How Much Does It Cost to Set Up a Miller Trust in Colorado?
An elder-law attorney typically charges $1,000–$2,500 to set up a Miller Trust in Colorado — in practice, a few hours of paperwork using HCPF's own free template and one trip to the bank. This $97 kit covers that same process yourself: the template walkthrough, the bank-refusal script, and the 9 HCPF denial traps to avoid. For complex estates, an attorney is worth the fee regardless — this kit does not draft the trust or advise on your specific situation.
What an attorney typically charges
An elder-law attorney typically charges $1,000–$2,500 to set up a Miller Trust in Colorado — work that is, in practice, filling in Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing's own free template and opening one bank account.
What the $97 kit covers instead
This kit covers the same template walkthrough, the bank-refusal script, and the 9 HCPF denial traps to avoid — the parts of the process most families handle themselves.
When the attorney's fee is worth it anyway: significant assets, prior gifting, a second marriage, or multi-state property. Those are fact-specific questions this kit does not answer — for them, consult a Colorado-licensed elder-law attorney regardless of which route you take on the trust itself.
The trust's money and the kit's price are separate
A Colorado Miller Trust holds only the applicant's income and pays only for the applicant's own care — it is never used to pay this kit's price or an attorney's fee. Whatever you spend to set the trust up happens outside the trust.
The Colorado denial traps that cost families a month of coverage
Most denials are paperwork, not eligibility. This free one-pager lists every HCPF denial trap with the citation behind it — emailed now. We'll also send 4 short follow-ups over the next 3 weeks (the bank step, the trustee role, when to call an attorney) — then we stop. No ongoing newsletter.
Common questions
- Is a Miller Trust cheaper than hiring a lawyer in Colorado?
- Usually, yes, for the core setup. An elder-law attorney typically charges $1,000–$2,500 for the same work — for complex estates (significant assets, prior gifting, a second marriage, multi-state property), the attorney's fee is worth it regardless of how the trust itself gets set up.
- Does setting up the trust cost money out of the trust itself?
- No. a Colorado Miller Trust holds only the applicant's own income and pays only for the applicant's own care. Whatever it costs to set the trust up — an attorney's fee or anything else — is separate from the money that flows through the trust each month.