Estate and Inheritance Tax by State (2026): Pick Your State, See the Bill
Short answer
For deaths in 2026, 12 states and Washington, DC charge an estate tax, and 5 states charge an inheritance tax (Maryland charges both). California has neither. The federal estate tax only starts above $15,000,000 per person, but Oregon starts at $1,000,000, Rhode Island at $1,838,056 and Massachusetts at $2,000,000. A $3,000,000 Massachusetts estate owes about $82,400. Pick your state below to see the bill.
Estate and inheritance tax calculator, every state
Pick the state where the person who died lived. Enter what the estate is worth: home, investments, retirement accounts, business, and any life insurance they owned. The calculator estimates the state estate tax, any inheritance tax the heirs pay, and the federal estate tax.
Estimate for a death in 2026, using each state's published 2026 exemption and rate table. It assumes the whole estate is taxable, with no gifts, charity or deductions. Real returns differ. Use it to size the problem, not to file.
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Massachusetts: the harshest estate tax for ordinary families
Most states with an estate tax set the line high enough that only the very wealthy pay. Massachusetts does not. Its exemption is $2,000,000, and in Massachusetts $2,000,000 is a paid-off house in Newton plus a 401(k). A retired teacher couple can owe it.
Three things make it bite:
- The line is low, and it has not moved with inflation. It went from $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 in 2023 and stays fixed there. Every year of rising home prices pulls more families over it.
- No portability between spouses. Federal law lets a surviving spouse use the unused exemption of the spouse who died first. Massachusetts does not. If everything passes to the spouse at the first death, the first $2,000,000 exemption is gone for good, and the second death is taxed on the whole pile.
- It reaches out of state. A Massachusetts resident's estate counts property everywhere except real estate located in another state, and a nonresident who owns a Cape house can owe Massachusetts tax on it.
Massachusetts, in four versions
| Situation | Estate | Massachusetts tax | Federal tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single or widowed, house plus savings | $2,500,000 | $39,200 | $0 |
| Single or widowed | $5,000,000 | $292,000 | $0 |
| Married couple, everything left to the spouse, second death | $6,000,000 | $411,200 | $0 |
| Same couple, a bypass trust in each plan | $6,000,000 | $180,800 | $0 |
Massachusetts tax computed from the state's 2026 method (the old federal state death tax credit table, less the credit that makes the first $2,000,000 free). Federal tax uses the $15,000,000 per person exemption for 2026.
The fix in the married example is old and boring: a credit shelter (bypass) trust in each spouse's plan, so the first $2,000,000 is used at the first death instead of wasted. The fix for the tax that is left is cash: money that shows up the week the bill is due, without forcing a house or a business to be sold. That is what life insurance owned by an irrevocable trust does, and it is covered below.
Massachusetts is not alone. Oregon taxes estates over just $1,000,000, the lowest line in the country. Washington taxes estates over $3,000,000 at up to 20%, after a 35% top rate that applied to deaths from July 2025 through June 2026. If you live in one of those three, or own property there, this page is about you.
All 50 states and DC: estate and inheritance tax in 2026
Tap a row to load that state into the calculator.
| State | Estate tax 2026 | Inheritance tax | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| Alaska | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| Arizona | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| Arkansas | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| California | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| Colorado | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| Connecticut | Over $15,000,000, flat 12% | None | Only state tied to the federal exemption. Lifetime gifts since 2005 count against it. |
| Delaware | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| District of Columbia | Over $4,988,400, 11.2% to 16% | None | Exemption rises with inflation each year. |
| Florida | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| Georgia | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| Hawaii | Over $5,490,000, 10% to 20% | None | Top rate of 20%. Owning Hawaii property can make the state presume you lived there. |
| Idaho | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| Illinois | Over $4,000,000, up to 16% | None | Effective rate near 28.6% on the first dollars over $4,000,000. No sharing between spouses. |
| Indiana | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| Iowa | None | None (repealed 2025) | Inheritance tax ended for deaths on or after 1/1/2025. |
| Kansas | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| Kentucky | None | Up to 16% for friends and distant relatives | Spouse, children, siblings, nieces and nephews are exempt in 2026. |
| Louisiana | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| Maine | Over $7,160,000, 8% to 12% | None | Gifts in the last year of life are added back. |
| Maryland | Over $5,000,000, 16% | 10% for nieces, nephews, friends | The only state with both taxes. Spouses can share the $5,000,000 if elected. |
| Massachusetts | Over $2,000,000, up to 16% | None | Low line, not indexed, no sharing between spouses. Nonresidents owe on Massachusetts real estate. |
| Michigan | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| Minnesota | Over $3,000,000, 13% to 16% | None | Gifts in the last 3 years are added back. Up to $2,000,000 extra for qualified farm or small business property. |
| Mississippi | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| Missouri | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| Montana | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| Nebraska | None | 1% to 15%, set by county | Children pay 1% over $100,000. Heirs under 22 are exempt. |
| Nevada | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| New Hampshire | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| New Jersey | None | Siblings 11% to 16%, others 15% to 16% | Nieces, nephews and friends pay from the first dollar. |
| New Mexico | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| New York | Over $7,350,000, up to 16% | None | The cliff: past $7,717,500 the whole estate is taxed, not just the excess. |
| North Carolina | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| North Dakota | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| Ohio | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| Oklahoma | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| Oregon | Over $1,000,000, 10% to 16% | None | Lowest line in the country, not indexed. |
| Pennsylvania | None | Children 4.5%, siblings 12%, others 15% | No exemption: children pay from the first dollar. 5% discount if paid within 3 months. |
| Rhode Island | Over $1,838,056, up to 16% | None | Second lowest line. Rises with inflation. |
| South Carolina | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| South Dakota | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| Tennessee | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| Texas | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| Utah | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| Vermont | Over $5,000,000, flat 16% | None | Gifts in the last 2 years are added back. |
| Virginia | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| Washington | Over $3,000,000, 10% to 20% | None | Top rate was 35% for deaths 7/2025 to 6/2026. Big farm deduction for family heirs. |
| West Virginia | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| Wisconsin | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
| Wyoming | None | None | No state estate or inheritance tax. |
California: no inheritance tax, but heirs still pay
California has had no inheritance tax or estate tax since 1982. If your mother lived in California and left you her house, you owe the state nothing for inheriting it. Most families stop reading there, and that is where the trouble starts. Here is what a California family still faces:
- Another state's tax. Inheritance tax follows the person who died or the property, not you. If your parent lived in Pennsylvania or New Jersey, or owned a rental in Maryland, you can owe that state even though you live in Los Angeles.
