Christine Jordan Sexton
Medicaid planning companies cannot use legal kits to advise Floridians on Medicaid planning under an advisory opinion approved by the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday.
“Unless the client establishes an independent attorney-client relationship with the attorney, payment from the client is directly to the attorney, and the initial determination that the particular legal document or Medicaid planning strategy is appropriate for the client given the client’s particular factual circumstances is the determination of the attorney, then the company would be engaged in the unlicensed practice of law,” the opinion reads.
The Florida Bar’s Standing Committee on the Unlicensed Practice of Law wrote the advisory opinion. It was published after the committee took public testimony on the issue, at the behest of elder care attorneys in the state. The opinion notes that some of the Medicaid planning companies are run by insurance agents, disbarred attorneys or brokers.
Before approving the advisory opinion the Florida Supreme Court advised the Florida Bar’s Standing Committee on the Unlicensed Practice of Law to alter the initial opinion to clarify Department of Children and Family and that filling out a Medicaid application does not constitute practicing law.
Here is a copy of the ruling.
The Florida Bar proposes rules but before they can have effect the Florida Supreme Court must approve them.
