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Serving Maryland

Life Insurance, IUL and the Maryland Estate and Inheritance Tax

Maryland is the only state in the country that runs an estate tax and an inheritance tax at the same time. The second one has no threshold. It does not care how much you leave. It cares who you leave it to.

  • Licensed in Maryland · NPN 11126989. Look me up before we talk. I would rather you did.
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Maryland is served by video and phone, seven days a week. Baltimore, Columbia, Silver Spring, Frederick and statewide.

Maryland death tax

Maryland is the only state with an estate tax and an inheritance tax.

Most people think of the estate tax as a rich person's problem. Federally, that is close to true. Maryland is a different question, and it is one almost nobody is told about until a family is already dealing with it.

Starts at
$5,000,000
Rate
16% top rate on the estate tax, and a flat 10% inheritance tax
Checked
September 2026
  • Two different taxes, and only one has a thresholdThe estate tax starts at $5,000,000. The inheritance tax has no threshold at all. It is triggered by who receives the money, not by how much there is.
  • Close family is exempt from the inheritance taxA spouse, child, stepchild, grandchild, parent, grandparent or sibling pays no Maryland inheritance tax. That covers most families, and it is why most families never hear about it.
  • A niece, a nephew, a cousin or a friend is not exemptLeave money to anyone outside that close family list and Maryland takes a flat 10%. A modest estate left to a niece is taxed. A large one left to a child is not.
  • Life insurance to a named beneficiary is outside the inheritance taxMaryland law exempts life insurance proceeds paid to a beneficiary other than the estate of the insured. The estate tax is a separate question, and a policy the insured owned still counts there.

What a death benefit does about it

A death benefit paid to a named beneficiary is income-tax-free under IRC §101(a). It also skips probate, the court process that settles an estate, so it is not held up by that delay. It arrives as cash, in weeks rather than months, while the rest of an estate is still being sorted out. When a family owes a state death tax, that timing is the point. The bill is due before anybody can sell a house to pay it.

What it does not do

It does not make the money invisible. Under IRC §2042, a policy the insured owned or controlled at death is counted in the gross estate. A policy bought to cover an estate tax bill can enlarge the estate tax bill. Ownership is what decides it, and changing ownership has its own rules and its own three-year look-back. That is work for an estate attorney, and we will say so rather than guess.

Source: Maryland estate and inheritance tax, Md. Tax-Gen. Title 7, including the life insurance exemption at §7-203. Figures current for deaths in 2026. Checked September 2026.

We are licensed insurance producers. We are not attorneys, accountants or tax advisors, and nothing here is tax or legal advice. State death tax law changes, and the figures above carry the date we checked them. Before you act on any of it, talk to a qualified tax professional or an estate attorney in your state.

  • Two taxes, and only one of them looks at the sizeThe estate tax starts at five million dollars. The inheritance tax starts at the first dollar and is charged at a flat ten percent, based purely on the relationship.
  • Close family is exempt, and that is most peopleA spouse, child, stepchild, grandchild, parent, grandparent or sibling pays no Maryland inheritance tax. This is why most families here have never heard of it.
  • A niece, a nephew or a friend is a different answerLeave money outside that close family list and ten percent is taken. Blended families, chosen family and childless households run into this constantly, and there is no reason they would have known.
  • Federal and contractor households are a big share of the stateThe Baltimore to Washington corridor runs on federal employment and contracting. Group life is tied to the job, and the job is the thing that ends first.
Why Maryland Families Work With Us

What's different about Maryland

Who you name is a tax decision here

In Maryland the beneficiary line is not paperwork. It changes what is owed. That is a conversation worth having out loud before anything is signed.

Life insurance sits outside the inheritance tax

Maryland exempts life insurance paid to a beneficiary other than the estate of the insured. The estate tax is a separate question, and a policy you own still counts there. Both halves matter.

Group coverage is not a plan

A federal or contractor benefits package is genuinely good while it lasts. It lasts as long as the job does. Anything you want to be permanent has to be owned by you.

Coverage Available in Maryland

Two very different conversations

Most people arrive wanting one of these. They are not the same product and they are not for the same person, so we will tell you which one fits.

Indexed Universal Life (IUL)

For Maryland households building long-term, tax-advantaged wealth on top of protection, with a 5 to 7 year horizon at minimum.

  • Balanced Uncapped Index Account; 113% participation, 0.75% floor on the indexed credit
  • Blended across S&P 500, Fidelity SMID Multifactor Index, Nikkei 225
  • Access designed to be income-tax-free when properly structured
  • Death benefit in force from day one

Not right for everyone. If you have no emergency fund, or you are not yet capturing your full employer 401(k) match, do those first, we will say so.

How the IUL works

Final Expense Coverage

For Maryland families who want the funeral and the last bills handled so nobody has to fundraise during a week they should be grieving.

