Elder Law in Key West: the Local Picture
Key West and the Florida Keys are a unique, high-value market of retirees, second-home owners, and seasonal residents spread along the island chain. A high-value island market where second homes, homestead, domicile, and probate avoidance all matter, often for owners who also keep a home up north.
Key West has the families elder law is built for: aging parents who want to stay in control, protect the home, and pay for care without losing everything, and adult children trying to help, often from another state. We handle all of it remotely.
Long-Term Care and Medicaid
Skilled nursing in Florida commonly runs several thousand dollars a month and up, and Medicare doesn’t cover long-term custodial care. Nursing-home Medicaid can, but giving assets away to “qualify” usually backfires under the five-year look-back. There are legitimate ways to protect the home and savings, whether you’re planning ahead or already in a crisis. See Medicaid planning → · check eligibility →
Protecting the Home
The homestead is the family’s biggest asset and is generally exempt for Medicaid eligibility. The real risk is estate recovery after death. A lady bird deed keeps the home out of probate and beyond recovery while your parent keeps full control. See how the home is protected →
Avoiding a Guardianship
If a parent loses capacity with no plan, the family’s only route is a court guardianship, which is slow, public, and expensive. A durable power of attorney, a health-care surrogate, a living will, and a HIPAA authorization, signed while your parent is competent, are the documents that block it. See the full elder-law guide →
Helping a Key West parent from anywhere.
A free 30-minute consult maps the care, the home, and the documents, by phone or video.
Book your free consultCommunities We Serve
We work with families across Monroe County, including Marathon, Islamorada, Key Largo, Big Pine Key, Stock Island, Cudjoe Key, and beyond. Any deed in your plan records with the Monroe County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller. We are a Miami firm serving Key West remotely; this is not a Key West office.
Local Senior Resources in Key West
You don’t have to do this alone, and not all of it is legal. For care navigation, Monroe County’s Area Agency on Aging is Alliance for Aging, the Aging and Disability Resource Center for Monroe County and the Keys. It runs Florida’s Elder Helpline (1-800-96-ELDER) and free SHINE Medicare counseling, your first call for a Medicaid screening, caregiver support, and local senior services. We handle the legal side, the Medicaid-qualifying plan, the deed, the powers of attorney, and coordinate with those resources so nothing falls through the cracks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you have an office in Key West?
No. StepUp Law is a Miami firm that serves Key West and Monroe County families remotely, by phone and video. That works well for adult children handling a Florida parent’s Medicaid, deed, or incapacity plan from out of state.
Will Medicaid take my parent’s Key West-area home?
The Florida homestead is generally protected for Medicaid eligibility, so it is not sold to qualify. The real risk is estate recovery after death, which runs against the probate estate. A lady bird deed keeps the home out of probate and beyond recovery.
What documents keep my parent out of guardianship?
A durable power of attorney, a designation of health-care surrogate, a living will, and a HIPAA authorization, signed while your parent is clearly competent. Florida courts must consider these less-restrictive alternatives before appointing a guardian.
Updated June 7, 2026. Reviewed by Kevin D. Klagge, Esq., Fla. Bar No. 99502 (Florida estate planning, probate, and trust and probate litigation). General information about Florida law, not legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created. We serve Key West and Monroe County residents remotely. Medicaid figures change annually and eligibility turns on your specific facts.