The latest election results didn’t, by themselves, change your federal estate tax exposure or create a Texas inheritance tax. Elections influence which proposals receive attention, but tax rules change only when legislation becomes law.
That distinction matters when reviewing Texas estate plans following an election. Our combined legal and tax model dates to 1972, and we see how political headlines can draw attention to possible future changes while provisions that need attention now go overlooked.
Election Results Don’t Change Tax Law
Federal estate tax law reflects what Congress has enacted, not forecasts based on election results. To change the estate, gift, or generation-skipping transfer tax, both chambers of Congress must pass the same measure and send it to the president. Some tax measures can move through budget reconciliation, but an election victory doesn’t enact a tax change.
The major recent federal change occurred before the 2026 election. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed on July 4, 2025, replaced the scheduled 2026 reduction in the lifetime exemption. Families that planned around a substantially lower threshold beginning in 2026 should revisit the assumptions built into those plans.
Members of Congress have introduced proposals ranging from repealing federal estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes to lowering exemptions or imposing taxes on very large trusts and wealth transfers. A generation-skipping transfer tax can apply when wealth passes to grandchildren or more remote beneficiaries. These proposals aren’t current law.
The useful question isn’t whether a campaign promise will become law. It’s whether your will, trust, ownership structure, and gift strategy still work under the rules in force on November 9, 2026.
Current Federal Transfer Rules for 2026
The federal lifetime exemption, the amount a person can generally transfer during life or at death before federal tax applies, is $15 million per individual in 2026. When portability is properly elected, a married couple can have a combined $30 million exemption. The amount is scheduled to be indexed for inflation beginning in 2027.
The top federal estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax rate remains 40 percent for transfers above the applicable exemption. Exposure depends on asset values and ownership, prior taxable gifts, and available deductions.
A high exemption doesn’t make planning unnecessary. Incapacity documents, beneficiary designations, probate avoidance, asset protection, and family distribution decisions still affect estates well below the federal threshold.
Federal gift planning also remains available. In 2026, the annual gift tax exclusion is $19,000 per recipient. A married couple may give one recipient up to $38,000 through gift-splitting, which is reported on Form 709.
Texas’s Constitutional Protection for Estates & Gifts
Texas provides separate protection from state-level transfer taxes. On November 4, 2025, voters approved Proposition 8, adding Section 26 to Article VIII of the Texas Constitution. The provision prohibits the Legislature from imposing estate, inheritance, legacy, succession, or gift taxes beyond those in effect on January 1, 2025.
Texas had already repealed its statutory inheritance tax effective September 1, 2015. The amendment elevated the absence of those taxes from statutory policy to constitutional protection. The recent election therefore didn’t create an immediate Texas inheritance tax risk.
That protection has limits. It doesn’t eliminate property taxes, taxes tied to mineral production, federal transfer taxes, or other taxes affecting a family or business. Nor does it remove the need to plan how assets pass, who controls them, or how an estate will be administered.
The practical takeaway for Texas residents is to evaluate federal exposure and existing documents rather than assume a new state death tax requires a rushed change.
Estate Plan Provisions Worth Reviewing Under Current Law
Begin a plan review with the documents and records that control how wealth will pass. Changes in federal law are particularly important when older documents use fixed dollar amounts, exemption-based formulas, or tax-driven trust provisions.
Portability Election
Portability allows a surviving spouse to use a deceased spouse’s unused federal exemption, often called the deceased spousal unused exclusion. The election generally requires a timely Form 706, even when no tax is due. A surviving spouse shouldn’t assume that a modest estate eliminates the need to consider this filing.
Trust Funding Formula
A trust funding formula directs how assets are divided among trusts based on an exemption or another stated amount. Documents drafted in anticipation of the previously scheduled 2026 reduction may now direct a larger share to a bypass or family trust than intended. The clause may remain appropriate, but it should be read in light of the $15 million 2026 exemption.
Beneficiary & Ownership Review
Wills and revocable trusts don’t control every asset. Retirement accounts, life insurance, transfer-on-death accounts, business interests, and jointly owned property can pass through beneficiary designations or title documents. Comparing those records with the estate plan can reveal conflicting directions before a death or incapacity creates a problem.
Texas Community Property
Community property is generally property acquired by either spouse during marriage, subject to important exceptions for separate property and valid agreements. Its characterization affects estate administration, surviving-spouse planning, and the tax analysis of transfers. A review is particularly important for couples who own a business, real estate, mineral interests, or assets acquired before marriage or received by gift or inheritance.
When a Tax-Informed Plan Review Makes Sense
Election developments are a reason to monitor federal legislation, not abandon sound planning under current law. A review is often worthwhile after family circumstances change or a business sale or acquisition. A large gift, a substantial increase in asset value, or a move involving different property rules also warrants a fresh look.
Plans involving closely held businesses or substantial real estate often require both estate-planning and tax analysis. Intellectual property and multigenerational goals also require careful coordination. The same is true when a family wants to make gifts while retaining appropriate control, protect assets for children, or align a trust with business succession arrangements.
Our integrated practice covers:
- Wills and trusts
- Powers of attorney
- Tax planning
- Probate administration
- Asset and creditor protection
- Business counsel
- Patents and trademarks
Jim Dossey, MSE, MBA, JD, CPA, is Board Certified in Estate Planning and Probate Law and Tax Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Our team also includes Registered Patent Attorneys who advise on estates containing patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and other intellectual property.
This article provides general educational information, not individualized legal or tax advice. The appropriate approach depends on your assets, documents, prior gifts, family circumstances, and Texas community property considerations.
Maintaining a plan that works under current law is more useful than waiting for political predictions to become certainty. For a review under current law with Dossey & Jones, PLLC, contact our team at (281) 410-2792.