What is this calculator for?
Your parents are 78 and 82, your mom mentions their accountant said the estate "should be fine" but you have no idea what that means. Or you're 64, your assets total about $9.2 million, and you've heard the federal estate tax exemption is "coming down" in 2026 but you can't tell whether your situation crosses any threshold. Or your client (you're a financial planner) has a $4M estate in Massachusetts and wonders if state estate tax is something to worry about. The estate tax calculator answers all three of these in plain numbers.
Federal estate tax in 2026: estates under $13.99 million (single) or $27.98 million (married, using portability of the deceased spouse's exemption) pay zero federal estate tax. Estates above the exemption pay 18-40% on the amount over. About 0.1% of US estates owe federal estate tax in a typical year — fewer than 2,000 estates nationwide. The federal exemption is scheduled to drop roughly in half on January 1, 2026 (sunset of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act increase) unless Congress extends it, which would bring the exemption back to ~$7M single. For estates between $7M and $14M, that scheduled drop is the difference between owing nothing and owing $2-3M.
State estate or inheritance tax is the other half of the story. Eighteen states (plus DC) impose their own estate or inheritance tax, with exemptions much lower than federal — Massachusetts and Oregon at $1M, Washington at $2.193M, Minnesota at $3M. State estate tax is the bigger threat to most upper-middle-class families than federal estate tax, because state thresholds are reached so much earlier.
How to use this calculator
Enter the gross estate value. This is the total fair market value of everything owned at death: home(s), vehicles, retirement accounts, brokerage accounts, life insurance death benefits (counted if you own the policy), business interests, jewelry, art, collectibles, and pending receivables. Most estate-planning attorneys recommend tallying this conservatively — include retirement balances and life insurance face values, not just liquid cash.
Subtract deductions: outstanding mortgages and other debts at death, funeral expenses, estate administration costs (typically 3-7% of gross estate for legal, accounting, and executor fees), and the unlimited marital deduction (anything passing to a surviving spouse). The marital deduction is the most powerful planning tool — assets passing to a spouse don't count toward the federal estate tax even if they exceed the exemption. The exempt amount is then "ported" to the spouse via the DSUE (deceased spouse's unused exemption) election on Form 706.
Pick your filing status. Single uses one exemption (~$13.99M in 2026 if no sunset, ~$7M if sunset occurs). Married couples effectively get double through portability — but only if the first spouse's estate properly files Form 706 to elect portability. Without the election, the unused exemption is lost. This is a common and expensive planning failure.
Set your state of residence at death. The calculator applies the appropriate state estate or inheritance tax (or none, for the 32 states that don't impose either). State residency at death is what matters; if you live in Massachusetts at death, MA estate tax applies regardless of where you lived earlier in life.
Understanding your results
The calculator returns federal estate tax owed, state estate or inheritance tax owed (if applicable), and total tax. The breakdown shows your gross estate, deductions, taxable estate, exemption applied, taxable amount above exemption, and tax rate applied.
For most US families, the result is "$0 owed" — the federal exemption covers 99%+ of estates, and only 18 states have estate or inheritance tax. The interesting cases sit at three thresholds: (1) $1-3M estates in MA/OR/WA — state estate tax engages even though federal does not. (2) $7-14M estates if the 2017 TCJA sunset occurs in 2026 — federal exemption drops in half, suddenly bringing many estates into federal taxation. (3) $14M+ estates — federal estate tax applies regardless of sunset.
Reading the planning implications: if you're under the exemption with a comfortable margin (say, under $5M), estate planning focuses on probate avoidance, beneficiary designations, and asset titling — not on tax minimization. If you're in the $5-15M range, planning is dominated by uncertainty about the 2026 sunset; many planners are recommending "use it or lose it" strategies — gifting up to $13.99M now to lock in the higher exemption, since gifts use the same exemption. If you're above $15-20M, planning is dominated by trust structures (CRTs, GRATs, ILITs, dynasty trusts) that move assets out of the taxable estate while preserving family benefit.
Critical interpretation note: the calculator estimates federal estate tax based on current law and state estate tax based on current state law. Both can change. The 2017 federal exemption increase is scheduled to sunset January 1, 2026 — if Congress doesn't act, exemptions roughly halve. State legislatures change estate tax thresholds periodically. For an estate over $5M, run the calculator at multiple exemption scenarios (current law and post-sunset) to see the range of possible outcomes.
Annual gifting strategy: the annual gift tax exclusion is $19,000 per recipient (2026) — you can gift this much to each person each year without using any of your lifetime exemption. A couple with three children and seven grandchildren can move $19,000 × 10 × 2 = $380,000 out of their estate annually with zero tax implications. Over 15 years, that's $5.7M of estate reduction without touching the lifetime exemption.
