What’s New for 2026?

Are you planning to revise your estate planning documents in 2026? Or perhaps considering your estate plan for the first time? If so, it is important to understand what has changed, and what has remained the same, in Washington’s estate tax landscape.

Here’s what’s new and what’s the same in 2026:

• Federal Estate Tax. Last year, I reported that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) was scheduled to sunset at the end of 2025, causing the federal estate tax limits to revert to approximately $7 million per individual ($14 million for married couples). As many anticipated, this did not occur. Instead, in 2026 the federal estate tax exemption has increased to a significantly higher amount – $15 million per person or $30 million for married couples.
• Annual Gifting. Some people facing potential estate tax exposure at the federal or the state level choose to reduce their taxable estate by making annual exclusion gifts. Please see this link for a more detailed explanation of how these annual exclusion gifts work. In 2025, you could make annual gifts of up to $19,000 per individual. In 2026, that amount remains unchanged.
• Washington Estate Tax. As we previously reported, the Washington legislature enacted a significant update to the estate tax in 2025, increasing the estate tax exemption amount to $3 million for deaths occurring on or after July 1, 2025. Going forward, this exemption amount will be adjusted annually for inflation. For 2026, the Washington estate tax exemption amount will be $3,076,000.

Do you have questions about how these 2026 changes (and non-changes!) might impact your estate planning? Please let us know. We’d be happy to help.