Moving to a state without estate tax: what changes in 2026
A change of domicile removes the estate tax of the state left behind on everything except the real estate and tangible property still located there. Compare the state you live in with the one you are considering.
- $10,000,000 estate, New York
- $1,067,600
- Same estate, Washington
- $1,100,000
- Same estate, Florida or Texas
- $0
- What decides
- Domicile at death
State death taxes, New York against Florida
$1,067,600
Less tax in Florida, if the move is real (domicile).
| New York: estate and inheritance tax | $1,067,600 |
| Florida: estate and inheritance tax | $0 |
| Federal tax, either way | $0 |
Real estate keeps the tax of the state where it sits even after the move.
| State | Estate tax | Inheritance tax, all heirs |
|---|---|---|
| Connecticut | $0 | $0 |
| District of Columbia | $681,299 | $0 |
| Hawaii | $531,400 | $0 |
| Illinois | $926,923 | $0 |
| Kentucky | $0 | $0 |
| Maine | $227,200 | $0 |
| Maryland | $800,000 | $0 |
| Massachusetts | $968,000 | $0 |
| Minnesota | $910,000 | $0 |
| Nebraska | $0 | $98,000 |
| New Jersey | $0 | $0 |
| New York | $1,067,600 | $0 |
| Oregon | $1,102,500 | $0 |
| Pennsylvania | $0 | $450,000 |
| Rhode Island | $979,660 | $0 |
| Vermont | $800,000 | $0 |
| Washington | $1,100,000 | $0 |
Compiled by Radif Partners · How we calculate · figures read on the state revenue department, the statute and irs.gov · not legal or tax advice
State estate taxes follow the domicile of the person who dies, the place that person treated as a permanent home, and not a simple count of days. Someone who moves from New York, Massachusetts, Washington, Oregon, Minnesota or Illinois to Florida or Texas before death takes the bank accounts, securities and business interests out of reach of the old state, because intangible property is taxed by the state of domicile. On an estate of $10,000,000 left to two children, the state tax in 2026 is $1,067,600 in New York, $968,000 in Massachusetts, $1,100,000 in Washington, $1,102,500 in Oregon and $926,923 in Illinois, against zero in Florida. Two limits apply. Real estate kept in the old state remains taxable there, under the nonresident rules. And the old state can claim that the domicile never changed, which is decided on facts. The federal tax is the same everywhere: none on this estate, under the $15,000,000 exclusion.
State tax on the same estate in seven places
The table applies each state's 2026 rules to an unmarried person whose net estate goes in equal shares to two children, with no gifts and no property elsewhere. The difference with Florida or Texas, which tax nothing, is the whole state column.
| State of domicile | Estate of $5,000,000 | Estate of $10,000,000 | Share of the $10,000,000 estate |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | $0 | $1,067,600 | 10.7 % |
| Massachusetts | $292,000 | $968,000 | 9.7 % |
| Washington | $240,000 | $1,100,000 | 11.0 % |
| Oregon | $425,000 | $1,102,500 | 11.0 % |
| Minnesota | $260,000 | $910,000 | 9.1 % |
| Illinois | $285,714 | $926,923 | 9.3 % |
| Florida | $0 | $0 | 0.0 % |
| Texas | $0 | $0 | 0.0 % |
The pattern is not the one a list of exemptions suggests. New York owes nothing at $5,000,000 because its exclusion is $7,350,000, but takes $1,067,600 at $10,000,000, since the cliff removes the exclusion entirely. Oregon taxes from $1,000,000 and Massachusetts from $2,000,000, so both already take hundreds of thousands at $5,000,000. Inheritance-tax states behave differently again: in Pennsylvania the same $5,000,000 going to two children costs $225,000, the 4.5 % lineal rate on every dollar.
Your two states, side by side
State death taxes, Massachusetts against Florida
$538,400
| Massachusetts: estate and inheritance tax | $538,400 |
| Florida: estate and inheritance tax | $0 |
| Federal tax, either way | $0 |
Domicile, not residence, is the test
The states define the taxable estate by where the person was domiciled. Connecticut, for instance, describes a resident estate as that of a decedent who at death was domiciled in Connecticut, and a nonresident estate as one that was not but owned real or tangible property there (Connecticut DRS). Domicile is a single place, the one a person intends to return to, and it is proved by a bundle of facts: the declared homestead, the driver's license and voter registration, where the person files income tax returns, where the doctors, the club memberships, the family heirlooms and the pets are, how many days are spent in each home. Keeping the old house and the old habits while filing a declaration in Florida is the pattern that ends in a dispute with the former state's tax department, which can audit the estate after the death, when the person is no longer there to explain.
Washington adds a nuance that matters for the move itself: it allocates intangible property to the state of domicile, and treats a domiciled decedent's real estate and tangible property outside Washington as out of state (Washington DOR). Once domicile has truly moved, securities and accounts leave the Washington computation entirely.
What stays behind: the house you keep
Real estate and tangible property keep the tax of the state where they sit, whatever the owner's domicile. The second table keeps the $10,000,000 estate and the move to Florida, but leaves a $2,000,000 house in the old state.
| House kept in | Tax before the move | Tax after the move | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | $1,067,600 | $0 | Only the local property is taxed, with the local credit |
| Massachusetts | $968,000 | $0 | Only the local property is taxed, with the local credit |
| Washington | $1,100,000 | $220,000 | Tax on the whole estate times the local share |
| Oregon | $1,102,500 | $220,500 | Tax on the whole estate times the local share |
| Minnesota | $910,000 | $182,000 | Tax on the whole estate times the local share |
| Illinois | $926,923 | $185,385 | Tax on the whole estate times the local share |
The split between the two methods is clear. In ratio states such as Oregon, Washington, Minnesota and Illinois, the former home brings back a fraction of a tax computed on everything, 20 % here, and that fraction is applied at the rates of a $10,000,000 estate. In New York and Massachusetts only the property itself is taxed, against the local exclusion or credit, so a house of that size leaves little or nothing to pay. The details, and the inheritance-tax states, are on property in another state.
Moving toward a tax
The same rules work in reverse. A retiree who leaves Texas for Washington, Oregon or Maryland brings the whole estate under a state tax with a lower threshold than the federal one: $3,000,000 in Washington from July 1, 2026, $1,000,000 in Oregon, $5,000,000 in Maryland, which also has an inheritance tax on nieces, nephews and friends. A move to Pennsylvania or New Jersey changes nothing for children in New Jersey, but adds Pennsylvania's 4.5 % on what children receive. Each state has its own page, starting from the estate tax by state.
What the move does not change
The federal estate tax ignores the state: the exclusion is $15,000,000 per person for deaths in 2026, the rate 40 % above it, and portability lets a surviving spouse add the unused amount of the first. Lifetime gifts made before the move may still be added back by the former state if death comes within its look-back period, three years in New York and Minnesota (gifts and state estate taxes). A married couple that has used a credit shelter trust under the former state's rules keeps the trust; its terms were drafted for that state and may be reviewed by an attorney in the new one. The calculator shows the arithmetic of a move; whether a move suits a given family is a question for an estate attorney who knows both states.