<prompt> Human: Heres the original thread.TL;DR: Wife had about 23k in her name, most of it mine from direct deposits, wouldnt grant me access, she wanted a GTFO fund although I had an emergency fund already for us.Well, I finally conjured up enough balls to sit down with her and ask why she wasnt comfortable with having a shared savings account. Long story short, she was worried about her financially terrible family and we came to an agreement:10k would be set aside for her family just in case they go completely broke. The remaining 14k or so would be in a share savings account in which my direct deposit goes towards. Both have access to emergency savings now.. Happy ending!EDIT: Fuck, this blew up. Thanks everyone for the comments and whatnot; very helpful to see such varying opinions. Now to answer some questions..- No, we are not going to throw cash at her family willy-nilly and say its fine now and wait for the next 10k to be blown. We both understand that this 10k is for SERIOUS emergencies only, like not being able to keep a roof over their head or not feed themselves. We agree on that front, and we would both have to agree to give it to her family.- No, the family doesnt know we have 10k sitting around in case there are serious troubles. So I doubt they would be in on some scheme to rip us off.- I cant see myself NOT helping her family. Cant believe some of you are even saying well her family issues are none of your business. Theyre all my business now, and I knew this before I married her that we may have to shovel out some money to assist them. Very selfish.. Im incredibly money-driven but theres a line to respect between finances and morals.- The 10k is actually the money she brought into the relationship, just never moved it from an old bank. Unlike the 14kish, which is almost ALL mine from direct deposits, etc. So, I agreed to keep that 10k aside.  <response>: If there is money that she doesnt want you to access, it isnt her family that she is concerned about. 