The IRS describes federal estate tax as an accounting of property and certain interests owned at death, using fair market value. It also describes possible deductions including mortgages, debts, administration expenses, surviving-spouse transfers and qualified charities. Its official table lists a $15 million filing threshold for deaths in 2026. That federal threshold is not an all-in calculation: gifts, unified credit, residence and state taxes are separate questions.
Before you act
- 1.Identify the state governing probate and the property state before assuming federal rules are the only issue.
- 2.Build a date-of-death inventory using fair market value and retain evidence for property, debt and administration costs.
- 3.Use $15m only as a 2026 federal screening threshold; it is not a final federal computation.
- 4.Review lifetime gifts, marital deductions, portability, charitable transfers and non-resident treatment separately.
- 5.Separate estate-tax screening from probate, title, property tax, lender consent and property buyout calculations.