by Kevin Rigg, CFP®, CPA® & Krista Wallace, CFP®, AFC®

Annual Reviews—our spring client meetings—are nearly complete, and we’re already looking ahead to our Strategic Planning Meetings this fall, where we’ll dig deeper into estate planning with our clients. We’re preparing to review current documents, analyze existing plans, consider various strategies, and help facilitate necessary changes.

This month’s chart illustrates which states impose estate and/or inheritance taxes. For many Americans, the federal estate tax is not a concern, as the current exemption amount is $13.99 million, allowing married couples to shield up to $27.98 million from federal estate tax. (It’s worth noting that this exemption is set to expire at the end of 2025, absent further legislative changes, and could look very different in 2026.)

As the chart shows, many individual states have their own estate or inheritance tax systems, and those impact far more people, largely because the exemption amounts are much lower than the federal threshold. For example, here in Washington State, the estate tax exemption is just $3.0 million. While that amount recently increased from roughly $2.2 million, due to new legislation, it remains significantly below the federal exemption.

Will estate taxes in your state impact the planning you should consider, even if the federal estate tax isn’t currently a concern? Could federal or state legislative changes affect the planning you’ve already done? These are great questions, and they’re part of why estate planning will be a top priority in our fall meetings.

At those meetings, we’ll address these issues directly, providing updates on relevant legislation, calculating potential exposure to estate taxes at both the state and federal levels, and suggesting strategies to consider.

At SoundView Advisors, we believe in a proactive approach to estate planning, and we’re looking forward to sitting down with you this fall. Our goal is to make sure your plan is current, aligns with today’s laws, and—most importantly—reflects your values and long-term priorities.