The gift amount is something like $12k per person. And a dead person can't give a "gift."
But again.
ESTATE TAX is paid by the state.
If your Grandma leaves you $4 million... you still pay taxes on that $4 million.
Actually, there's a Federal Estate tax that is generally applicable across all 50 states, with some exceptions. Let's see...
Indiana: The spouse of a decedent is 100% exempt from paying inheritance tax. Parents, children,grandparents,grandchildren,and other lineal ancestors and lineal descendants of the decedent,as of July 1, 2012, are exempt from taxation on the first $250,000 of inheritance. Tax is on a sliding scale that starts at 1% to 10% of the net inheritance of each individual. More information may be obtained by referring to IH-6, Indiana's inheritance tax instructions.
Iowa: Inheritance is exempt if passed to a surviving spouse, parents, or grandparents, or to children, grandchildren,or other "lineal" descendants. Other recipients are subject to inheritance tax, with rates varying depending on the relationship of the recipient to the deceased.[14]
Kentucky: The inheritance tax is a tax on a beneficiary's right to receive property from a decedent's estate. It is imposed as a percentage of the amount transferred to the beneficiary. Transfers to "Class A" relatives (spouses, parents, children, grandchildren, and siblings) are exempt. Transfers to "Class B" relatives (nieces, nephews, daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, aunts, uncles, and great-grandchildren) are taxable. Transfers to "Class C" recipients (all other persons) are taxable at a higher rate.[15] Kentucky imposes an estate tax in addition to its inheritance tax.[15]
Pennsylvania: Inheritance tax is a flat tax on the value of the decedent's taxable estate as of the date of death, less allowable funeral and administrative expenses and debts of the decedent. Pennsylvania does not allow the six month after date of death alternate valuation method that is available at the federal level. Transfers to spouses exempt. Transfers to grandparents, parents, or lineal descendants are taxed at 4.5%. Transfers to siblings are taxed at 12%. Transfers to any other persons are taxed at 15%. Some assets are exempted, including life insurance proceeds. The inheritance tax is imposed on both residents and nonresidents who owned real estate and tangible personal property in Pennsylvania at the time of their death. The Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax Return (Form Rev-1500) must be filed within nine (9) months of the date of death.[16]
Utah: abolished inheritance tax in 2005.[13]
New Hampshire: abolished state inheritance tax in 2003; abolished surcharge on Federal estate tax in 2005.[9]
Louisiana: abolished inheritance tax in 2008, for deaths occurring on or after 1 July 2004.[8]
That's just a quick and dirty look at Wikipedia. Looks like quite a few individual states either don't have it at all, make it so that direct descendants don't pay taxes or the cap is quite high.
Soooooo
EDIT:
Looks like I wasted my time!