How to Have a Joint Bank Account When Engaged
Becoming engaged is a promise of marriage. Along with several other new beginnings, the happy couple may feel that it is time to join their finances to pay mutual bills and expenses. A joint account is perfectly normal to open before getting married and is easy to do by going to a local bank and simply applying.
- Discuss the monthly expenses with the other person on the account so that you both are fully aware of the monthly amount of bills that need to be paid out of the account each month. This is especially important if you do not yet live together and have separate bills to pay.
- Visit a local bank and let them know that you would like to open up a joint checking account.
- Fill out the checking account application that the bank representative supplies you with. Make sure that the Social Security number of both parties is listed on the application for credit verification purposes.
- Decide on how you would like the information on the checks to be printed. Since you are not yet married, you will need to list the current last names of both parties for identification purposes. If the two account holders reside at different addresses, you will need to decide which address to list on the checks. If you have decided on which home to live after marriage, that address is ideal.
- Deposit equal amounts of money into the account to start off so that the checking account is truly a mutual account and no one person contributed more money than the other.
- Wait for the debit cards and personal checks to be delivered to the address that is listed on the checks. You can have the debit cards sent to multiple addresses in separate envelopes if you prefer.