Who Can Be the Trustee of an Income Trust in Wyoming?
In Wyoming, the trustee of a Miller Trust (Qualified Income Trust) is whoever manages the trust account — depositing the applicant's income each month and paying out only what WDH allows. Wyoming Medicaid Rules Chapter 18 (read in full) contains no language specifying who may or may not serve as trustee of an Income Trust, and no explicit prohibition on the beneficiary serving as their own trustee -- a confirmed silence in the rule text, not an oversight in this guide's research. No WDH-published guidance filling this gap was found either. This guide does not treat self-trusteeship as either permitted or barred by Wyoming's own rule text. Confirm this directly with your drafting attorney. The trustee does not have to be a lawyer or a professional; for the core setup this is a role most families fill themselves. For a complex situation, consult a Wyoming-licensed elder-law attorney. This guide is informational only and is not legal advice.
The trustee does not have to be an attorney or a professional fiduciary. Managing a Qualified Income Trust is an operational job, not a legal one: open the account, move the applicant's income through it each month, and pay out only what WDH allows — the same short list of tasks every month.
What the trustee does each month
- Deposits the applicant's income — Social Security, pension, and any other named sources — into the dedicated trust account.
- Pays out only the amounts WDH permits: typically the applicant's personal-needs allowance of $50/month, any spousal allowance, and the applicant's share of medical and care costs.
- Keeps simple records of what went in and what came out, so the trust stays compliant and Medicaid has no reason to question it.
Name a backup trustee
Many families name a successor trustee when they set the trust up, so that if the first trustee cannot continue, the trust keeps running without interruption. Either way the Wyoming setup is the same — see the step-by-step setup and what to say at the bank.
Before you go to the Wyoming bank
Most wasted trips are a bank-procedure problem, not a trust problem. This free one-pager has the questions to ask on the phone before you drive to a branch — emailed now. We'll also send 4 short follow-ups over the next 3 weeks (why most denials are paperwork not eligibility, the trustee role, when to call an attorney) — then we stop. No ongoing newsletter.
Common questions
- Does the trustee of a Wyoming Miller Trust have to be a lawyer?
- No. Managing a Qualified Income Trust is an administrative task — opening the dedicated account, depositing the applicant's income each month, and paying out only the amounts WDH allows. Wyoming Medicaid Rules Chapter 18 (read in full) contains no language specifying who may or may not serve as trustee of an Income Trust, and no explicit prohibition on the beneficiary serving as their own trustee -- a confirmed silence in the rule text, not an oversight in this guide's research. For advice on your specific situation, consult a Wyoming-licensed elder-law attorney.