- Income tax on retirement accounts. An inherited IRA or 401(k) is taxed as income when it comes out, and most heirs must empty it within 10 years. On a $1,000,000 IRA that can be $300,000 or more of federal and California income tax. For most California families, this is the real inheritance tax. See the inherited IRA 10-year rule.
- Property tax reassessment. Since Proposition 19, a child who inherits a parent's home keeps the low property tax only by moving in, and only up to a limit. A rental gets reassessed to market. See California retirement taxes and Prop 19.
- Federal estate tax on estates over $15,000,000 per person, at 40%.
- Deferred gain on an installment sale. If your parent sold a building or business on an installment note, the gain they deferred does not get a step-up at death. Each payment you collect is still taxed to you. See what happens to an installment note at death.
How families pay the bill without selling the house
An estate tax is due nine months after death in most states, in cash. The estate rarely has that cash lying around. It has a house, a business, a building, an IRA that gets taxed again when it is cashed out to pay the first tax.
The cleanest answer is life insurance owned by an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT):
- An attorney drafts the trust. The trust, not you, owns the policy.
- You gift the trust the money for the premiums each year, usually inside the annual gift tax exclusion.
- At death the policy pays the trust, income tax free. Because you never owned it, the payout is not part of your taxable estate, so it does not raise the very tax it is meant to pay.
- The trust buys assets from the estate or lends it cash, and the estate pays the tax. The house and the business stay in the family.
For a married couple the usual policy is survivorship (second-to-die) life insurance, which pays at the second death, when the estate tax is due, and costs less than two separate policies. For owners who sold a business or building on a structured installment sale, the yearly payments can fund the premiums, so the same sale that spreads the capital gains tax also prepays the estate tax.
Pricing depends on age and health. As a rough guide, a guaranteed survivorship policy for a healthy couple in their late 60s often costs about 1% to 2% of the death benefit per year.
Should you move to a state without an estate tax?
Some people do. Moving from Massachusetts to Florida, or from Oregon to Idaho, removes the state estate tax for most estates. But domicile is about where your life is, not your driver's license. States audit it: where you vote, where your doctors are, where you spend the holidays, where your dog lives. Keep a house and a club membership in Massachusetts, and Massachusetts may still call you a resident. And Massachusetts can still tax real estate you keep there.
Related reading
- Death and taxes with Hans: what your family gets and what they owe
- Inherited annuity tax calculator
- The 5-year rule on an inherited annuity
- Indexed universal life by buyer type
- Inherited IRA 10-year rule
Want to know what your estate would owe, and how to cover it?
I'm Hans Goldstein, an independent licensed insurance producer (NPN 20602398), appointed with multiple A-rated carriers. I run side-by-side comparisons against CDs, MYGAs, Treasuries, and MMFs every week for retirees and pre-retirees. Tell me what you're considering and I'll send back a written comparison.
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Hans Goldstein · 213-414-2808 · NPN 20602398, independent licensed insurance producer appointed with multiple A-rated carriers
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Frequently Asked Questions
Disclosure
This article is general educational information, not legal or tax advice for your situation. Figures are for deaths in calendar year 2026 and come from each state's statute or revenue department as of October 26, 2026; states change these rules often. The calculator is an estimate that assumes the whole estate is taxable and ignores deductions, gifts, out-of-state property fractions and special farm or business rules. Trusts must be drafted by an attorney licensed in your state. Hans Goldstein is an Enrolled Agent, admitted to practice before the IRS, and an independent licensed insurance producer (CA license 4273294, NPN 20602398) who may be paid a commission if you buy life insurance through him.