The exemption is huge today and likely to halve at the 2026 sunset. For estates within the affected band, the planning window is narrow and the lifetime-gifting math gets time-sensitive.
0.0% effective (2025 rules)
Your estate is below all the exemptions modelled. The 2026 sunset is the main thing to watch, even an estate under $14M today could become taxable after the sunset, depending on growth.
Federal estate tax assumed at the 40% top rate on the slice above the exemption. Real federal estate tax has a graduated rate schedule from 18% to 40% but in practice the lifetime-gift exemption mechanics push almost all taxable estates straight into the 40% band. State estate tax modelled as flat top-rate above the state exemption.
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Spouses can transfer unlimited assets to each other tax-free. When the first spouse dies, any unused exemption transfers to the surviving spouse via portability. MFJ couples effectively have $27.98M combined exemption in 2025, but you must file Form 706 at the first death to elect portability, easy to miss.
Twelve states plus DC: Washington (20% top), Oregon (16%), Minnesota (16%), Hawaii (20%), Massachusetts (16%), New York (16%), Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine, Illinois, Maryland and DC. Most have lower exemptions ($1-7M) than federal; several also have inheritance tax separately.
The TCJA roughly doubled the estate-tax exemption. That provision sunsets December 31, 2025. Unless Congress extends it, the per-person exemption drops to roughly $7M from January 1, 2026. For estates in the affected band, lifetime gifting to lock in the higher exemption is the time-sensitive move.