How Much Does It Cost to Set Up a Miller Trust in South Carolina?
An elder-law attorney typically charges $1,000–$2,500 to set up a Miller Trust in South Carolina — in practice, a few hours of paperwork using SCDHHS'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 7 SCDHHS 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 South Carolina — work that is, in practice, filling in South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services'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 7 SCDHHS 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 South Carolina-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 South Carolina 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 South Carolina denial traps that cost families a month of coverage
Most denials are paperwork, not eligibility. This free one-pager lists every SCDHHS 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 South Carolina?
- 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 South Carolina 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.