  • Coverage from $1,000 to $50,000, ages 0 to 85
  • Most applicants qualify with health questions and no medical exam
  • Guaranteed issue where health is a barrier, and it is worth knowing what that means: the full amount is not payable in the first two years. Most people do not need it, because a few health questions get them day one coverage instead. How to tell which one you are looking at
  • Premium locks at the rate you qualify for and does not increase

For context: the median funeral with a viewing and burial in the South Atlantic region runs about $8,023, and with cremation about $6,103. Source: National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) General Price List Study, 2023. These are regional medians across many providers. They are not a quote, and not what any particular funeral home in Maryland will charge you. Ask them directly, and ask for the itemised price list they are required to give you.

Straightforward, quick, and a completely different conversation from wealth building. Plenty of our MD clients only ever need this.

How final expense works
Where We Work in Maryland

Baltimore · Columbia · Silver Spring and statewide

  • Baltimore
  • Columbia
  • Silver Spring
  • Germantown
  • Rockville
  • Frederick
  • Gaithersburg
  • Waldorf
  • Bowie

Anywhere in Maryland works by video and phone, application and underwriting included. Maryland is served by video and phone, seven days a week. Baltimore, Columbia, Silver Spring, Frederick and statewide.

In Their Own Words

What clients say

Verified Google reviews, in the reviewer's own words. Same theme in every one: he explains, he doesn't push.

5.0from 7 Google reviews
  • Chaka listened to find us a solution, not just a product. I can’t tell you how rare that is today! Very trustworthy and of high character. Highly Recommended!
    Andrew D.4 months ago
  • Brother Chaka is very knowledgeable and works within your budget. He takes his time and converses with you about your needs and goals to make sure you get what is best for you and your family. He does not try and force anything on you. He reviewed some of my other policies and educated me on their gaps. Working with him I feel like I made a well informed decision.
    Vena T.a year ago
  • He made navigating the life insurance process a walk in the park. How refreshing it was to work with someone who not only provided information so that I can make the most informed decision for myself and for my families long term needs, Chaka Ali took the time to answer all of my endless questions... It’s great to know that I can relax and feel secure knowing that I have someone in my corner who wants what’s best for me long term.
    Zaynab H.a year ago

Reviews are shown as posted on our Google Business Profile. Where a quote is shortened for length it is marked with an ellipsis and no wording is changed. We abbreviate reviewer names out of respect for our clients' privacy, the full names are on Google if you want to check. Read all 7 on Google · Worked with us? Leave a review

Book whenever suits you. Including 11pm.

Thirty minutes, free, nothing to buy on the call. We will look at what you already have, tell you plainly whether a strategy fits, and say so if the honest answer is to keep doing what you are doing.

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Also licensed in North Carolina and South Carolina and Arizona and Oregon and Minnesota and Nebraska, plus 11 more states.

Straight answers

Maryland questions, answered

Does Maryland have an estate tax or an inheritance tax?
Maryland is the only state with an estate tax and an inheritance tax. Rates run 16% top rate on the estate tax, and a flat 10% inheritance tax. This is separate from the federal estate tax, and a family can owe nothing federally and still owe Maryland. Source: Maryland estate and inheritance tax, Md. Tax-Gen. Title 7, including the life insurance exemption at §7-203. Figures current for deaths in 2026. Checked September 2026. We are insurance producers, not tax advisors, so confirm it with a tax professional before you act on it.
Does life insurance avoid the Maryland death tax?
Not by itself, and anybody who tells you otherwise is selling. A death benefit paid to a named beneficiary is income-tax-free under IRC §101(a). It also skips probate, the court process that settles an estate, so it is not held up by that delay. It arrives as cash, in weeks rather than months, while the rest of an estate is still being sorted out. When a family owes a state death tax, that timing is the point. The bill is due before anybody can sell a house to pay it. It does not make the money invisible. Under IRC §2042, a policy the insured owned or controlled at death is counted in the gross estate. A policy bought to cover an estate tax bill can enlarge the estate tax bill. Ownership is what decides it, and changing ownership has its own rules and its own three-year look-back. That is work for an estate attorney, and we will say so rather than guess.
Are you licensed to sell life insurance in Maryland?
Yes. Chaka Ali is a licensed life and health insurance producer, National Producer Number 11126989, which you can verify yourself through the National Insurance Producer Registry at nipr.com before you ever speak to us.
Do I have to meet in person to get covered in Maryland?
No. The entire process; strategy session, illustration, application and underwriting; can be completed by video and phone. Maryland is served by video and phone, seven days a week. Baltimore, Columbia, Silver Spring, Frederick and statewide.
Can I book a time outside business hours?
Yes. The calendar is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Sessions themselves run Monday to Saturday, 9am to 8pm Eastern. They are 30 minutes, free, and there is nothing to buy on the call.
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