Common household expenses can often be met more easily with a joint account.
However, you should also inform yourself about possible risks beforehand.
Moving in together as a couple and sharing your lifetime together sounds wonderful.
When it comes to questions about who fills the fridge or pays in the restaurant, for example, it is also about money.
And that's just the beginning when it comes to running a shared household.
Because the rent, the electricity and heating costs as well as the purchase costs for the furniture are clear.
In order to avoid arguments about money, it is advisable as a couple to first draw up a budget and also to keep a household book - so that you have a better overview of the joint costs and the expenses (e.g. even with different income levels) are proportionally fair to each other can split.
How about a joint account?
Who pays?
Three-account model for couples
According to a report by the German Press Agency (dpa), the head of the consumer center in Bremen, Annabel Oelmann, recommends this in principle.
"Because of course it's important that you keep an overview of financial matters when you live together." This way, both partners can see how much money is still available to them in the course of the month and decide together what it should be spent on.
However, the partners should not close their personal account because of this, says the consumer advocate according to dpa and advises the three-account model.
With their own bank accounts, everyone also retains sovereignty over part of their money.
In this model, both partners pay into the joint account (by arrangement, for example proportionately).
All costs relating to joint household management could then be deducted from the joint account.
Payment processing can also be simplified by the joint account.
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How should the joint finances be regulated?
Many couples who live under the same roof ask themselves this question.
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Joint accounts for couples: what types are there?
But what should you know about the joint account?
A joint account can be opened either in the form of an "And" or in the form of an "Or account", as the Association of German Banks (BdB) explains in an online article.
With the "And account", both account holders can only act together: If one of the two wants to access the account, the other must agree.
This is more time-consuming in everyday life, but has the advantage that both partners are informed about all account activities at all times.
If, on the other hand, you opt for an “or” account, both partners can access the account independently at any time and also have access to the credit, according to the article.
It does not matter whether both partners have paid into the account or whether it was just one of them.
Joint account requires a lot of trust
Attention: Irrespective of which account a couple chooses - according to the BdB, both account holders are jointly and severally liable to the bank for both the "And" and the "Or" account.
This means, as the article says: "If one partner overdraws the account, the bank can also demand full repayment of the money from the other partner." A joint account therefore requires a great deal of trust.
Three account model?
Combination of individual and joint accounts
Now the combination of an individual and a joint account comes into play - loosely based on the motto "Everyone his and both one"?
Of course, only the running costs for housekeeping could be covered from a joint account, as the BdB explains in the blog post.
Everyone then keeps their individual account and pays a certain amount into the joint account every month.
An important note according to the article: “In the event of an emergency, however, you should know that you cannot easily access your partner’s individual account, for example in the event of an accident or serious illness.
Here it is important to take precautions by means of an account power of attorney.
The bank has the appropriate forms.”
If you want to open a joint account together, you should also compare the different banks and offers with each other beforehand.
Account management is not always free.
Also, how about the service?
Anyone who values personal contacts or a well-developed network of branches or ATMs should choose a bank that suits these ideas, as the dpa report on the subject states.
"It doesn't have to mean that all three accounts are with the same bank or savings bank, because the needs of the individual can be very different," explains consumer advocate Oelmann, according to the report.
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Dissolution of the joint account - mutual consent required
Regardless of whether it is an "And" or an "Or" account: If the joint account is to be completely dissolved, according to the BdB, both account holders must agree to the termination.
This is not possible alone, according to the blog post.
"In the event that an account holder refuses to consent to the closure of an OR account, the other at least has the option of converting the OR account into an AND account by revoking the individual right of disposal over the bank."
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