Grandma gift for kids

[Anonymous]

Mom want to gift money to our 3, very young kids ($57K). This is in addition to what she'd gift us ($38K). Kids don't have a bank account and this will likely continue for the next few years. We don't plan on opening bank accounts for them for this purpose. We'll just hold the money in our accounts and will be spending it for their needs anyways.. We do have 529s for them that were just superfunded last year so can't add more for another 4 years.

Is it OK for her to just send the check to me with a notation "Gift for kid xyz" and maybe give a letter along the lines of "I am giving a gift of $19K to kid xyz" for tax records?

This may be overkill but I'm worried that in case of a future tax or other audit we (mom/us) may need to show proof that the $ 57K transferred to us was indeed a gift.

[Anonymous]

She could start grandma-managed 529s for them. I believe those show up differently on financial aid.

[Anonymous]

Open a brokerage account for them—ugma

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Open a brokerage account for them—ugma

This. I know people have worries about kids accessing the UTMA money at age 21 but this is the right answer. You can teach your kids between now and age 21 what to do with the UTMA accounts so they don't waste it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mom want to gift money to our 3, very young kids ($57K). This is in addition to what she'd gift us ($38K). Kids don't have a bank account and this will likely continue for the next few years. We don't plan on opening bank accounts for them for this purpose. We'll just hold the money in our accounts and will be spending it for their needs anyways.. We do have 529s for them that were just superfunded last year so can't add more for another 4 years.

Is it OK for her to just send the check to me with a notation "Gift for kid xyz" and maybe give a letter along the lines of "I am giving a gift of $19K to kid xyz" for tax records?

This may be overkill but I'm worried that in case of a future tax or other audit we (mom/us) may need to show proof that the $ 57K transferred to us was indeed a gift.

Are you looking to use the money to fund their current needs, things like sports or music lessons or tutors? Or is this intended for them to use later in life to help get them started?

If you put into your accounts, I don’t think it counts as giving it to your children.

[Anonymous]

OP is just looking for an excuse to keep the money for herself.

[Anonymous]

My mom gives $ to our DCs and we just have a UTMA account for each at Fidelity invested in a mutual fund.

[Anonymous]

One bank accounts.

[Anonymous]

Just open accounts for them. It’s cleaner.

[Anonymous]

529s.