Does Delaware Have an Inheritance Tax? No. Here Is What That Actually Means.
Henry Supinski, ChFC® · 4 min read · August 2026
The short answer is no. Delaware has no inheritance tax, and it has no estate tax either. If you are domiciled in Delaware when you die, the state takes nothing from what you leave behind, regardless of who receives it or how much it is. The longer answer matters because most people asking this question live near the Pennsylvania line, and Pennsylvania takes a very different view.
The Direct Answer
Delaware does not tax inheritances. It repealed its estate tax effective for deaths after 2017, and it never had an inheritance tax. There is no form to file, no rate table to consult, no exemption amount to calculate. A Delaware resident's estate passes to spouse, children, siblings, or friends with no state-level tax on the transfer. Federal estate tax still exists, but with the federal exemption in the eight figures per person, it touches very few families.
Estate Tax and Inheritance Tax Are Not the Same Thing
The two terms get used interchangeably and they are different mechanisms. An estate tax is charged to the estate itself, based on the total value, before anything is distributed. An inheritance tax is charged to the person receiving the money, and the rate usually depends on how they were related to the person who died. Delaware has neither. Pennsylvania has no estate tax but does have an inheritance tax, which is where the confusion usually starts for families in this area.
What Pennsylvania Charges Instead
Pennsylvania's inheritance tax applies from the first dollar, with no exemption floor. The rate depends on the relationship: 0% to a surviving spouse, 4.5% to children and grandchildren, 12% to siblings, and 15% to nearly everyone else. Charities are exempt. On a $2 million estate passing to two adult children, that is $90,000. To a sibling, $240,000. To a close friend, $300,000. A Delaware resident with the identical estate and identical heirs owes zero. That gap is the reason so many families near the line ask this question.
The Catch: Real Estate Stays Put
Moving your domicile to Delaware does not move your Pennsylvania real estate out of Pennsylvania's reach. A house in Chester County generally remains subject to the PA inheritance tax no matter where you are domiciled when you die, because the tax follows the property, not the owner. Financial accounts, by contrast, follow your domicile. If you keep a Pennsylvania home after moving, that home is the one asset your heirs will still owe PA inheritance tax on.
The Second Catch: Domicile Has to Be Real
Pennsylvania can and does challenge domicile changes that look like paperwork rather than a genuine move. If your driver's license says Delaware but your doctors, voter registration, and most of your days are still in Pennsylvania, the state has an argument that you never left, and your estate can owe PA inheritance tax years after you thought the question was settled. We wrote a step-by-step guide to changing your domicile properly. Do it fully or not at all.
A Hypothetical Family on Each Side
The numbers are invented; the rates are real. A widow with a $1.8 million estate, all in financial accounts, leaves everything to her two children. Domiciled in Hockessin, Delaware: her children receive $1.8 million and owe Delaware nothing. Domiciled in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania: her children owe 4.5%, or $81,000, due within nine months of her death, with a 5% discount if paid within three months. Same family, same money, twenty minutes apart. Now add a Pennsylvania beach house she kept after moving to Delaware. That house is still taxed by Pennsylvania at 4.5% even though she died a Delaware resident.
How We Approach It
The inheritance tax is one input, not the whole decision. Pennsylvania is gentler on retirement income while you are alive; Delaware is gentler on your heirs after. Which state wins depends on your income mix, your beneficiaries, and where you actually want to live. We model both sides for families across the line, then coordinate with your estate attorney so titling and beneficiary designations match the plan. Wilmington is where I grew up, and this exact comparison shows up in most of the plans we build near the border. The fuller two-state picture is in Delaware or Pennsylvania: which state treats your estate better.
Questions We Hear
Does Delaware have an inheritance tax?
No. Delaware has no inheritance tax and no estate tax. A Delaware resident's estate passes to any heir with no state-level tax on the transfer. Federal estate tax still applies above the federal exemption, which is high enough that it affects very few families.
Does Delaware have an estate tax?
No. Delaware repealed its estate tax for deaths after 2017. Neither Delaware nor Pennsylvania has an estate tax today; the difference between them is that Pennsylvania has an inheritance tax and Delaware does not.
What is the Delaware inheritance tax rate?
There is no rate because there is no tax. For comparison, Pennsylvania's inheritance tax is 0% to a spouse, 4.5% to children and grandchildren, 12% to siblings, and 15% to most others, applied from the first dollar with no exemption.
If I move to Delaware, does my whole estate escape Pennsylvania's inheritance tax?
Mostly, if the domicile change is genuine and documented. Financial accounts follow your domicile. Real estate does not: a Pennsylvania house generally remains subject to PA inheritance tax regardless of where you die. Pennsylvania can also challenge a domicile change that looks cosmetic.