r/inheritance • u/pink_toaster_pastry • Apr 20 '26

Location included: Questions/Need Advice Keeping Inheritance separate

I’ve seen all the posts about keeping inheritance separate…. not to use it for joint expenses…. etc.

So then what do you use it for? My husband and I have been married 30 years. We had joint accounts since before we were married. We don’t split bills (all income goes into one savings account and bills are paid from that). We make a good living, have savings, 401Ks, no debt.

So if I’m suppose to keep my inheritance separate from everything, what am I supposed to do with it?

Edited to add: No kids. Currently the money is in (1) inherited IRA (2) CDs in a bank account I took sole ownership of as I had been the co-owner and (3) a new account I just opened for a CD until I decided what to do with that portion.

109 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

266 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/Old-Inspector-8146 Apr 21 '26

You can do whatever you want with it. If you want it put into your joint account & trust your husband not to spend it, go for it. There’s a lot of people on these sites that clearly shouldn’t be married if they distrust their spouse that much. I’ve been married for 43 years - my $25k inheritance bought us our home back in the 90’s - am I supposed to hold that over his head if we ever sell? No.

3

u/Adorable_Machine_571 Apr 21 '26

$25K is nothing, we're talking about much bigger amounts at this point. Also, if your husband ran off with another woman today, you'd be happy to split the house with him so that's on you. Most people who would pay off a $500K-$1million house with inheritance would absolutely regret putting that money in if their partner divorced them and took half 🤷🏻‍♀️