[WSBARP] Time Sensitive - WA legislature attempting to reduce WA Exemption back to $2.193M and get rid of inflation adjustments

[Liberty Upton]

TLDR: Senate Bill 6347 was introduced to undo the changes to the estate tax that passed last year (increased tax rates and increased exemption to $3M and indexed for inflation).  The bill seeks to revert the tax rates to 10-20% and also reduce the exemption back down to $2.193M tied to an inflation index that the legislature knows no longer exists.  We are attempting to get people to reach out to their legislators to encourage them to keep the exemption at $3M indexed for inflation with the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue index or a comparable index. For more information on how you can help, please see below.

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The legislature proposed a striker amendment to ESB 6347 on Monday (attached). This is the bill that was attempting to revert estate tax rates to 10-20% (from the increase last year to 10-35%). In a surprise move on Monday, they added an amendment to drop the estate tax exemption back to $2.193M and to switch the CPI reference back to Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton. That CPI no longer exists (and hasn't since 2017, we switched to Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue in 2018). In the hearing on Monday, Representative Orcutt clearly stated that the CPI for Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton no longer exists. This was ignored and the amendment passed anyway.

The WSBA RPPT executive committee is asking for a technical correction to Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, or whatever CPI references the Seattle metropolitan area. Since this is a technical correction only, we are allowed to ask for such change in our position as the WSBA RPPT executive committee. We are not allowed to advocate to keep the exemption at $3M though, that is not a technical correction.

If you oppose either of these changes, PLEASE reach out to your own legislators. If you don't know who they are, you can find them here: https://app.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder

When you click on your legislators, you can email them. You can also click a box to email all of your legislators at the same time. You may also want to consider adding Representative Street (as he is the one who proposed the striker amendment) and Representatives Walen and Orcutt as two who are opposed to this amendment.

Please feel free to send whatever email you choose. If possible, it would be best to send it ASAP as there may be votes today or this weekend. As inspiration for what you may want to say, I have attached (1) the letter we sent last year in support of changing the CPI reference and adjusting the exemption for 8 years of inflation, and (2) a letter that was sent today by several estate planners (in their own individual capacity) asking the legislature not to move forward with the striker amendment. Also, I sent the following email to my legislators this morning, if it is helpful to not start from scratch (highlighting things you will certainly want to change to be specific to you):

I am a member of the ___ legislative district, and I am an Estate Planning Attorney. It was disappointing to see that the legislature is seeking to unwind the increased Estate Tax Applicable Exclusion Amount implemented by ESSB 5813 in 2025.  I continue to support the inflation adjustment change to the Exclusion Amount for the reasons expressed in the attached letter, which I signed on to last year. Unfortunately, on Monday March 2, 2026, the legislature proposed and passed a striker amendment to ESB 6347, which will revert the Exclusion Amount back to $2.193M, ignoring eight years of inflation. The amendment also changes the inflation index to Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton which is a non-existent CPI reference. During the hearing for this bill on Monday, this point was made by Senator Orcutt, and it was ignored. I hope the legislature will abandon this attempt to revert to the Exclusion levels first set in place nearly a decade ago (which removes the previously enacted increase to account for the substantial rise in cost of living since that time). Since the legislature is expressly aware that the reference to the Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton CPI in ESB 6347 is nonexistent, I feel it sends a poor message to Washington state voters that lawmakers will knowingly enact legislation intended to confuse taxpayers and frustrate previously stated legislative intent.  I respectfully request that any reference to the CPI in any legislation related to estate taxes be revised to cover the current applicable index (e.g., "the then-current index applicable to the Seattle metropolitan area"). Please do not implement the changes in the striker amendment. Please keep the Exclusion Amount at $3M indexed for inflation that covers the Seattle metropolitan area. Respectfully submitted.

Best,

Liberty


Liberty Upton
Attorney
[cid:image001.png at 01DCAD67.4FEF45B0]
F.K.A. KHBB Law PLLC
Tel (206) 382-4414 / Fax (206) 382-4412 liberty at bc-estatelaw.com<mailto:liberty at bc-estatelaw.com>
1000 Second Avenue / Suite 3670 / Seattle, WA 98104 / www.bc-estatelaw.com<http://www.bc-estatelaw.com/>

Please note our new firm name and address.

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