to place our cruise money in. He asked me if I wanted to be on that account and I told him no. Huge regret right now! Why? Because this has been the one thing I cannot make progress on! I took in all of the documents I have and I cannot close it. They want me to open a probate to which I am not willing to do. This account was nearly empty before they deposited money into it on Christmas Eve and I was unaware.
I can sort of understand why people want to have separate accounts. We have heard the stories about spouses draining the account and running. That was never the reason why my account was separate from Randy's. I was protecting him. I was protecting us. He understood why. However, I will also say that if you can't trust your spouse, you probably shouldn't have married them. Money is a leading cause in divorces. It's the reason that we had to discuss finances for pre-marriage counseling. I honestly had never asked him how much he made because it didn't matter to me as long as our bills were covered. He knew that but we still had to go over it for the church's required sessions.
If I had to open a probate on more than one item, I would but since this is the only thing I cannot make progress on, I won't. It's not worth it (it costs at least $300 to open up). So this is my humble advice of having a joint account. There's also a way to default the account to your spouse in the event of your passing. That's another option that I will highly recommend, especially if you really don't want a joint bank account.
Save your spouse and their sanity as much as you can.
No one wants to talk about losing each other but you have to. If you don't, how will you know you have honored your spouse's wishes?
Please show this to your spouse so that you can plan accordingly. Take a lesson from me.
If I had known then what I know now, I would have done it. I would have said yes. I would have gone with him to open it and my name would be on it with him. After all, it was for our cruise that we should have been able together. I wanted to protect him. But I also had the mentality of the fact that we would be on the cruise together so my name doesn't need to be on it. You'll be right beside me. The plan was there and made sense but unfortunately, we were not afforded the chance to go on that cruise that was scheduled to leave at the end of the month.
Couples don't like talking about money because it cause it can lead to fights. Randy and I didn't have that issue. Couples don't like talking about end of life but Randy and I didn't have a choice.
I'm urging you to read this and consider this because I'm trying to spare you of the headache I have now been faced with. I don't think it costs anything to go to your bank and have your account defer to someone in the event of your passing if you don't have a joint account.
Save them the headache. Plan for these things today. Do it before it's too late.
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