Hi Daanlad.

Your wife is under no obligation to provide your trustee with any bank statements if she doesn't want to. It may make things easier if she doesn't mind doing so, as your Trustee may want evidence of some of your expenditure, which she may pay from her account. They wouldn't usually need evidence of shopping etc though, only the main bills really, such as rent, utilities, council tax etc.

How comfortable are you that the budget they have set with you is affordable, by the way? I ask because from years of doing this forum it seems this is the main reason why some people run into problems - their budget is tight from the start and they cannot cope with any increases in their outgoings. Given the current cost of living increases I think it is important to keep this in mind. A second opinion is never a bad idea because it may be possible to persuade them to allow a little more in your budget to cater for this. Happy to look at it for you if you want.