Updated August 27, 2026. Quick answer: New Mexico does not say Miller trust or QIT. Its rule says income diversion trust, and 8.281.510 NMAC describes it as a reversionary instrument: “An income diversion trust is a reversionary trust”, and “The trust terminates upon the death of the beneficiary.”
What New Mexico requires
| What the state sets out | What it says |
|---|---|
| New Mexico’s name for it | income diversion trust (8.281.510 NMAC) |
| Who it is for | An applicant/recipient whose income exceeds the income standard may be eligible to receive medicaid through the creation and funding of an income diversion trust. |
| Character of the trust | “An income diversion trust is a reversionary trust” |
| When it ends | “The trust terminates upon the death of the beneficiary.” |
| What may fund it | The trust is composed only of pension, social security, and other income to the |
| A term you may still meet in older material | “The term “medicaid qualifying trust” or MQT is no longer used after that date.” |
How it works in practice
- The vocabulary matters when you search. A New Mexico caseworker, form or notice is likely to say income diversion trust; national material will say Miller trust or QIT. They are the same instrument in this state, and looking for the wrong phrase in the rule finds nothing.
- “Reversionary” is the state’s own characterisation, not a gloss. It is the structural reason the trust ends at death rather than passing to heirs.
- The composition rule is narrow: pension, social security and other income of the applicant/recipient, including accumulated income in the trust. Nothing else.
The mechanism itself — why an income cap exists and what the trust must contain — is explained on the income-cap and Miller trust page. This page is the record for New Mexico.
See how the income side fits the rest of the money
Where income sits relative to a state limit changes what happens to savings, to a spouse’s position and to the order things are best done in, and an adviser can look at the whole picture rather than one rule at a time.
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What this page does not settle
- “Medicaid qualifying trust” is a historical term here. The rule states the label “is no longer used after that date” for trusts established on or after August 11, 1993, which is why old advice using it can point at the wrong analysis.
- This page reads one source: 8.281.510 NMAC, Medicaid Eligibility — Institutional Care, Trusts. It is the state’s own publication on this rule, but no state puts its whole treatment of excess income in a single document, and a detail that decides your case may sit in one this page did not read.
- A trust fixes an income problem and nothing else. The asset test, the level-of-care test and the transfer-of-assets look-back are separate hurdles, each decided on your own file, and meeting this rule does not clear any of them.
- Every quotation here was read against the source on August 27, 2026. States revise these rules, and a figure or a section number can move without the page around it changing. Open the source before you rely on a detail.
Eligibility is decided by the state agency on the whole file, not by one rule on one page. Nothing here is legal advice, and no one should move, retitle or assign income on the strength of a web page.
Sources
The source above was retrieved and read against the state text on August 27, 2026. Every quotation on this page was checked against those bytes.
Health decisions still have to be made while a spend-down is being sorted out, and New Mexico’s advance directive requirements set out the number of witnesses New Mexico requires and whether notarization is offered as an alternative.
Related: New Mexico’s Medicaid Personal Needs Allowance; the amount a nursing-facility resident keeps from their own income each month.
Related: New Mexico’s Medicaid home equity limit for a single applicant with no spouse or dependent child at home.