Medicaid Planning for Florida Families With Assets — Without Losing What You've Built.

Not necessarily — and this is one of the most important things we tell every family we meet. Medicaid has asset limits, but Florida law allows for legal strategies that can reposition or protect assets while still qualifying for benefits. Many families who were told they had "too much" have gone on to qualify with the right legal plan in place.

Being over the limit is a starting point, not a verdict. Call us before you assume anything is impossible.

For a single applicant in Florida, the countable asset limit is $2,000 and the monthly income limit is $2,901.

For a married couple where one spouse is applying, the combined asset limit is $3,000 and the combined income limit is $5,802 per month.

Certain assets are exempt and do not count toward the limit — including your primary home (up to $730,000 in equity), one vehicle, personal belongings, an irrevocable funeral contract, and life insurance with a face value up to $2,500. Most other assets — bank accounts, investments, retirement accounts, stocks, bonds, and additional real estate — are countable.

Medicare and Medicaid are not the same program — and the difference matters enormously for long-term care.

Medicare covers short-term skilled nursing facility care — typically up to 100 days after a qualifying hospital stay, and only under specific conditions. It does not cover long-term nursing home stays.

Medicaid is the program designed specifically to cover long-term care — including nursing home stays, assisted living, and in-home aide services — for people who meet eligibility requirements. For most Florida families, Medicaid is the only realistic way to fund long-term care without depleting everything they have saved.

When you apply for Medicaid, the state reviews all asset transfers made in the five years before the application date. Gifts to children, transfers to trusts, or any asset given away during that window — even with the best intentions — can trigger a penalty period.

A penalty period means Medicaid will not pay for care for a calculated number of months, even if the applicant now has no assets left. At $10,000+ per month for nursing home care, a penalty period of even a few months can be devastating.

In most cases, yes — and this is one of the highest-value things we do for families. Florida exempts the primary residence from Medicaid asset counts, particularly when a spouse or dependent family member still lives there. If the home has equity under $730,000, it generally does not count against eligibility.

We also use legal strategies to protect the home from Medicaid Estate Recovery — the process by which the state can attempt to reclaim the cost of care from your estate after death. Without proper planning, families who protected the home during the applicant's lifetime can still lose it after they pass.

Protecting the home — both during the Medicaid application and from estate recovery after death — is one of the most important reasons to work with an experienced Elder Law attorney.

Florida's Medicaid rules include important protections for the spouse who remains at home — called the "community spouse." These protections include:

• Community Spouse Resource Allowance (CSRA): The community spouse is allowed to keep a portion of the couple's combined assets
• Minimum Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance (MMMNA): The community spouse is entitled to a minimum monthly income, which can be supplemented from the nursing home spouse's income if needed
• Spousal Refusal: A uniquely powerful Florida strategy that, when properly executed, allows the community spouse to keep significantly more — including assets above the standard CSRA limit

We work to maximize every available protection so your spouse is not left financially vulnerable while you receive the care you need. You should not have to become impoverished because your spouse needs long-term care.

No — and please do not do either of these things without speaking to an attorney first.

Selling the family home is almost never necessary for Medicaid qualification. Florida specifically protects the primary residence in most cases. And attempting to get a divorce for Medicaid planning purposes is not only unnecessary — it can create serious legal complications and actually harm your planning options.

These are two of the most persistent myths about Medicaid planning, and acting on them has caused real financial damage to families who received bad advice. The right legal strategy protects your home and your marriage while still qualifying your loved one for benefits.

It is rarely too late. Even after a loved one has been admitted to a nursing home, there are often still legal strategies available to protect a significant portion of remaining assets. The sooner you call us, the more options we have — but we have helped families who waited months after admission and still protected meaningful savings.

Do not assume the window has closed until you speak with us. Crisis planning is one of our specialties.

Nursing facilities can file the basic paperwork — but they are not attorneys and they do not protect your assets. They process the application as-is, which means any countable assets your loved one has are fully exposed. The facility's job is to get your loved one covered; your family's financial protection is not their concern.

If your loved one has savings, a home, retirement accounts, or a spouse at home, filing without an attorney is one of the most expensive mistakes a family can make. The cost of legal planning is almost always a small fraction of what it helps preserve.

We charge flat fees — you know the exact cost after your strategy session, before any work begins. No hourly billing. No surprise invoices.

In virtually every case, the cost of legal planning is a fraction of what we help families preserve. Consider: one family spent $400,000 before they called us. Our fee for helping what remained was a small percentage of that. The families who plan ahead keep far more of what they worked a lifetime to build.

We will give you an honest, specific quote after your complimentary call with our paralegal. There is no obligation to proceed.

Yes — this is one of the most common situations we handle. Many of our clients are adult children who live in New York, New Jersey, or other states while their parents live in South Florida.

We work entirely with families remotely when needed — phone, video, email. And when the question involves whether a parent should stay in Florida for care or move to be closer to family, we coordinate with Elder Law attorneys in other states to give you a complete picture of the planning options in both jurisdictions before you make that decision.

Where your parent receives long-term care affects which Medicaid rules apply — and some strategies available in Florida (like Spousal Refusal) are not available in most other states. We make sure you understand the full legal and financial picture before any decision is made.

Sí, hablamos español. Patricia and her team proudly serve South Florida's Spanish-speaking families with the same care, attention, and expertise as all of our clients. Navigating Medicaid is complicated enough — you should never have to do it in a language that is not yours.