Updated October 5, 2026. Quick answer: No. Delaware has no estate tax for a person who dies in 2026. Title 30, Chapter 15 of the Delaware Code is headed “Estate Tax [Repealed]”, and the chapter was “repealed by 81 Del. Laws, c. 52”, effective January 1, 2018. The federal exclusion is $15,000,000 for 2026.
Deeding a home to a family member while you are alive? What Delaware requires, from its own documents: Delaware quitclaim deed requirements.
Naming a beneficiary on a brokerage account or a vehicle title is covered here: transfer-on-death registration in Delaware.
Inheriting from, or planning for, someone in this state? Whether the state has an inheritance tax, from its own tax documents: Does Delaware have an inheritance tax?.
Making a gift or planning an estate? The state’s gift tax answer, from its own tax documents: Does Delaware have a gift tax?.
Delaware estate tax at a glance
| Item | What the documents say |
|---|---|
| State estate tax | None |
| Why | Repealed by 81 Del. Laws, c. 52, effective January 1, 2018 |
| State inheritance tax | None: repealed by an act effective January 1, 1999 |
| Federal estate tax basic exclusion amount, 2026 | $15,000,000 |
| Source | Delaware General Assembly; Delaware Department of Finance; IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 |
Why Delaware has no estate tax
The Division of Revenue’s earlier summary describes the tax as applying to individuals who died before January 1, 2018, when the State “imposes an estate tax on the value of an individual’s estate”. Dying on or after that date, a Delaware resident’s estate faces no Delaware estate tax.
Does Delaware have an inheritance tax?
The Division of Revenue’s legislative history for the estate tax lists an act approved 7/1/98 and effective 1/1/99 that “Repealed the inheritance tax”.
CMG’s inheritance tax by state page covers the beneficiary side.
What applies to a Delaware estate instead
Federal estate tax is separate. Revenue Procedure 2025-32 says the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, section 70106, increased the “basic exclusion amount to $15,000,000 for calendar year 2026”.
An estate of $3,000,000 in Delaware owes $0 of state estate tax, and $3,000,000 is below the federal $15,000,000.
Probate: Delaware probate cost. Retirement accounts: how Delaware taxes 401(k) and IRA withdrawals.
Common mistakes
- Using a pre-2018 Delaware estate tax threshold; the tax was repealed for deaths on or after January 1, 2018.
- Assuming the state answer settles the federal one, or the answer for property held in another state.
Related: estate tax by state, inheritance tax by state, and probate cost by state.
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Answer againSources
- Delaware Code Title 30, Chapter 15. Estate Tax [Repealed]: https://delcode.delaware.gov/title30/c015/index.html
- Estate Tax (Delaware Division of Revenue statutory provision summary): https://financefiles.delaware.gov/docs/estate_tax.pdf
- Revenue Procedure 2025-32 (Internal Revenue Service): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-32.pdf
Sources: the primary documents linked above, read on October 5, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and an estate attorney, a tax preparer or the state agency itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.