Where you live when you die affects both your family's care experience and how much of your estate survives taxes. States with no estate tax, strong palliative care, and efficient probate protect more of what you leave behind, while states with exemption cliffs or dual estate and inheritance taxes take a real bite out of an estate.
Nobody plans a move around where they intend to die, but the state you live in when that happens has financial consequences for your family that are worth understanding well before it matters. Between end-of-life care quality and state-level estate and inheritance taxes, some states are simply better for your family's bottom line than others.
What the Rankings Actually Measure
The most commonly cited ranking on this topic comes from Policygenius, which scored every state and Washington, D.C. on funeral costs, green burial availability, palliative care access, Medicare provider density, at-home death rates, and probate shortcuts. Taxes were not part of their formula, which matters, because a state can score poorly on their scale and still be excellent from a pure estate-tax perspective, or the reverse.
Vermont: The Highest Overall Ranking
Policygenius ranked Vermont as the best state to die in in 2022, citing a strong density of funeral homes and green burial options, plus a top ranking for palliative care access. The tradeoff is cost: funeral expenses in Vermont run higher than in most of the country. Vermont also imposes its own estate tax, at a flat 16 percent, on estates above the state's exemption threshold, so a high overall quality-of-care ranking does not mean the state is tax-friendly for a large estate.
Florida: Weak on Care, Strong on Taxes
Florida ranked at the bottom of the Policygenius list, driven by a low rate of at-home deaths and comparatively few Medicare providers per capita relative to its large retiree population. On the tax side, Florida has no state estate or inheritance tax at all, which is one reason it remains popular with retirees managing a large estate despite the lower quality-of-care ranking.
New York: The Most Expensive Funerals
Policygenius found New York has the highest average funeral costs in the country alongside a low rate of at-home deaths. New York also levies its own estate tax with a notable "cliff": if the estate exceeds the exemption by more than five percent, the entire estate, not just the excess, becomes taxable. That structure makes New York one of the more punishing states for an estate that lands just over the line.
States With No Estate or Inheritance Tax
According to the Tax Foundation, 33 states have no estate or inheritance tax at all as of 2025, while 12 states plus Washington, D.C. impose an estate tax and five states impose an inheritance tax, with Maryland the only state that levies both. If protecting a larger estate is your priority, confirming whether your state falls into that no-tax group is one of the simplest planning moves available. Our state-specific guides, including estate planning in Florida and estate planning in Vermont, cover the details for two of the states discussed here.
The States With the Toughest Estate Tax Rules
Massachusetts and Oregon have among the lowest estate tax exemption thresholds in the country, both starting taxation around 1,000,000 dollars, and in Massachusetts the entire estate becomes taxable once you cross that line, not just the amount above it. Washington raised its top estate tax rate to 35 percent in 2025, among the highest in the nation, while also raising its exemption to 3,000,000 dollars. Connecticut and Vermont apply flat estate tax rates of 12 and 16 percent respectively. Maryland stands alone as the only state charging both an estate tax and a separate inheritance tax on the same estate.
Practical Ways to Reduce Estate and Inheritance Tax Exposure
- Fund education accounts for children or grandchildren, which moves money out of your taxable estate while supporting a specific goal.
- Use the annual gift tax exclusion, which the IRS sets at 19,000 dollars per recipient for 2025 and 2026, letting you give that amount to as many people as you like without any gift tax reporting.
- Consider a qualified personal residence trust, which moves your home's value out of your estate while letting you continue living there during the trust term.
- Increase charitable giving, which reduces your taxable estate while supporting causes you care about.
- Review your state of residence and domicile if you split time between states, since your legal domicile, not just where you own property, usually determines which state's estate tax applies.
How FastWill Helps You Plan Around This
Estate and inheritance tax exposure is exactly the kind of issue a trust can help address, particularly for couples whose combined estate is approaching a state or federal exemption threshold. FastWill's online platform helps you build a plan that accounts for your actual state of residence rather than a generic template. If you have not started with the basics yet, our will package is the foundation every estate plan needs first.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which states have no estate or inheritance tax?
As of 2025, 33 states have neither tax, according to the Tax Foundation. Confirm your specific state's current status, since state tax law changes from year to year.
What is the federal estate tax exemption?
For 2025 it is 13,990,000 dollars per individual, rising to 15,000,000 dollars in 2026, according to the IRS. Most estates fall well under this threshold and owe no federal estate tax.
Does Florida really have no estate tax?
Correct, Florida has no state-level estate or inheritance tax, which is part of why it remains attractive to retirees with larger estates, even though it ranks lower on quality-of-care measures.
What makes Maryland different from other states?
Maryland is the only state that imposes both an estate tax and a separate inheritance tax, meaning an estate can be taxed once before distribution and again when heirs receive their share.
Can moving states reduce my estate tax bill?
It can, but only if you actually change your legal domicile, not just where you spend part of the year. Review our guide on updating your documents after a move before assuming a new address alone changes your tax exposure.
Protecting what you have built starts with knowing the rules in your own state. Talk to FastWill about a trust or start with a will to put the basics in place today.
