Do you need a Medicaid lawyer in Florida, or a Medicaid planner?
When a Medicaid application service is enough, when a Florida elder law attorney is necessary, what each costs, and how a service founded by an attorney bridges the two.
Florida Medicaid Guide
Most Florida Medicaid applications can be prepared and filed by a non-lawyer application service, but a lawyer is needed when the case involves a Qualified Income Trust, a transfer in the five-year look-back, a spouse with assets above the allowance, a deed, trust, caregiver contract, guardianship, or an appeal. An attorney-founded service can tell you which applies.
Most Florida Medicaid applications do not need a lawyer to prepare and file them, but many need a lawyer for one specific step, and a few need one from start to finish. The honest answer to "planner or attorney" is usually "an application service that knows when to call the attorney." That is what Senior Care Resources was built to be: a Medicaid application company founded by an elder law attorney and affiliated with an elder law firm, so the family does not have to guess which they need.
Reviewed by Carl B. Zacharia, Esq. , Florida Bar No. 50784, author of Florida Long-Term Care and Medicaid · Last reviewed September 6, 2026. Figures shown are the ones Florida applies as of that date.
What does a Medicaid application service do?
Screens for eligibility, plans a lawful spend-down, gathers five years of documents, prepares and files the DCF application, handles the interview and every request for information, checks the patient responsibility, and sets up the family for renewals. A good service does this every day and knows the Florida caseworkers, forms, and deadlines. Senior Care Resources has done it since 2007, in Florida since 2025, at a flat fee of $3,500.
An application service cannot give legal advice, draft legal documents, or represent the family at a hearing.
When do you need an elder law attorney?
An attorney is needed when the case turns on a legal document or a legal judgment:
- Income over the cap : drafting the Qualified Income Trust .
- Gifts or transfers in the last five years : assessing exemptions, curing transfers, or planning around a penalty.
- A spouse at home with assets above the allowance : a Medicaid-compliant annuity, spousal refusal, or a court order for a higher income allowance.
- Paying a family caregiver : drafting a personal services contract.
- Real estate : changing a deed, the caregiver-child home transfer, a life estate, or an out-of-state property.
- Trusts : anything involving an irrevocable trust, or an existing trust that needs to be read.
- Incapacity without a power of attorney : guardianship.
- A denial : the fair hearing .
- Planning ahead : protecting assets more than five years before care is needed, which is where the largest amounts are preserved.
What does each cost in Florida?
Florida elder law attorneys handling a Medicaid crisis case typically charge from several thousand dollars to well above ten thousand, reflecting the legal documents and strategy involved. Non-lawyer application services charge less, though many do not publish their fees; ours is a flat $3,500 for the application. Where a Senior Care Resources case needs legal work, Zacharia Frey PLLC quotes it separately and the family engages the firm directly, so the family pays for legal work only when the case requires it.
Why does the combination matter?
The problem with choosing one or the other is that a family rarely knows in advance which they have. An application company that discovers a $40,000 gift on the bank statements has to stop and send the family to find a lawyer, who starts from the beginning. A law firm that spends attorney time gathering bank statements charges attorney rates for clerical work.
Because our service was founded by an attorney and works with his firm, the screening identifies the legal issue on day one, the attorney handles that one issue, and our staff runs the application. The family gets one plan and one point of contact.
What should you ask any Florida Medicaid service?
- Who founded the company, and is an attorney involved in the cases?
- What is the fee, and is it published?
- What happens if there is a gift in the look-back, or the income is over the cap?
- Who drafts the Qualified Income Trust or the caregiver contract?
- Who handles a denial?
- How long has the company been doing this, and who directs the cases?
- Will you serve my county?
Our answers: founded by elder law attorney Carl B. Zacharia; $3,500, published; the affiliated law firm handles it; the law firm; the law firm; since 2007, in Florida since 2025, directed by the attorney who founded it; yes, all 67.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a lawyer to apply for Medicaid in Florida?
Not to prepare and file the application. You need a lawyer when the case involves a Qualified Income Trust, a transfer in the five-year look-back, a spouse with assets above the allowance, a caregiver contract, a deed or trust, guardianship, or an appeal. An attorney-founded application service can tell you which applies.
What is the difference between a Medicaid planner and an elder law attorney?
A non-lawyer Medicaid planner or application service prepares, files, and manages the application, but cannot give legal advice, choose a strategy for a family's assets, or draft legal documents. An elder law attorney provides legal strategy, drafts trusts, contracts, deeds, and annuity structures, and represents the family in hearings.
How much does an elder law attorney charge for Medicaid planning in Florida?
Commonly several thousand dollars for a straightforward crisis case and well over ten thousand for cases with significant asset protection. Senior Care Resources charges a flat $3,500 for application management, with legal work quoted separately by the affiliated firm only when needed.
Is a Medicaid planning company allowed to give legal advice in Florida?
No. Only a licensed attorney may give legal advice or draft legal documents in Florida. A non-lawyer service that drafts a Qualified Income Trust or advises on transfers is practicing law without a license. Senior Care Resources refers legal questions to its affiliated elder law firm.
Related guides
- Florida Medicaid Application Help, Statewide
- Carl B. Zacharia, Elder Law Attorney and Founder
- About Senior Care Resources
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We'll email you a short two-page intake form about your family member's care, income, and savings. Once you send it back, a member of our staff reviews it personally and calls you to talk through where things stand and what comes next. Families anywhere in Florida. No cost, no obligation.
Call (239) 977-5175This page is general information about Florida Medicaid, not legal advice, and nothing here creates an attorney-client relationship. Medicaid rules change and every family’s facts are different.
Senior Care Resources is a separate company from Zacharia Frey PLLC. Its Medicaid application services are not legal services, and no attorney-client protection applies to them. When an attorney becomes involved, that is a separate legal representation with the law firm.