Vocational Diagnostics

The Benefit of Retaining a Certified Life Care Planner

May 4, 2026

There is some concerning chatter in the life care planning community where a small minority claim that there are other “certifications” that qualify an individual to practice and testify to life care planning, outside of certification in life care planning itself. They assert that one need not be educated and trained in life care planning; rather, one need only be able to convince the trier of fact that they are qualified to render life care planning opinions. However, the list of “certifications” offered as appropriate alternative training includes education and credentials that are separate and distinct from life care planning. They assert that this can be earned through simple membership to organizations (i.e., American Board of Vocational Experts) or certifications that do not involve education or training in life care planning (i.e., Certified Case Manager, Certified Disability Management Specialist, Certified Rehabilitation Counselor).

There is currently one life care planner certifying body, the International Commission of on Health Care Certification (ICHCC), that is accredited by the American National Standards Institute National Accreditation Board (ANAB). The two accredited certifications offered through ICHCC are the Certified Life Care Planner (CLCP) and the Canadian Certified Life Care Planner (CCLCP). Accreditation is the action or process of officially recognizing an entity as having a particular status or being qualified to perform a particular activity while maintaining the standards defined by the accreditation agency. In practice, the ANAB Accreditation ensures that the ICHCC has robust processes for assessing the competencies required for the life care planner’s role.

To be qualified to take the ICHCC exam to become a CLCP, one must be a qualified health care professional (QHP), and

…have a minimum of 120 hours of post-graduate or post-specialty degree training in life care planning or in areas that can be applied to the development of a life care plan or pertain to the service delivery applied to life care planning. There must be 16 hours of training specific to basic orientation, methodology, and standards of practice in life care planning within the required 120 hours.[1]

In addition, one must have a minimum of 3 years field experience within the 5 years preceding application for CLCP certification through the ICHCC. Then, the certifying exam itself consists of 100 questions that must be answered within 3 hours and 20 minutes (2 minutes per question), and the passing cutoff score (79) was determined through the Test Analysis and Validation Program (TVAP) statistical application, which investigates the validity and reliability of test content and test-taker item responses.

These precise qualifications and rigorous protocols ensure that, if an individual is a certified life care planner (CLCP) they meet high standards of expertise and professionalism. In addition, while not accredited, there are also other certification programs for life care planners that include: Certified Nurse Life Care Planner (CNLCP); Certified Health Professional Life Care Planner (CHLCP), FIG Life Care Planning Certified (FIG LCP-C).

As a certified life care planner with a 20-year history of being qualified as an expert in the field, claims that individuals who have not demonstrated their competence through the standardized education or certification process feel qualified to act as an expert are concerning and misleading. At VDI, we know it is important to keep attorneys aware of relevant topics, such as this, so they can make educated, informed decisions when deciding which life care planner to retain.