[Bevdeforges]

A couple of caveats here: First of all, take a look at the title of the article you cited: Cash by U.S. Residents to French Resident... If you are moving to France you are no longer resident in the US and different rules may apply.

Why not have your mother-in-law act as guarantor for your lease? Many of the expats here can't establish guarantors because their parents don't live in France, but you've got pretty much the classic set up. You rent in your own names, and pay the rent directly from your French bank account. They only turn to your mother-in-law if something keeps you from making your rental payment.

 

[Bevdeforges]

Nothing you can do will necessarily make everything go "smoothly" (however defined), however the use of a guarantor is not that uncommon - even for doctoral students with foreigner hubands/boyfriends. Going through an elaborate procedure to rent a place in someone else's name and then wire money back and forth, trying to avoid the gift tax (which isn't really a huge factor here unless you're renting something super luxurious and talking about thousands of euro a month in rent) is probably more likely to cause problems (if found out by the landlord or the bank) than offering your mother-in-law as guarantor.

 

[Bevdeforges]

Does the OP's mother have a US bank account? If so, do the transfer from US bank to US bank. If not, have her open an account at sdfcu.org, a credit union that will open accounts for expats.

I think they were talking about transferring money through the OP's fiancée's mother, who is French and living in France. The credit union you seem so anxious to promote may not be a viable option here.

 

[Bevdeforges]

give her access to a sum of money from our savings that she can use to pay our rent that would not cause us or her to be taxed again on that money. The only ways I could think of were gifting through this US/France tax treaty, some kind of tax exempt gift based on her relationship with her daughter (which doesn't seem to exist), or a joint account. But if we are the ones funding the joint account and she is the one spending the money on rent I am concerned that would still be considered a gift.

I don't know why you assume this. What you're proposing is a simple "pass-through" arrangement. You are not gifting anything to anyone. A "gift" is something you give someone with no strings attached. (Over-simplified definition, but basically what you have here.) She will not have the ability to use the money on herself, but is obligated (morally, anyhow) to use it to pay your rent for you.

Try doing things the "simple" way at first. You obviously have the funds available in order to transfer a year's worth of rent to your fiancée's mother. Start out offering that without the middle(wo)man, and if that isn't acceptable, then offer the guarantor approach. In lots of areas of France, using a guarantor is more common than you would think. And it isn't necessary that both of you be students. Here in the area where I live (Ile de France) we have lots of foreign students who bring their spouses with them for a year (or two or three) in France and they rent just fine in the area. You really do want to have the lease in your own names - and since you are the source of the funds anyhow, why not just go direct?

 

[Bevdeforges]

Depending on field your fiancée is in, you might check with the university to see if they have any resources for helping grad students find reasonable housing arrangements. There is an organization in the Paris area called Sciences Accueil for students in the scientific universities and research institutes in the Saclay area. There may be something similar for the university your fiancée is going to be working with.