As everyone's jumping on the royal wedding bandwagon
£900 marriage tax break, ISA & pension rights, £100+ bills cashback & 2for1 cinemas... 17 MoneySaving tips for couples 

You might have heard... Harry and Meghan are getting hitched at the weekend. And it's got us thinking about the MoneySaving perks of couple-dom. Apart from a life of bliss together (obvs), it can yield serious savings - even if you've a palace or two to live in. So here are our key tips on saving as a twosome, whether you've tied the knot... or not.

There are big financial advantages to marriage, that you don't get even if you've lived with someone for 30yrs and have six kids. Yes, it's state social engineering to encourage marriage - but don't blame the messenger. The downside is most only come into force when one dies. 

1. Say 'I do' to a FREE £900 tax break. 1.5m married couples and civil partners miss out on an easy but under-publicised break that works if one is a basic-rate taxpayer and the other doesn't pay tax. You can get £238 for this year and £662 for the past three. Our Marriage Tax Allowance guide explains all. Newlywed forumites Tigs and Marleyboy claimed this... at 8pm on their wedding night.
   
   

2. If one partner dies, the other may get a bigger state pension. 
   What you get depends on a load of factors including whether they reached state pension age before April 2016, the number of years they paid national insurance, when you got married and more. It's complex but there's a link to a nifty checker and lots more help in our State Pensions guide. 

3. A surviving spouse is exempt from inheritance tax. When you die, you can leave unlimited amounts to a spouse or civil partner free from inheritance tax (IHT).
   
   Plus, you can pass on any unused portion of your £325,000 tax-free IHT allowance, and £125,000 property allowance. It gets added to your spouse's IHT allowance, meaning the survivor can currently leave up to £900,000 tax-free when they die. It's more complex if you're unmarried - full help in our Inheritance Tax guide. 

4. You can inherit your spouse's ISA allowance. You get an extra allowance equal to the total amount they had saved in ISAs at time of death, in addition to the annual £20,000 individual limit. In practice most would simply pass on the ISAs, but it does allow the cash to go to someone else, separate to the allowance. See our ISA guide for full info.

5. Being married gives your partner protection if you die with no will. But it's still safer to have one. Without a will, your spouse will automatically inherit all of your assets if you've no kids. If you've kids, it's shared but the spouse gets the greater share. So while a will isn't crucial in one sense, there are risks as your assets may not go where you want, so it's still best to have one. 
   
   We've offers for wills checked by specialists - via Which? you can get a single will for £129 or a couples' will for £199. Co-op offers similar single wills for £99, couples' for £185. Full help in Cheap Wills.

6. Being married gives dads more rights to the kids if the mum dies. If you're married and one partner dies, the surviving partner automatically gets parental responsibility. If unmarried, the mother gets parental responsibility automatically, but the dad doesn't, and in some cases he may need to go to court to get it. For more see Parental responsibility help. 

7. You can double your capital gains tax allowance. This is only worth it for those with expensive assets. Everyone gets an annual capital gains tax (CGT) allowance, meaning the first £11,700 profit (or 'capital gain') when you sell an asset, eg, additional property or shares, is tax-free. But if you're likely to go over that, you can give some of the assets to your spouse for them to sell instead, taking advantage of their CGT allowance as well. See CGT help.

Further couples' MoneySaving tips, if married or not... 

If you're any kind of couple - even if just best friends living together and you have a trusting relationship - here's how to take advantage.

1. Get 15mths' full-service car breakdown cover for £48 for you and your other half. Our top pick for full service with home start and onward travel, AutoAid is £48.31/yr - and we've currently blagged this to cover 15mths for the price of 12. It covers any car you drive, plus your partner if they live at the same address. A similar policy with the AA or RAC can be £100+. See Cheap Breakdown Cover.
   
   
2. Planning on buying your first home together? You can EACH get a 25% savings boost. This is a no-brainer for anyone who may one day want to buy their first home. With a Lifetime ISA or Help to Buy ISA, the state adds £250 per £1,000 saved. If buying together, get one each to double the boost. If one has owned a home before, the other can still get the boost. @HolmesBeth tweeted: "We both got the bonu s - £1,500 each."
   
   
3. Get a joint bills bank account and earn up to 3% cashback. Many couples have three accounts: one each and one for bills. If that's you, it's possible to earn up to 3% cashback on bills you pay by direct debit, including broadband, mobile, energy, water and council tax. Full info in Best Bank Accounts, but in brief...
   
