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[TheScientist]

Which is?

I feel like you seem to think that those who are unmarried have no idea what the life of a husband and wife is like. Most of us grew up in households with married parents, many have siblings who have married, have been in co-habiting relationships ourselves and also have access to the accounts of others.

Not to speak for @Wwanderer but seeing and hearing about a thing isn't the same as experiencing it first hand be it short or long term.

 

[john.smith]

I think depending on someone else for the ability to stay in a country is a very risky situation to be in, especially when you can take a job or be a student instead. It's a legal contract, and unless you have an iron-clad prenup, you risk losing half of everything you own and taking half of someone else's debts if you separate.

Storing your money in different form and in different juridictions can protect effectively against that.
No matter how much I would trust my future wife, the shared account will only ever have a small portion of my assets.

On my side, I want to get married, but if I do, I want both of us to stay independant.
I've seen too much marriage staying in zombie mod because of inter dependency problems, where the woman stays because she is professionally in limbo, and the man stays because he does not want to pay the pension.
Such situation is poison for both side.

This mean that I would not allow the wife stay at home for caring about kids/house and rot professionally.
And I would make sure to have way she can't get money from me even with a court order. (by keeping international bank accounts and international professional relations which allow me to move on if things go bad)
It does not mean I would not support her or my child if needed, just that a judge would not be able to force upon me.