Me & my hubby have £130k to our name but there’s £3.43 in my bank account as he REFUSES to fill in a 3-min online form
AN ANONYMOUS woman has revealed her financial woes while her wealthy husband earns big bucks.
The author, a woman, has revealed how she feels like her husband’s employee as the couple don’t have a joint bank account.
In fact, her husband of 14 years is so secretive around money that he won’t even tell her his salary.
After a rare financial discussion she does think he earns around £130,000, while she writes for a living and earns an undisclosed amount.
In the past, he has paid for expenses on a proportional basis to their incomes.
But as the cost of living crisis bites, anonymous says that she is being left with less and less cash each month.
She writes in the Daily Mail: “Then I feel a surge of resentment when I think of my husband, who has a six-figure salary and is currently away on a work trip in Munich, probably having a long lunch with a nice bottle of wine on his expense account. While it’s beans on toast for me.”
The expense arrangement sees her husband covering utility bills and the mortgage while she covers other expenses.
She writes: “Our arrangement, with him covering the basics while I cover the children’s outgoings and the ‘fun’ stuff — days out, lunch at the pub and so on — has become increasingly unmanageable with the costs varying massively from month to month.”
And if she runs short for the month, she writes, that she has asked her husband for a top up.
But with the cost of living crisis, her husband hasn’t been able to give her as much money as the mortgage has increased £500.
The woman does pay for some of the children’s expenses, including for social events and sport.
She writes she has tried to talk to her husband before about a joint account but he dismisses it.
Living on the edge of the Home Counties, the woman said her husband leaves before 7am in the morning and isn’t home until 8pm at night.
She says she has also paid the penalty for motherhood and seen her career stall while his has advanced.
She writes: “I thought I’d be financially solvent by now. Sometimes it seems ridiculous that I’m living such a precarious, penny-pinching life when I’m married to a man who is, by all accounts, wealthy.”
But, she concludes she does like that she doesn’t have to worry about the mortgage and utilities and can spend her own money on expensive personal items.
Where does the law stand on finances between couples?
MONEY in relationships can be a tricky subject, but where does the law stand on the issue of finances between couples?
If you and your partner have separate bank accounts, then you are each in charge of your own money and your partner will not be able to access your account.
However, if you are married and your partner dies, you may be able to access their account, once their estate has been settled.
It is also true that each married partner has a legal duty to support the other.
If your partner won’t support you, you can ask a court to order them to support you. Your ex-partner may have to continue to support you after your marriage has ended if you have made a legal agreement or if there is a court order.
Myron Jobson, analyst at online personal finance service Interactive Investor, says: “It’s vital to find a way to manage money that you’re both happy with, to prevent bust-ups and plan for the future.”
Read more about how joint accounts can work here.