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how do you set up a family with 2 parents with equal rights

How can I set up (or modify) family sharing, so it reflects the actual workings of a family with 2 parents?


My wife set up family sharing, so she is the organizer. But i am just an adult. I can make purchases on her credit card (with her permission.) But i can't pay with my own credit card (family sharing was overriding other set ups), so I removed family sharing. However, I am wondering if family sharing can be set up differently to make it work? Like 2 organizers?


Or is there a way that would allow me to select my own payment option (i.e. not force me to use her card?) Perhaps by setting up additional payment options within family share (but without requiring my wife/organizer,) or having the option of purchasing "outside of family sharing?"


We can't have accounts tied to one of us exclusively.


Thank you.

iPhone 12 mini, iOS 15

Posted on Sep 21, 2022 8:33 AM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Sep 21, 2022 9:08 AM

You can add store credit or gift cards to your account in advance of making any purchases to avoid drawing on your wife's payment method, or the family organized can disable purchase sharing such that you only share subscriptions. See How to share purchases with your family - Apple Support for details of how it works.


tt2

2 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Sep 21, 2022 9:08 AM in response to IngoPF

You can add store credit or gift cards to your account in advance of making any purchases to avoid drawing on your wife's payment method, or the family organized can disable purchase sharing such that you only share subscriptions. See How to share purchases with your family - Apple Support for details of how it works.


tt2

Sep 21, 2022 10:13 AM in response to IngoPF

The basic answer to your question is you cannot set it up so there are two adults with equal rights, ie. two Organizers. As tt2 outlines there is a way so a regular member's purchases do not get charged to the Organizer's card in most situations but the Organizer's payment method will act as a backup for other family members if purchase sharing is turned on. Apple discusses all this in the articles below:


From: How to share purchases with your family - How to share purchases with your family - Apple Support

"When you turn on purchase sharing, everyone in your family gets access to apps, music, movies, TV shows, and books that family members buy. The family organizer is billed for family members' purchases."

The second sentence is incomplete because others can still pay for their own items, they just have to use personal account balance to do so (see the tiny footnote near the bottom of the page). Turning on purchase sharing simply activates the feature whereby if a family member does not have adequate personal balance to pay for something then the organizer's payment method (e.g., credit card) will be charged.

Read the document for the link to "learn how purchases are billed if a family member has Apple ID balance". This tells you how it works.


The payment method for Family Sharing is automatic:


1. If anybody in the family buys or subscribes to something, Apple first attempts to charge the item to that individual's Apple Account (Apple ID) balance, if any.

2. If a family member does not have enough personal Apple Account balance, any excess will be charged to the Family Organizer's primary payment method (usually a card of some kind). The Organizer's personal balance will not be used for purchases made by other family members. If it cannot bill the primary payment method, the Organizer will need to make another payment method the primary method.


- "Some purchases, including gifts, can't be billed to Apple ID balance and will be charged to the family organizer's payment method." "Some subscriptions might not be charged to Apple ID balance."


Ref:

- Family purchases and payments - How to share purchases with your family - Apple Support

- How apps, content, and subscriptions from Apple are billed - How apps, content, and subscriptions from Apple are billed - Apple Support

- Check your Apple ID balance - Check your Apple Account balance - Apple Support

- Change, add, or remove Apple ID payment methods - Change, add, or remove Apple ID payment methods - Apple Support

Adding funds to your Apple ID balance:

- How to redeem your Apple Gift Card or App Store & iTunes gift card - Apple Support

- Add money to your Apple Account balance - Apple Support


how do you set up a family with 2 parents with equal rights

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