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State Guides
The short answer
Death law is state law: probate thresholds, will signing rules, advance directive forms, estate taxes, and transfer deeds all change at the state line. Every guide below covers the same topics with that state's actual figures and forms, with a visible review date. Find your state and read what applies to you.
Reviewed August 2026
Compare two states directly →Moved recently? Check your documents →
Each guide covers:
✓ Death Certificates✓ Probate & Wills✓ Estate Tax✓ Cremation & Burial✓ Advance Directives✓ Community Property✓ Digital Assets✓ Grief ResourcesMost Complex
Community property. No estate tax. Complex probate.
Estate tax from $7.35M. A 5% cliff above it.
Community property. No income or estate tax.
No estate tax. Broad homestead protection.
Estate tax starts at $4M. One of the lowest.
Estate tax from $3M. Death with Dignity Act.
By Topic
12 states and DC levy their own estate tax, separate from federal. Thresholds range from $1M to $15M.
Filter to 13 jurisdictions →9 states treat marital assets as jointly owned. It changes how inheritance works between spouses.
Filter to 9 states →13 states and DC have authorized medical aid in dying. New York’s law took effect August 5, 2026. Illinois has enacted a law that takes effect September 12, 2026.
Filter to 14 jurisdictions →New Tool
Probate thresholds, estate taxes, community property, advance directive rules. All in one shareable comparison table.
How We Build These
Every guide starts with state statutes, court materials, and official agencies whenever available. Credible legal databases or other secondary sources may support a section when they make the current rule easier to verify. We identify the source and note when each section was last reviewed.
When laws change, we update the guide and log the change with a date and description. You can see the full change log on every guide page.
See recent law changes →Source transparency
Each section identifies the statute, agency, court material, or clearly labeled secondary source used.
Section-level timestamps
Each topic shows when it was last verified, not just the guide as a whole.
Change log
Every law change is logged with a date, section, and plain-English description.
Not legal advice
We tell you what the law says. An attorney tells you what it means for your situation.
How State Law Works
Death is universal. The paperwork isn't. Almost everything that happens after a death, and almost everything you can do to plan ahead, is governed by the state you live in, not by federal law. That's why MORTL maintains a separate guide for all 50 states and Washington, DC.
Every guide covers the same ground for its state: the probate process and how to skip it with small estate shortcuts, the witness and notary rules that make a will valid, the state's advance directive and health care proxy forms, cremation and burial law, estate and inheritance taxes, transfer-on-death options for property and vehicles, and links to the official forms. All of it is built from primary sources: state statutes, court rules, and government sites.
Probate is a state court process used when legal authority or transfer of probate property requires it. The process may determine whether a will is valid, appoint a personal representative, identify and protect estate property, address valid claims and taxes, and distribute what remains under the will or intestacy law. Procedure and timing depend on the state, court, property, and disputes, and simplified options may apply.
Most states have neither. Twelve states and Washington, DC levy their own estate tax on top of the federal one, and five states tax the people who inherit, with Maryland doing both. Rates, exemptions, and who's exempt vary a lot, and they change. Your state's guide states which taxes apply where you live and links to the state revenue department's current numbers.
No. Property may pass outside probate under a valid beneficiary designation, survivorship right, trust, or state-authorized transfer-on-death instrument. The document, ownership, beneficiary, and state law determine the result, and exceptions may involve invalid forms, creditors, taxes, divorce, or a beneficiary who died first. Simplified estate procedures also vary by state and property type.
A will directs probate property and can nominate a personal representative and guardian. A revocable living trust governs property properly transferred to it under the trust terms. Trust property can often be administered without probate, although court involvement, taxes, claims, or disputes can still arise. Whether a trust is useful depends on the state, property, family, goals, cost, and willingness to maintain it.
Start your own plan →A will validly executed under another jurisdiction's law may remain valid, but recognition rules and the will's practical effect depend on the states involved. A move can change spousal rights, taxes, personal-representative rules, property law, and the usefulness of an advance directive. Review the documents under the new state's current law before relying on them.
The primary estate proceeding is often connected to the person's domicile. Real estate in another state may require an ancillary proceeding or another transfer process where the land is located. A valid trust, survivorship deed, or state-authorized transfer-on-death deed may change the process, but the deed, ownership, and laws of both states must be reviewed.
Each guide shows its review date and sources, and automated checks flag broken links and data mismatches. Laws, forms, fees, and agency pages can change between reviews. Use the linked primary source for a current decision and report anything that appears outdated so it can be checked and corrected.
Report an error →The Death Dispatch
State statutes get updated. Probate thresholds shift. New laws pass. Subscribe and we'll flag the changes that matter to your state. No noise, no euphemisms.