The clean, nuclear way to avoid Washington state’s new 35% estate tax is change domicile. (Something we’ve discussed here: Changing Your Washington State Residency. )
But if you can’t move to another state—and most people can’t—another option possibly exits: You can move some assets to another state.
To begin this discussion, let me start with a quick example of how the state’s estate tax formula works. (I’m going to use the estate tax formula for 2025 because that makes for rounder numbers.) And then I’ll get into the exporting assets thing.
Quick Review of How Washington State’s Estate Tax Formula Works
In 2025, a decedent dying in the last half of the year pays zero estate taxes on the first $3,000,000 of their net worth. (The amount inflates in subsequent years. For 2026, for example, that nice round $3,000,000 ratchets up to $3,076,000.)
On the next $9,000,000, they pay an estate tax rate that starts at 10% but quickly escalates to 35%. In total, though, on that $9,000,000 “band”, they pay $1,930,000 of estate tax.
On the rest of their net worth, they pay a flat 35% estate tax.
Thus, for example, the estate (or really the heirs) of someone who dies with $22,000,000 in late 2025 pays $5,430,000 in estate taxes.
How Out of State Assets Affect the Taxes
But here’s something else to note: Washington state doesn’t “estate tax” residents on out of state tangible property.
For example, while a Washington state resident who died in late 2025 with a $22,000,000 of net worth pays $5,430,000 if the assets are all located in Washington state? If a taxpayer stored or situated half of their assets, or $11,000,000 of their $22,000,000, out of state? That allocation halves the estate tax bill.
Thus this idea to export assets…
How Would Someone Export Assets?
To make this illustration easy, I want to use some big round numbers. So, let’s say two Washington state residents, Tom and Pete, each have $22,000,000. Both own a $10,000,000 retirement account, a $10,000,000 rental income property, a $1,000,000 rare coins collection, and a $1,000,000 condominium where they reside.
I also need to tell you something else here. Washington state sources intangible assets to the state of domicile. Thus, that giant retirement account holding $10,000,000? That’s an intangible asset. No matter what, for both Tom and Pete, Washington state treats it as located in Washington state. (This bit becomes important in a minute.)
But the tangible stuff? So, the $10,000,000 rental property and the $1,000,000 rare coins collection and the $1,000,000 condo? State law sources those to the state where the property is.
If Tom’s rental property, coin collection and condo are all in Washinton state? All $22,000,000 of his stuff sits in Washington state. And he pays the estate tax on the full $22,000,000. So, $5,430,000.
If Pete’s condo is in Washington state but the rental property and coin collection are in Nevada? Yeah, in that case, $11,000,000 of his $22,000,000 estate is tangible property outside of Washington. And therefore, his estate only pays Washington state estate taxes on half of his estate, so $2,715,000.
The obvious maneuver then: If Tom moves his coin collection to another state and exchanges his Washington rental property for one in some other state, voila. He halves the estate taxes his heirs effectively pay.
Three Wrinkles Related to Exporting Assets
You want to know three other things as you think about this strategy of exporting assets. The first one? You want to export assets to a state with no estate tax. (That should be pretty easy. Most states don’t levy estate taxes. And none levies an estate tax as high as Washington’s 35% rate.)
The second thing to know: If you invest in tangible property through a limited liability company, Washington state sees that as intangible property. Not tangible property. Intangible property, as noted earlier, gets sourced to the state of domicile. Thus, you need to directly own the property. Tom then, in the example above, needs to exchange his $10,000,000 rental property in Washington state for a $10,000,000 rental property in Nevada. Not for a Nevada LLC that owns a $10,000,000 rental property in Nevada. (The Washington Department of Revenue explains and confirms this treatment here.)
A third thing to know and this is common sensed: A person needs to move tangible assets out of the state before they die. This “exporting assets” tactic isn’t something an executor or personal representative does while administering the estate.
Other Resource
Our Washington State Estate Tax Calculator
How Washington State “Estate Taxes” Income in Respect of a Decedent
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