Whose money?

[isacurlypotatoaquaver]

Person A and B are a couple living together.
Person A works full time.
Person B doesn't work but receives benefits as part of UC.
B drives a car, A doesn't. Car is used for shopping errands and to take A to and from work and take dc to and from school.
A funds the insuarance, MOT, etc. Both A and B fund petrol.
A funds school etc.
Both A and B fund food shopping. And utilities.

When A gets paid into their account by their employer, B says it's both of their money.

But whose money is it?

Depends, are they married, do the dc belong to both and is the UC both of their money?

Family money.

There’s other factors that you’ve not said but I’d say family money.
Why doesn’t B work?

In my household, when I didn’t work to stay at home with kids my husband’s wages were considered both of ours. We have had joint finances though since we moved in together and everything has always been accessible to both of us. I know a few couples who each have their own money and each budget accordingly. People see money matters very differently so it’s something that needs to be discussed an agreed.

legally I thought it belonged to A.

@Pinkchocolate

In my household, when I didn’t work to stay at home with kids my husband’s wages were considered both of ours. We have had joint finances though since we moved in together and everything has always been accessible to both of us. I know a few couples who each have their own money and each budget accordingly. People see money matters very differently so it’s something that needs to be discussed an agreed.

It's the same in our home it's our money

We consider all income shared family income. Dh works full time and I don’t work due to disabilities- I receive full rate Pip indefinitely. We pool all our money and give ourselves an equal amount of spending money after all bills etc are paid.

Depends why B doesn’t work.

I'm a SAHM with 3 children, my OH is the main earner. We're not married but any income is never his or mine, it's our money and always has been.

If b stays at home to take care of the kids and much of the housework and contributes equally in non income generating ways then it's family money.

If b doesn't work (unless can't through disability) and A has to work then come home, do all the cooking and cleaning and general life admin then B (again, unless genuinely unable due to disability) needs a boot up the backside

@DaisyNGO

legally I thought it belonged to A.

In practice A has control, but if B were to leave and take the children then B would presumably have a claim. I’m thinking the children are both partners’ as it’s not otherwise specified.

Let me first say that we considered our money joint from pretty early on in our relationship - before marriage and kids. I think having separate money once you've got kids in particular is just nonsense.

That said, assuming they're not married, the money is A's. A should of course be paying their fair share of everything.

In my opinion the money should be shared but no one can make that decision on A's behalf.

On the face of it, I'd consider it family money. But it depends on other factors not mentioned in the OP.

Is all the other money pooled? The child benefit? The UC?

All income and expense pooled makes sense where one person is breadwinning and one is managing children and household.

But if one person is a parent and the other isn’t, then it’s probably more nuanced.

Who pays the rent/mortgage?
Who owns the home/is the named tenant?

B must have a good reason for not working, are they the Sahp? It should be pooled as family money.

As money is As money
Bs money is Bs money

But they are partnered in a relationship, with children. There are commitments and they have made a commitment

A is working and bringing in money
B isn’t working, and their money has come from the taxpayer - but there will be a reason why the taxpayer is willing to fund B. They are either unable to work or are ‘contributing’ to society / the relationship bringing up children etc

It’s not wrong to say As money is As money, but it’s also not wrong to say As money is family money

The Uc will be a joint claim ( unless benefit fraud is being committed), so surely all money should be pooled. The UC is joint benefits to top up a low household income so is joint money not just B's money. If they have agreed that A is the main breadwinner and B stays home with the kids then it should all be joint money.

In our house that would always be family money. We are married if that makes a difference. We are a partnership and we've always agreed that whoever happens to be not working ends up doing most of the childcare and household chores so contributes an equal amount to the relationship even though they are not earning.

In my relationship it would be shared money because we're a team and would never want to be unequal financially. Depends on your relationship.

Sounds like benefit fraud to me!

Are the children joint or are they B's children? How is B able to claim UC if they are living with someone working FT?

I think wages are A and UC is B and they should contribute to a joint account for bills & rent. Presumably UC gets paid into B account.

Why are they paying for school?

Are you married?

Its A's money. I am married and we each have our own money - we split the bills, mortgage etc, but keep whatevers left to our own.

Discuss it. If you agree it’s family money then it’s family money. If you agree it’s one persons then it’s one persons.