Missouri Estate
Tax Calculator

Missouri does not impose a state estate tax or inheritance tax. The state's estate tax expired with the federal credit in 2005.

Missouri has not enacted a replacement, and there is no current legislative movement to reinstate one. Only the federal estate tax applies.

Missouri's central location and diverse economy produce estates with agricultural land, manufacturing businesses, real estate in the St. Louis and Kansas City metro areas, and increasingly, tech and healthcare industry wealth.

Estate planning considerations span a wide range of asset types.

Missouri estates face only the federal estate tax with its **$15 million exemption and 40%** top rate. Portability allows married couples to shelter $30 million combined.

No state filing is required.

Missouri borders eight states, none of which impose a state estate tax (though Nebraska and Kentucky have inheritance taxes). This regional consistency simplifies planning for multi-state asset holders in the Midwest.

Missouri is a common-law property state with statutory spousal rights that include a homestead allowance, exempt property, and an elective share of one-third of the estate if there are descendants (one-half if there are none). These rights operate independently of the will or trust.

Missouri's trust laws were modernized by the Missouri Uniform Trust Code (MUTC), which provides a flexible framework for trust administration. Missouri permits directed trusts and does not impose a state-level perpetuities restriction for certain trusts, making it competitive with Delaware and South Dakota for trust siting.

Evaluate whether an in-state trust offers advantages over out-of-state alternatives for estates with federal estate tax exposure.

Evaluate federal estate tax exposure for Missouri estates. Use this estimator to model portability, gifting strategies, and trust scenarios.

Free for all states.

Because Missouri does not impose a state estate tax, the federal estate tax is the only transfer tax layer. The current federal exemption of $15 million per individual (2025) shelters the vast majority of estates.

However, estates that exceed this threshold face a top marginal rate of 40%, making federal planning essential for high-net-worth Missouri residents.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) doubled the federal exemption effective 2018, but this increase is scheduled to sunset after 2025. If Congress does not act, the exemption will revert to approximately $7 million (adjusted for inflation).

For Missouri residents with estates between $7 million and $15 million, this sunset creates a planning window: transfers made now under the higher exemption will not be clawed back, even if the exemption later decreases.

The absence of a state estate tax in Missouri simplifies the analysis — there is no gap between state and federal exemptions to navigate, no separate state return to file, and no risk of double taxation. However, this also means there is no state-level deduction to offset federal liability.

Federal planning tools — marital deductions, charitable deductions, and the unified credit — carry the full weight of estate tax mitigation. Use the Missouri estate tax calculator to model current and post-sunset scenarios, and review the Missouri probate cost calculator to understand full settlement costs.

Federal portability allows a surviving spouse to inherit the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion (DSUE), effectively doubling the available federal exemption to $30 million for married couples. Electing portability requires filing Form 706 for the first-to-die spouse, even if no federal estate tax is owed — a step that is frequently overlooked when no tax appears to be due.

Because Missouri does not impose a state estate tax, there is no state-level portability concern. The federal election is the only one that matters, and it applies automatically to the surviving spouse's estate once made.

This is simpler than in estate-tax states, where the lack of state portability forces the use of bypass trusts to preserve both exemptions.

Despite this simplicity, portability has limitations. The DSUE amount is not indexed for inflation — it locks in at the value of the first spouse's unused exemption at the date of death.

If the surviving spouse remarries and the new spouse dies, the DSUE from the first spouse is lost. For Missouri families with significant wealth, bypass trusts may still be preferable to portability because they provide asset protection, generation-skipping benefits, and inflation-adjusted growth outside the surviving spouse's taxable estate.

Use the executor fee calculator and probate cost calculator to understand the full administration picture when comparing trust structures.

Without a state estate tax, Missouri residents focus planning efforts on the federal layer. The current $15 million exemption provides substantial shelter, but the scheduled TCJA sunset makes it prudent to accelerate planning.

Irrevocable trusts — including ILITs, SLATs, and QPRTs — remove assets from the taxable estate permanently. Once transferred, these assets and their future appreciation are outside the federal estate, regardless of future exemption changes.

Annual exclusion gifts of $19,000 per recipient (2025) remain the simplest estate reduction tool. Married couples can jointly gift $38,000 per recipient through gift-splitting.

Over a decade, a family gifting to four beneficiaries annually removes $1.44 million from the estate with no gift tax return required. Charitable deductions — whether through outright bequests, donor-advised funds, or charitable trusts — further reduce the taxable estate while supporting philanthropic goals.

GRATs and GRUTs (grantor retained unitrusts) transfer appreciation to beneficiaries at minimal transfer tax cost. For Missouri residents holding concentrated stock positions or rapidly appreciating assets, these vehicles are particularly efficient.

Family limited partnerships and LLCs may provide valuation discounts for gift and estate tax purposes, though the IRS scrutinizes these structures closely. Professional valuation and proper documentation are essential.

Model your federal exposure with the Missouri estate tax calculator, or find an estate planning attorney in Missouri for personalized guidance.