As I understand it in 2026 my spouse and I can each give $18,000 to our adult child. I further understand that if we each stay below the $18,000 (so < $36,000) we do not need to file Form 709. But what if we fund the gift from a joint account? Does the IRS only get concerned if the total exceeds $36,000 or do they want to know how much came from spouse A and how much from spouse B?
Rather than using a joint account, perhaps we could use a Trust account (one account for Spouse A and a separate account for Spouse B -- each using our respective social security numbers (so, Spouse A Trust with SSN ending in x1234 and Spouse B Trust with SSN ending in x5678). Not sure if it matters but we are both trustees on the two Trust accounts. Perhaps this way we would not need to fill out Form 709 if Spouse A gifted <$18,000 and Spouse B gifted <$18,000 to the same adult child since it would be easier to determine how much was gifted from each spouse.
Thoughts/Comments?
Other options to accomplish this?
