Executive Summary:

• No Texas state estate tax: Texas does not levy an estate tax or “death tax” at the state level.
• Federal exemption limits (2026): Federal estate taxes only apply to individuals with estates worth over $15 million or married couples with joint assets over $30 million. These thresholds adjust annually for inflation.
• Tax planning for wealthy couples: Married couples worth more than $15 million collectively may still require tax planning, as the surviving spouse’s individual estate could exceed the threshold after the first partner passes.
• Tax reduction strategies: For the less than 1% of the population who exceed these thresholds, legal estate planning strategies exist to minimize or eliminate federal estate tax liability.
• Apportionment rules: If an estate is subject to federal taxation, Texas Estates Code Chapter 124 dictates how those taxes are divided among the beneficiaries.
• Importance of basic planning: Even without estate tax concerns, a proper will is still necessary to prevent a waste of time and money during probate, and to ensure assets are distributed according to your wishes.

In Texas, whether or not estate taxes will need to be paid when you die greatly depends on the size of your estate. Luckily for the vast majority of us, there is no need to worry.

First of all, there is not an estate tax, sometimes called a “death tax”, at the state level if you live in Texas. So you don’t have to worry about any of the money in your estate going to the state government after you pass. However, if by chance your estate is taxed at the federal level the Texas Estates Code Chapter 124 governs how federal and other valid estate or death taxes are apportioned among beneficiaries.

When it comes to money possibly going to Washington, DC there are concerns for a very select few. For 2026, there is a $15 million federal exemption for individuals and a $30 million for married couples. And these amounts are set to go up every year at the rate of inflation. So as of now (2026) if you’re single and worth less than $15 million or if you’re married and your joint assets are worth less than $30 million, you do not have to worry about your estate as far as estate taxes are concerned. Having said that, if you are married and you and your spouse are worth $15 million or more, you still might might need to do some tax planning, given that when the first of you passes the survivor of the two of you might then be worth $15 million or more.

If you are part of the less than 1% of the population whose estate value does go over these thresholds, well first of all, that’s a nice problem to have.  Second of all, there still are estate planning strategies available to help you reduce and possibly even eliminate the amount of estate taxes that your estate will have to pay.

For most of us though, as you can see, there’s no need to worry about having to pay estate taxes. However, if you want to ensure that as much money as possible gets left to the loved ones of your choice, then you still need a proper will and possibly other estate planning documents in place. Otherwise, time and money will get unnecessarily wasted settling your affairs when you pass away. Likewise, the remaining assets will oftentimes not go completely where you would have wanted them to go.