At a glance
| State estate tax | Yes — exemption $3,000,000RCW 83.100.040 (rate table) & 83.100.020 (applicable exclusion), as amended by 2025 c. 421 (SB 5813) and 2026 c. 209 (SB 6347) · Deaths on or after Jul 1, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Estate top rate | 20%RCW 83.100.040 (rate table) & 83.100.020 (applicable exclusion), as amended by 2025 c. 421 (SB 5813) and 2026 c. 209 (SB 6347) · Deaths on or after Jul 1, 2026 |
| Inheritance tax | No |
| Small-estate ceiling | $100,000RCW 11.62.010 · current |
| TOD deed for real estate | AvailableRCW ch. 64.80 (Uniform Real Property TOD Act) · adopted 2014 |
| Community-property state | Yes |
Estate tax
Washington levies its own estate tax entirely separate from the federal one. Its exclusion is far below the federal exclusion, so an estate can owe nothing federally and still owe Washington tax.
2026 is a split year keyed to the decedent's date of death. For deaths on or after July 1, 2026 the applicable exclusion and filing threshold are $3,000,000 and the graduated rate table runs from 10% on the first $1,000,000 of Washington taxable estate up to a top rate of 20% on the amount above $9,000,000 — the result of 2026 legislation (SB 6347, Chapter 209, Laws of 2026) that rolled back the rates. For deaths between January 1 and June 30, 2026 the earlier regime applies: a $3,076,000 CPI-indexed exclusion and a graduated table topping out at 35% (SB 5813, Chapter 421, Laws of 2025).
Washington has no portability. Unlike the federal system, a surviving spouse cannot inherit an unused exclusion; a couple that wants to use both exclusions generally plans for it with a credit-shelter or QTIP structure. Washington allows its own QTIP election, made on the Washington return and separate from the federal election (RCW 83.100.047).
Match the figures to the decedent's date of death: a death on or after July 1, 2026 uses the $3,000,000 exclusion and the 20% top rate, while a death in the first half of 2026 uses the $3,076,000 exclusion and the 35% top rate, per the Department of Revenue's estate tax tables.
Inheritance tax
Washington has no inheritance tax — beneficiaries are not taxed on what they receive by the state. Washington has no separate inheritance tax — the state estate tax above is its only death tax.
Probate basics
A successor can collect personal property by affidavit when the probate estate (excluding the surviving spouse's community-property interest) is $100,000 or less, forty days after death (RCW 11.62.010). Washington also allows a streamlined settlement without intervention for many solvent estates.
Washington is a community-property state, which affects how a married couple owns property and can give a surviving spouse a full basis step-up on community assets. A transfer-on-death deed for real estate is Available RCW ch. 64.80 (Uniform Real Property TOD Act) · adopted 2014 — see the full Washington transfer-on-death deed guide for the requirements, revocation, and alternatives. 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
Federal-exempt, Washington-taxable
Because Washington's exclusion (about $3 million) is a fraction of the federal exclusion, a middle-of-the-road Puget Sound estate — a paid-off house plus retirement savings — can owe Washington estate tax while owing nothing to the IRS. The federal return is not the one to watch here.
No portability between spouses
The unused exclusion of the first spouse to die does not carry over to the survivor. Without planning (a credit-shelter or QTIP trust, or a Washington QTIP election), a couple can waste one full exclusion and expose the second estate unnecessarily.
2026 is a split year
Washington changed its estate tax mid-2026. A death on or after July 1, 2026 uses a $3,000,000 exclusion and a 20% top rate (SB 6347, Chapter 209, Laws of 2026); a death in the first half of 2026 uses a $3,076,000 exclusion and a 35% top rate (SB 5813, Chapter 421, Laws of 2025). The figures that apply are fixed by the decedent's date of death, per the Department of Revenue's estate tax tables.
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
Figures from the AdvisorWorld estate & inheritance tax dataset — reviewed by Sakineh Majd, J.D. — Maine Bar #004999 · 2026-07-24. Review scope and any standing source re-checks are documented in the memo and pinned dataset record.
Every tax figure on this page links to the primary source it was verified against — a Washington 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 Washington.
Last verified July 24, 2026.