The #1 misunderstanding people have about getting an inheritance is that they’ll pay taxes on it.
You won’t. Nobody will…kinda.
The estate MAY pay taxes (but probably won’t).
Let me bottom line it for you.
Unless your parents leave you and your siblings more than $24,000,000, you won’t pay inheritance tax.*
If they leave you more than that, then their ESTATE will pay estate taxes on the overage.
So while that may mean you get less, your inheritance never appears on YOUR tax return.
The $24M is what’s called the Lifetime Gift Tax Exclusion. Your dad can give away $12M AND your mom can give away $12M.
They can also give you and all your siblings $15,000 per parent per kid (or anyone else) annually without eating into their $12M bucket.
(That’s called the Annual Gift Tax Exclusion.)
So there ya go. Most people in our Financial Zen Community won’t need to worry about any “inheritance tax”.
(And if you do, then I wouldn’t complain about it too much. You likely won’t get much sympathy.)
*In 2026, the $12M lifetime exclusion is scheduled to be cut in half to $6M per spouse. (But if I was a betting man, I’d wager they’ll pass legislation to keep the current limits in place.)
