Banking and other money troubles

One of the biggest advantages that married status has over living together in cohabitation is that dividing money up in the event of death is so much simpler. If a husband and wife have a joint bank account, then the money is owned jointly regardless of who deposited the money. So, if one partner dies, the whole account automatically becomes the property of the other. This also means that any debts and overdrafts held by the recently deceased will become the property of the other. Aside from that, marriage is generally a more advantageous status when it comes to money. Let’s compare this with an unmarried couple: when an unmarried couple lives together and have separate bank accounts, neither partner has access. Even if one partner dies, any balance in their account will become property of their estate and will, most likely, be transferred to their closest family. If an unmarried couple has a joint bank account then, as in marriage, the money will belong to both partners. An important distinction to make here is that if one partner rarely used the account (didn’t pay any money in or take any out) and the relationship ends then that partner will find it extremely difficult to claim any rights regarding that bank account.