Joint Accounts

A joint account is one held by two or more people, typically married or domestic partners. All account-holders can deposit, withdraw, see transactions, and exercise full control. In the US, joint accounts are typically structured as 'joint with right of survivorship' (JTWROS), meaning if one holder dies, the other inherits the account directly.

For couples, joint accounts come in a spectrum from fully-joint (one shared checking + savings for everything) to hybrid (joint for shared expenses, separate for personal) to fully-separate.