   - Best for smaller bills. For a £1/mth fee, Santander 123 Lite* pays 1-3% cashback on different bills, incl council tax, water and energy, as long as you pay by direct debit (you need at least two) and pay in £500+/mth. Our calculations show that average bill-payers would get about £70/yr after fees, higher bill-payers £130/yr. If you have a Santander mortgage, you also get up to £10/mth cashback.
   
   - Best for higher bills. For a slightly higher £2/mth fee, NatWest's Reward Account* pays a straight 2% cashback on the same bills, incl council tax, water and energy (but excluding mortgage payments), paid by direct debit. You'll need to pay in £1,500/mth. Our calcs show that average bill-payers would get about £65/yr after fees, higher bill-payers £135/yr, so it could beat Santander above for some.
   
   
4. Add your partner (or mum, dad or aunt Dot) to your car insurance to CUT costs. Strangely two drivers can be cheaper than one, especially if the 2nd has a good record. But NEVER claim they're the primary driver if they're not, as that's fraud. Forumite Bouncybubbles said: "Got quoted £900, up from £500 the previous year. By adding my husband, got it down to £298." Full info in Cheap Car Insurance. 
   
   
5. Shift your partner's debt to 0% and save £1,000s. If you've debt on a credit or store card we always tell you to shift it to a 0% balance transfer card. It means you get a new card that pays off your existing ones so you owe it instead, but at 0%. Your repayments clear the debt rather than just interest, so you're debt-free quicker.
   
   Yet getting accepted can be difficult, so if you're in a loving, trusting relationship, there is a way around this. First, use our Balance Transfer Eligibility Calculator to see if they can shift the debt themselves.
   
   If they can't, some top cards will let you transfer your partner's debt to your card. Be aware: their debt then becomes yours. Those that allow it include this Virgin Money card (eligibility calc incl pre-approval / apply*) which offers 36mths 0% for a 2.8% fee, or this Santander (eligibility calc / apply*) card offers 27mths at 0% for NO fee. Both need your partner as an additional cardholder, but they won't require a hard credit check.
   
   Alternatively HSBC (eligibility calc / apply*) offers 32mths 0% with a 1.4% fee (min £5), as long as you're not transferring debt from a card that's part of the HSBC Group. New custs also get £25 cashback if they apply by Mon 16 July and transfer £300+ within 60 days.
   
   Clear the cards before the 0% ends, or they jump to 20.9% rep APR on the Virgin Money card, 18.9% for Santander and 19.9% for HSBC. Full info in Transferring partner's debt.
   
   
6. Cuddle up with 2for1 cinema tickets for A YEAR on Tue or Wed. Try our 2for1 for £1ish movie trick - Pat did: "Bought travel insurance for £1.02 and within 10 mins had the 2for1 code. Going on Wednesday - result."
   
   
7. Fly with your partner in business class for LESS than economy, if you're a big spender. Some credit cards let you earn frequent flyer miles for normal spending, and if you spend certain trigger amounts, you get a 'free' companion ticket to use in any class. Use our Airline Card Eligibility Calc to see which you're most likely to get. Full help and more options in Top Airline Cards.
    
8. Get 1/3 off train fares when you travel together. The Two Together Railcard gives two named cardholders 1/3 off most fares... if travelling together. It usually costs £30, but we've blagged a 10% off code until Tue. (If you've kids and travel with them, the Family & Friends Railcard may work better.)
   
   
9. Get £700's worth of FAMILY travel, phone and breakdown insurance for £156. If you've a packaged bank account and use the perks, make sure you add your partner as a joint account holder, so they can benefit as well.
   
   Our top pick's Nationwide's FlexPlus* - for £13/mth you get worldwide family travel insurance, family smartphone insurance and UK and European breakdown cover for all account holders. A family needing them all could pay £700/yr separately. Full eligibility info and more options in Packaged Bank Accounts. 
   
   
10. Pass money between you both to reduce tax. Basic-rate taxpayers can earn up to £1,000/yr interest tax-free (higher rate £500). If you'll exceed that but your partner won't, consider transferring some savings into their name to minimise tax. It's totally legitimate, but you must trust each other as you're giving your money to someone else. Full info in our Personal Savings Allowance guide.