I have been married twice. First time I had joint accounts and watched my first wife spend money like a mad person. Which she was or is, in a way. After ten years and a lot of psychological therapy for her we divorced. I was lucky to find my current wife a few years later. second time around I did things differently.
We have no joint accounts. All property is in my name alone, home, farms, cars, trucks you name it. Her SUV is in her name, I did get to buy it for her and I did get to pick out the color as well. Her income goes directly into her own account and she spends it as she wishes. Mine is the same way. We even had a prenuptial and an amended post-nuptial agreement just to make sure. If I die first she gets 1/3 of everything and the rest goes directly to the kids.
So money is nothing that she complains about. But she did get a bit mad when I bought a house a few years ago. It seemed my first wife could not get a mortgage on smaller house she wanted and since she was still living in a house I owned, I decided to buy the second house for her. I gave her lifetime rights to live in it and put that house in my kids name from the first marriage. Wife number two was not impressed with my largess. Even when I sold the old house and came out ahead she still was not happy with my buying my first wife anything like a house. Took her about six months to get over it and still is not a subject best brought up but that's only been five years or so.
