Texas Miller Trust Requirements – Part 1

Today we are taking a look at some of the Texas Miller Trust requirements. A Miller Trust is also a Qualified Income Trust. In order for your trust to work you need to follow all of the legal requirements. If you do not follow the requirements then the HHSC may not honor the Miller Trust. As a result the Medicaid Applicant may still end up being over the income limit if that happens.

Miller Trust Requirements – Income

You can only fund a Miller Trust with income. Some common types of income are pensions, Social Security retirement, and disability. Furthermore, not every kind of income is right for the trust.

You should only put “counted income” inside the trust. The HHSC decides which income they count and which income you can exempt.

In addition, you must deposit the entire income into the trust. Because if you only deposit half of an individual’s pension or social security into the trust account, then the HHSC will not be consider it a valid Miller Trust for Medicaid eligibility.

Miller Trust Requirements – Assets

When it comes to assets, the rules are different. You should not transfer any resources or assets into the Miller Trust account. The Trust can only handle income. If you deposit resources into it you will cause it to lose its unique status.

Regulations do allow you to open the trust bank account with a nominal amount if the bank requires an initial deposit.

You do not have to direct deposit the Applicant’s income into the trust account. However, you do have to deposit the appropriate income into the Miller Trust during the same calendar month. Any income that you do not deposit into the Miller Trust account is considered resources for eligibility purposes and may result in a period of ineligibility.

Don’t forget to check out part 2 of this series or all of my posts about qualified income trusts.

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2 Comments

  1. My son Joseph M. suffered a stroke on June 26, 2009 and all indicati;ons are that he is headed for long term care in a month or two is 30k gross short term care stops in Dec. then long term kicks in at about athe same rate. I don’t see how a Miller Trust can help since he is single. He is totally incapacitated and improving slowing – going home with him would be most difficult. Social Sec. is determining his disablity staus which should come athrough in a month or so…is reducing his income through legal means possible to qualify him for Medicaid?-

  2. A Miller Trust can work if the Medicaid applicant is single or married. The key issue is if the Medicaid applicant receives too much income to be eligible for Medicaid benefits.

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