Qualified Income Trust/Miller Trust

[tps7742]

Is anyone familiar with a QIT or Miller Trust in relations to long term care or nursing home? I did a search and didn’t find any information. I have durable power of attorney just recently for my mother and she is presently in rehab at a long term care facility. The possibility exists that she may have an extended stay and even longer. She has no assets to speak of, a modest house with widows benefit living arrangements. A car that’s not paid for and income from social security, retired military pension widows benefits and a very small teachers retirement income. Basically her finances are a wreck with others that have been mooching off of her unfortunately. I have just got involved about three weeks ago so it’s work in process of “clearing the weeds”. As an example she she was paying for five cell phones and two iPads she was paying for unfortunatel.

My question is if the Miller Trust is established and she then decides two months into the nursing home/assisted living it’s not her thing, can we get her income out of the Trust and then back going to her account?

We are working with an elder care lawyer but I was looking for anyone that had dealt with a QIT/Miller Trust. Thanks in advance.

 

[gauss]

Is a Mller Trust allowed and/or beneficial in your state?

[edit: oops - It looks like you are in Texas and these are indeed allowed and beneficial - I guess my experience is probably irrelevant].

When I looked into this, I realized that in my state (Michigan), Miller trusts are not allowed, but the whole problem that they were designed to solve (monthly income spend down for Medicaid SNF) was not an issue in my state.

Nolo talks a bit about these at this site.

FWIW, I read the following book which was available in my local library and it helped to bring me up to speed on these issues.
How to protect your family's assets from devastating nursing home costs : Medicaid secrets

 

[Texas Proud]

If your mother is looking to be placed in a long term care facility they will have contacts that can help you in determining the best way to go for military benefits...


Where my mom is now are a few people who did what was necessary to get those benefits, but my mom has too many assets and with SS and pension we were not looking at that much in benefits anyhow...


Call the place they suggest and ask... from what I understand they are volunteers to help in having veterans and veteran spouses get their benefits...

 

[OldShooter]

... We are working with an elder care lawyer but I was looking for anyone that had dealt with a QIT/Miller Trust. Thanks in advance.

IMHO you need a different attorney if you feel that you have to consult SGOTI on this. Find someone who has the right experience. Your current attorney might even be able to give you a name.

 

[gauss]

This blog from an AZ eldercare attorney suggests that Miller trusts are revocable
https://tucsonelderlaw.com/miller-trusts.htm

I would try to confirm this from a few additional sources if I were looking into this personally.

You can discontinue the use of a Miller Trust at any time. Some people find this reassuring because they want to try out ALTCS while keeping other options open.

 

[tps7742]

The elder care lawyer we are using was able to take care of my moms needs in her situation. A qualified Income Trust was set up and it appears to work for her situation at this time and in the short duration it has been in place. Thanks for everyone’s input.

 

[tps7742]

This blog from an AZ eldercare attorney suggests that Miller trusts are revocable
https://tucsonelderlaw.com/miller-trusts.htm

I would try to confirm this from a few additional sources if I were looking into this personally.

You are correct that the Qualified Income Trust can be discontinued at any time is the way it was explained to us.

 

[bryanp8]

Miller Trust Explained

A Miller Trust allows you to hold some of your income in a separate account under a legal trust agreement. You can then disregard a portion of your monthly earnings when determining your eligibility for Medicaid services.

A trustee must be appointed, someone other than you, to manage the funds and ensure that everything goes smoothly with deposits, regulations, and other account details.

This is important because these arrangements are monitored by a Medicaid Eligibility Determining Agency (EDA) and the Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services (DMAHS).

You can read more at https://njelc.com/understanding-the-miller-trust/