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Miller Trust Guide
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How to Set Up a Miller Trust in Colorado: Step by Step

To set up a Miller Trust in Colorado, you complete the official HCPF Qualified Income Trust template, name a trustee who is not the applicant, open a dedicated trust bank account, and deposit the applicant's income into it in the same calendar month you want coverage to begin. The trust diverts income above Colorado's $2,982/month long-term-care Medicaid cap (CMS January 2026 figures) so the applicant qualifies. For the core setup this is a paperwork-and-banking task most families handle themselves; for complex estates, consult a Colorado-licensed elder-law attorney. This guide is informational only and is not legal advice — we explain how to use HCPF's own published form; we do not draft it.

Setting up a Miller Trust in Colorado is an operational task, not a legal one, as long as you use Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing's own published template and do not deviate from it. Here is the full sequence, with the HCPF fact behind each step.

  1. Confirm the applicant's income is over the Colorado cap

    A Qualified Income Trust only helps when monthly countable income exceeds Colorado's long-term-care Medicaid limit — $2,982/month single, $5,964/month for a couple where both apply (CMS January 2026 figures). If income is under the cap, a Miller Trust usually is not needed.

  2. Download the official HCPF QIT template

    Get the model Qualified Income Trust instrument directly from Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing on its .gov site. Colorado's Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) — the Health First Colorado Medicaid agency — publishes an official 'Irrevocable Income Trust Agreement' form (with completion instructions) for an applicant who must establish an income trust to qualify for long-term-care Medicaid. We never draft or host the trust text — you use the state's own published form.

  3. Fill in the fields the template asks for

    Complete the data fields the HCPF form requests — the applicant's name, date of birth, Social Security number, and each income source (Social Security, pension, and so on) — following the instructions printed on the template.

  4. Name a trustee who is not the applicant

    Colorado does not require a third-party trustee — the member may serve as their own trustee, but only if a successor trustee is named (the form's 'Appointment of Successor Trustee' page must be completed when the member is the initial trustee, and HCPF will deny a trust where the member is the initial trustee with no successor named).

  5. Open the dedicated trust bank account

    Open a dedicated bank account titled to the trust. A Colorado QIT is set up with the beneficiary's Social Security number — no EIN is required. Branches commonly hesitate, so know what to say before you go.

  6. Fund the trust in the same calendar month

    Deposit enough of the applicant's income into the trust account to bring remaining countable income below $2,982 — in the same calendar month you want coverage to start. HCPF does not back-date, so the month you fund is the earliest month eligibility can begin.

  7. Distribute monthly and keep records

    Each month the trustee pays out only the allowed items (personal-needs allowance, any spousal allowance, medical costs and cost-share) and keeps the named income sources flowing into the account. Staying inside HCPF's rules each month is what keeps benefits from being pulled.

The two steps families get stuck on are opening the bank account in Colorado and funding the trust before the calendar month closes — see how long setting up a Colorado Miller Trust takes for the timing rules.

Get the official HCPF template

Download the model Qualified Income Trust instrument directly from Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing: HCPF Qualified Income Trust template . Colorado's Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) — the Health First Colorado Medicaid agency — publishes an official 'Irrevocable Income Trust Agreement' form (with completion instructions) for an applicant who must establish an income trust to qualify for long-term-care Medicaid. It is an irrevocable trust funded only with the member's own monthly income that names HCPF as a beneficiary entitled to reimbursement up to the total medical assistance Colorado pays, governed by C.R.S. § 15-14-412.7 and 10 CCR 2505-10 §8.100.7.E.6.a and the federal authority at 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(d)(4)(B). HCPF's instructions explain how to complete the form and note that a spouse or agent may sign for the member with a power of attorney or court order; per Operational Memo OM 24-044 this form replaced the older 'Declaration of Income Trust.' Colorado calls it an 'Income Trust' — it is Colorado's version of what is generically called a Miller Trust or Qualified Income Trust. The kit explains how the published form works and links you to HCPF's own materials; unlike New Jersey and Indiana, Colorado does not publish a separate memo to banks.