A worked example
Elaine and Richard, both 76, have been married 51 years. Their estate: paid-off home in Newton, MA ($1.85M), brokerage accounts ($4.2M), 401(k) and IRA balances ($1.7M), life insurance with $750K death benefit ($750K), personal property ($150K). Gross estate: $8.65M. Outstanding debts and expected administration costs: $310K.
If Richard dies first in 2026 (before TCJA sunset, federal exemption $13.99M): unlimited marital deduction passes everything to Elaine. Federal estate tax: $0. Massachusetts estate tax: $0 (marital deduction works at state level too in MA). Form 706 is filed to elect portability of Richard's unused federal exemption. Elaine's new exemption: $13.99M + Richard's ported amount.
When Elaine dies later (assume 2032, federal exemption hypothetically $9M after sunset and indexing): her estate has grown to about $10.8M with market gains. Federal estate tax: $10.8M − ($9M + ported amount from Richard) = ($9M + ~$7M ported, assuming sunset reduced Richard's portable amount) = exemption ~$16M total. Federal estate tax: $0. Massachusetts state estate tax: $10.8M − $1M MA exemption = $9.8M × MA progressive rates up to 16% = approximately $1.05M MA estate tax owed. Net to children: $9.75M after MA tax.
Now run the scenario with no portability election filed at Richard's death (a common failure): Elaine's exemption is only her own $9M (post-sunset). Her $10.8M estate − $9M federal exemption = $1.8M × 40% = $720,000 federal estate tax. Plus the same $1.05M MA tax. Combined tax: $1.77M. Net to children: $9.03M. The missed Form 706 portability election cost the family $720,000.
Better planning scenario: Richard and Elaine, while both alive, transfer their $1.85M home to an Irrevocable Trust for the benefit of their children (using a Qualified Personal Residence Trust or similar). This removes the home (and future appreciation) from their taxable estate. At Elaine's death, taxable estate drops by $1.85M plus its appreciation. State estate tax savings: $1.85M × 11% MA marginal rate ≈ $200K. Plus the appreciation between transfer and death — say 30% over 6 years — saves another $60K of state estate tax. Total savings: $260K, for a $5,000-12,000 trust setup cost. This is the kind of planning that becomes attractive when your estate exceeds the state exemption but not the federal — the most common scenario for MA, OR, WA, and MN upper-middle-class families.
State-by-state variations
Eighteen states plus DC impose estate or inheritance tax. The mechanics differ: estate tax is levied on the deceased's estate before distribution; inheritance tax is levied on the recipient after distribution. Estate tax states: Connecticut, DC, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington. Inheritance tax states: Kentucky, Maryland (both), Nebraska, New Jersey, Pennsylvania. Iowa is phasing out its inheritance tax (full repeal in 2025).
The lowest state estate tax exemptions: Massachusetts $1M and Oregon $1M (both flat-tier, hit at $1M). These are the most likely to apply to upper-middle-class families. A retired Massachusetts couple with $1.5M home, $1M retirement balances, $200K life insurance — total $2.7M estate — owes MA estate tax on the $1.7M above the $1M exemption (roughly $130K MA tax) even though they have no federal liability.
Inheritance tax states tax based on relationship to the deceased. In Pennsylvania: 4.5% on transfers to children, 12% to siblings, 15% to non-relatives, 0% to spouse. Nebraska: 1% to close family, 11% to other relatives, 15% to non-relatives. The rates apply per beneficiary on what they receive, not on the estate total. Inheritance tax can create perverse outcomes (a non-relative receiving a modest bequest pays a higher rate than a child receiving a large bequest) and is increasingly being phased out.
Domicile planning: a long-time New York resident retiring to Florida (no state estate tax) saves their heirs $300K-$2M+ depending on estate size. The catch is that NY tax authorities scrutinize claimed domicile changes aggressively — they want to see you've truly cut ties (sold the NY home, registered to vote in FL, moved business records, spent under 184 days/year in NY). High-profile cases of NY claiming back-taxes against snowbird retirees who maintained NY apartments are common. If you're moving to a no-tax state to save estate tax, do it properly with documentation, not as a tax fiction.
Related resources
For broader retirement planning that interacts with estate planning, see the Social Security Estimator and 401(k) Planner. For evaluating which state to retire in based on overall tax burden, the Cost of Living Comparison and Property Tax Calculator. For income-tax interactions with retirement withdrawals, the Income Tax Calculator. The IRS Estate Tax overview and Form 706 instructions are the authoritative federal references. For state-specific rules, your state's department of revenue website covers state estate or inheritance tax thresholds and rates.