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Serving Nebraska

Life Insurance, IUL and the Nebraska Inheritance Tax

Nebraska is the only state that runs its death tax county by county. What an heir pays depends on how they were related to the person who died. A nephew inheriting the family ground pays a very different rate than a son does.

  • Licensed in Nebraska · NPN 11126989. Look me up before we talk. I would rather you did.
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Nebraska is served by video and phone, seven days a week. Omaha, Lincoln, Bellevue, Grand Island and statewide.

Nebraska death tax

Nebraska taxes most heirs, and the county collects it.

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

Rate
1%, 11% or 15%, depending on the relationship
Checked
September 2026
  • The county collects it, not the stateNebraska is the only state that runs its death tax at the county level. It is paid through the county court where the property sits, and the county keeps it.
  • What you pay depends on who you areA spouse pays nothing. Close relatives pay 1% on anything above $100,000. Aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews pay 11% above $40,000. Everyone else pays 15% above $25,000.
  • Beneficiaries under 22 are exemptA 2022 change exempted anyone under the age of 22 at the time of death. It also raised every exemption amount and cut every rate.
  • It is owed even when nothing is soldThe tax follows the value of what was inherited, not the cash. An heir who receives land or a house can owe a bill with nothing liquid to pay it from.

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: Nebraska inheritance tax, Neb. Rev. Stat. ch. 77, art. 20, as amended by LB 310 (2022) for deaths on or after 1 January 2023. 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.

  • The county collects itThe tax is paid through the county court where the property sits, and the county keeps the money. It is the only arrangement like it in the country.
  • The rate is about the relationshipA spouse pays nothing. Close relatives pay one percent above one hundred thousand dollars. Aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews pay eleven percent above forty thousand. Everyone else pays fifteen percent above twenty-five thousand.
  • Land is the asset, and land is not cashFarm and ranch ground is what most of these estates are made of. The tax is owed on what it is worth, whether or not an acre of it is ever sold.
  • The 2022 change helped, and it did not remove itNebraska raised every exemption, cut every rate, and exempted heirs under twenty-two. The tax is still there, and for a nephew or a niece it is still eleven percent.
Why Nebraska Families Work With Us

What's different about Nebraska

Keeping the ground in the family is the actual goal

Most Nebraska families we talk to are not trying to avoid a tax. They are trying to make sure nobody has to sell a quarter section to pay one. Those are different problems with different answers.

A death benefit is money that shows up on time

A county bill has a deadline. Land does not sell on a deadline. Insurance is one way a family holds the ground and still pays what is owed, and it is income-tax-free to the beneficiary under IRC section 101(a).

We will tell you when it is not worth it

If everything is going to a spouse and to children, the exposure may be small or nothing at all. We would rather run that number with you and tell you to keep your money.

Coverage Available in Nebraska

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 Nebraska 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 Nebraska 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

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

How final expense works
Where We Work in Nebraska

Omaha · Lincoln · Bellevue and statewide

  • Omaha
  • Lincoln
  • Bellevue
  • Grand Island
  • Kearney
  • Fremont
  • Hastings
  • Norfolk
  • Papillion

Anywhere in Nebraska works by video and phone, application and underwriting included. Nebraska is served by video and phone, seven days a week. Omaha, Lincoln, Bellevue, Grand Island 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 Maryland, plus 11 more states.

Straight answers

Nebraska questions, answered

Does Nebraska have an estate tax or an inheritance tax?
Nebraska taxes most heirs, and the county collects it. The rate depends on how the heir was related to the person who died. This is separate from the federal estate tax, and a family can owe nothing federally and still owe Nebraska. Source: Nebraska inheritance tax, Neb. Rev. Stat. ch. 77, art. 20, as amended by LB 310 (2022) for deaths on or after 1 January 2023. 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 Nebraska 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 Nebraska?
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 Nebraska?
No. The entire process; strategy session, illustration, application and underwriting; can be completed by video and phone. Nebraska is served by video and phone, seven days a week. Omaha, Lincoln, Bellevue, Grand Island 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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