Virginia Estate & Inheritance Tax

What the Virginia Estate Data Reveals

Virginia imposes no state estate tax, so federal law under IRC § 2001 is the only estate-level levy that applies. With the federal exemption at $13,990,000 per decedent in 2025, the vast majority of Virginia estates clear probate without owing estate tax at any level — though the scheduled 2026 sunset of the TCJA could cut that exemption roughly in half. There is no separate inheritance tax, so beneficiaries receive their share without a second state-level deduction at distribution.

IRS Statistics of Income data show 192 federal estate tax returns filed by Virginia residents in the most recent available year (filing year 2023), reporting $5.78 billion in combined gross estate value. Net federal estate tax paid totaled $0.58 billion that year. Across the multi-year IRS SOI series above, Virginia averages roughly 160 taxable filings per year, with an effective federal rate on reported gross estates of about 9.5%.

Probate itself typically runs 6–12 months in Virginia (roughly 9 months on average), with court filing fees of $25–$400. Attorney fees are negotiated rather than statutory, so engagement letters and hourly-vs-flat structures matter more to the total bill. Virginia does offer a simplified small-estate track for estates under $50,000, which most families use to bypass full formal probate. Because Virginia has not adopted the UPC, probate practice can vary materially by county and judicial district. As a common-law (separate property) state, Virginia treats each spouse's holdings individually unless jointly titled, so titling choices drive what actually enters the probate estate.