How a Miller Trust Protects Retirement Income for Medicaid

Episode 48 of Estate Planning with Fexingo tackles the Miller Trust, a legally sanctioned workaround for seniors whose income exceeds Medicaid's strict limits. Lucas and Luna walk through how a qualified income trust—named after a 1990s court case—lets nursing home residents funnel excess Social Security and pension income into an irrevocable trust, making them eligible for long-term care coverage without draining their savings. They use a concrete example: a retired teacher in Florida with $3,800 per month in Social Security and a small pension, $1,200 over the income cap. The trust collects the surplus, pays for personal needs and medical bills, and the remaining balance goes to the state after death. The episode covers the trust's structure, state-specific rules, Medicaid's five-year lookback, and the hidden trap: if the trust isn't funded properly, the applicant can be denied coverage for months. Lucas and Luna also explain why a Miller Trust works only for income, not assets, and why some states require a separate funeral trust to exempt burial funds. This is a focused, practical episode for elder law planning. #Medicaid #MillerTrust #EstatePlanning #LongTermCare #NursingHome #ElderLaw #QualifiedIncomeTrust #SocialSecurity #PensionIncome #Florida #MedicaidPlanning #IrrevocableTrust #AssetProtection #SpousalImpoverishment #FuneralTrust #Finance #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo