At a glance
| State estate tax | No |
|---|---|
| Estate top rate | — |
| Inheritance tax | No |
| Small-estate ceiling | $50,00012 Del. C. § 2306 · 2025 |
| TOD deed for real estate | Not availableDelaware Code — no real-property TOD deed statute · 2025 |
| Community-property state | No |
Estate tax
Delaware does not levy its own estate tax. An estate here is subject only to the federal estate tax, which most estates never owe — the federal exclusion is measured in the millions. See the federal lifetime exemption for how that works.
Inheritance tax
Delaware has no inheritance tax — beneficiaries are not taxed on what they receive by the state. Delaware imposes no inheritance tax; beneficiaries owe no Delaware tax on property received from an estate.
Probate basics
Where a decedent's personal estate does not exceed $50,000, a successor may collect it by sworn affidavit under 12 Del. C. § 2306 without a formal grant of letters. The procedure reaches only personal property, not real estate.
Delaware is a common-law (separate-property) state for ownership between spouses. A transfer-on-death deed for real estate is Not available Delaware Code — no real-property TOD deed statute · 2025. The probate deadlines for this state — filing the will, the creditor-claim window, the inventory — are cited in the Executor & Heir’s Guide.
State-specific quirks
Small-estate ceiling was raised to $50,000
The affidavit ceiling under 12 Del. C. § 2306 is $50,000 in the current Delaware Code, not the lower figure sometimes cited in older materials.
The affidavit reaches only personal property
The § 2306 procedure transfers only the decedent's personal estate. Delaware real property is not passed by this affidavit and typically requires probate or a lifetime non-probate arrangement.
No state death tax is not no federal tax
Delaware levies neither an estate nor an inheritance tax, but the federal estate tax can still apply to larger estates, so residents with significant assets should not assume their estates are free of all transfer tax.
Where to read next
- the federal lifetime exemption — how the far larger federal exclusion works — and why a state tax can still apply below it
- funding a revocable trust — the most common way to keep property out of probate entirely
- the ILIT cluster — keeping a life-insurance death benefit out of a taxable estate
- the Executor & Heir's Guide — the probate deadlines for this state, cited to the statute
- ← Back to the 51-jurisdiction comparison
Sources & methodology
Methodology & sources
Every tax figure on this page links to the primary source it was verified against — a Delaware statute or department-of-revenue page — with that source’s own effective date. Aggregator round-ups are never used as a source. State death and probate law changes every legislative session; this page carries the date it was last re-verified, and any figure that could not be confirmed from a primary source is flagged for you to check with the state rather than guessed. See our editorial standards.
This page is educational and is not legal or tax advice. Whether a death tax applies turns on residency, where property sits, and how title is held — details a general page cannot resolve. Confirm your own situation with a professional licensed in Delaware.
Last verified July 20, 2026.