With a little shopping around and choosing an account that meets your expected banking behavior, you should be able to avoid almost all fees on a joint checking account. One set of options will be those accounts with no monthly maintenance fee and no minimum balance requirement. But don’t overlook the accounts that charge a monthly fee but make it easy to waive. For instance, if you can count on receiving at least one direct deposit paycheck every month, this will enable you to avoid monthly fees on many checking accounts. Similarly, if you’re confident you can keep $500 or $1,000 in your joint checking account at all times, this will waive the monthly fee on another group of accounts. Monthly fees are only part of the picture, however. Before choosing an account, note whether you’ll have to dish out for your own checks and whether you’re likely to be charged ATM fees in a typical month given your expected ATM behavior.