Quick question about joint checking

[Atcoolio 0]

I just have a quick question. I am in the middle of putting together everything for ROC. My wife(petitioner) and myself(US citizen) opened 2 checking accounts when we got married. One of the accounts we use all the time, the other one we ended up not using very much at all. 

My question is should I include the checking account that we dont use very much? There are literally months and months of statements where there is NO activity. The statements only show both our names and address. There is a balance on it though. We keep a few thousand $$ for emergency there. 

I guess Im being paranoid and thinking that I shouldn't include a checking account where most of the statements have no activity. Like it might look fake or something. I don't know, what do you think?

[Mollie09 1,543]

I'd submit it, if nothing else looks like an account you have set aside as an emergency fund, and it shows you trust each other with that money.

[Ortolan 381]

Even though you don't have a lot of activity on the second account, it's even more proof that you both have access to those funds, and have kept the account. I'd include it.  Good luck!

[charmander 692]

Submit it. Don't even try to explain how much you use each account in the cover letter. Let them figure it out if they are really interested.

[candybabe 46]

1 hour ago, Atcoolio said:

I just have a quick question. I am in the middle of putting together everything for ROC. My wife(petitioner) and myself(US citizen) opened 2 checking accounts when we got married. One of the accounts we use all the time, the other one we ended up not using very much at all. 

My question is should I include the checking account that we dont use very much? There are literally months and months of statements where there is NO activity. The statements only show both our names and address. There is a balance on it though. We keep a few thousand $$ for emergency there. 

I guess Im being paranoid and thinking that I shouldn't include a checking account where most of the statements have no activity. Like it might look fake or something. I don't know, what do you think?

I would submit everything you guys have in both names - including  health benefits, savings, phone bill, currently used & emergency checking acct - for the emergency checking acct i would classify it as such and just show recent statement ....maybe last 3 months, not since inception...do you both have cards on the emergency checking ? i would mention that as well - financially,  i think what's most showing of bona fide is when couples sign up on debt together, like credit cards, mortgage, car loans etc.. and obviously babies  if you have them

[Atcoolio 0]

Ok so I will include this account. Now I am wondering if I really need to print off all of the statements since we got married, which is about 20 or so. Or should I include the most recent ones, maybe the first one showing when it was opened?

At first I thought I was going to be able to send everything in an large envelope, but after printing off so many bank and credit card statements Im going to have to send it in a big box. 

[Sukie 1,460]

Two schools of thought here...

 

If you have overwhelming evidence of co-mingling - such as buying a home together, buying automobiles together, wills, etc., then it might be enough for you to send in "quarterly" statements.  If you are nervous, then send in all statements (we did quarterly).

 

But the important thing is to send ALL PAGES of a statement - not just a front page.  First of all, it shows all the transactions, both debits and credits and second of all, sending ALL pages of a statement shows you aren't hiding anything.

 

Good luck!

 

Sukie in NY  (PS:  we had a box of paper weighing 4 pounds)

[Atcoolio 0]

4 hours ago, Sukie said:

Two schools of thought here...

 

If you have overwhelming evidence of co-mingling - such as buying a home together, buying automobiles together, wills, etc., then it might be enough for you to send in "quarterly" statements.  If you are nervous, then send in all statements (we did quarterly).

 

But the important thing is to send ALL PAGES of a statement - not just a front page.  First of all, it shows all the transactions, both debits and credits and second of all, sending ALL pages of a statement shows you aren't hiding anything.

 

Good luck!

 

Sukie in NY  (PS:  we had a box of paper weighing 4 pounds)

On the statements I already printed off, I only included the first page, plus all the transaction pages. On a lot of the statements the last page or 2 are just disclaimers and small writing. I didn't include that, do you think this is ok?

[KMENDLESS 9]

I just send those joint checking account pages and didn't include individual statements. Just don't want to overwhelm the package, plus they dont require personal account info at all. Just my opinion;) u might sent all if you want;)

[bolin786 21]

i would say include it. Only 6 months of statements would suffice and if the account is not used much you would only have to copy about 2 or 3 pages per month.