Money is the number one cause of divorce because the couple can have very different expectations of lifestyle and how money should be spent. As an initial tip to avoiding marriage money problems, consider the following questions when setting expectations for your financial future with your partner:

1) What should your money be spent on: what’s essential and what’s discretionary?

2) What are the shared expenses?

3) What are the expenses that each individual accounts for?

4) Which accounts should be made joint accounts, and which accounts should be kept separate?

5) If there’s a disparity in income, who should be contributing to what and how much?

6) How are debts that came into the marriage going to be handled?

7) Who will be responsible for actually sitting down and paying the bills?