Disclaimer - Leap Medicaid Solutions

LEAP Medicaid Legal Disclaimer

LEAP – Medicaid Solutions is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice or legal services. All services provided are administrative and supportive in nature, including assistance with the Medicaid application process, document organization, case management, and coordination with third parties.

LEAP – Medicaid Solutions does not provide advice regarding Medicaid eligibility strategies, asset protection, estate planning, or legal rights. Any legal services must be obtained through a licensed attorney.

When appropriate, LEAP – Medicaid Solutions may coordinate with independent, licensed attorneys; however, no attorney-client relationship is created with LEAP – Medicaid Solutions.

LEAP – Medicaid Solutions does not guarantee approval of any Medicaid application or any specific outcome. All eligibility determinations and approvals are made solely by the appropriate governmental agency.

Financial & Fiduciary Role Disclosure

Where authorized, LEAP – Medicaid Solutions may serve in administrative or fiduciary roles, including representative payee or trustee. These services are limited to the authority granted and do not constitute legal, financial, or investment advice.

Florida’s Supreme Court ruled that non-lawyers who engage in various Medicaid planning activities are engaging in the unlicensed practice of law. The Florida Bar Re: Advisory Opinion — Medicaid Planning Activities by Nonlawyers (Fla., No. SC14-211, Jan. 15, 2015).

The Elder Law Section of the Florida State Bar asked the Florida Bar Association to consider whether it constitutes the unlicensed practice of law for a non-lawyer to engage in the following Medicaid planning activities leading up to the Medicaid application: (1) drafting of personal service contracts; (2) preparation and execution of qualified income trusts; or (3) rendering legal advice regarding the implementation of Florida law to obtain Medicaid benefits. After holding public hearings, the State Bar Association subsequently filed a proposed advisory opinion with the Supreme Court.

After considering the proposed advisory opinion and the briefs of interested parties, the Supreme Court of Florida directed the Florida Bar to revise the advisory opinion to exempt the activities of non-lawyers employed by the Florida Department of Children and Families who assisted the public in the Medicaid application process during the performance of their duties. The Court then approved the resulting revised opinion.

The advisory opinion approved by the Court concluded that non-lawyers who performed any of the following activities were engaged in the unlicensed practice of law:

Drafting a Personal Service Contract.
Determining the need for, preparing, and executing a Qualified Income Trust, including gathering the information necessary to complete the trust.
Selling Personal Service Contracts or Qualified Income Trust forms or kits in the area of Medicaid planning.
Rendering legal advice regarding the implementation of Florida law to obtain Medicaid benefits.
Assessing the facts relevant to a client’s situation, applying those facts to the laws governing Medicaid, developing a plan to structure or spend the client’s assets in compliance with those laws, and drafting legal documents to execute the Medicaid plan, including advising an individual on which legal strategy or strategies under federal or Florida law are appropriate.