Should You Keep Your Old Counseling License After You Move?

You moved, you got licensed in the new state, and now the renewal notice from the old state arrives. Most counselors' first instinct is to let it go. Sometimes that is right. Before you decide, look at four things.

1. Do you still have clients there?

If anyone you see is located in the old state during sessions, you need authorization there, full stop. Telehealth follows the client's location, not yours. A license you already hold is the cheapest authorization you will ever have for that state.

2. Can the compact replace it?

This is where counselors get caught. Before the move, the old license may have been your compact home license. After the move, it cannot be: under the Counseling Compact your home state is where you primarily reside, and a license from another state does not qualify. Privileges that rested on the old license no longer have a qualifying home license under them.

If your new state is a live compact member, your new license becomes your home license and you can buy privileges from it, including one for the state you left if that state is live. In that case the old full license may be redundant. If your new state is not a member or not yet issuing, for example if you moved from Ohio to Texas or from Arizona to Florida, the old license is your only authorization for the old state. See home state rules.

3. What would it cost to get back?

Renewing on time is always the cheapest version of a license. Once a license lapses, you face late fees, reinstatement requirements and sometimes a new application. Alabama's published fee schedule, as one example, lists a $300 LPC renewal, a $100 lapsed-license fee and a $500 fee for reinstatement under one of its rules. Other states require back CE, a new background check or a new jurisprudence exam to reinstate. A few treat a long-lapsed license as a fresh application under current standards, which can be a problem if your degree or exam would not meet today's rules. Our colleagues cover this in reinstating a lapsed license.

4. Is there an inactive status?

Many boards offer an inactive, retired or non-practicing status that keeps your file alive for a lower fee and reduced or no CE, with a defined route back to active. Rules vary widely: what CE you owe to reactivate, how long you can stay inactive, and whether you can practice at all in the meantime. If your old state offers one and you have no clients there, it is often the best middle ground.

When to keep it active

• You have current clients located there.
• You might move back, or your family is there.
• Your new state is not a live compact member.
• You hold the old license at a tier or with a designation (supervisor status, for example) that took years to earn.
• The state is hard to get back into, such as one with a five-year practice condition for endorsement.

When to let it go

• No clients there, no plans to return, and a compact privilege from your new home license would cover any occasional need.
• The CE and fees are a real burden and the state offers a clean inactive or retirement route.

If you let it go, do it on purpose: tell the board, ask about inactive or retired status, and keep the final verification for your records. A license that expires quietly can look different on a future application than one you formally retired.

One more obligation

Every board that licenses you expects to hear about address changes, name changes and disciplinary actions elsewhere. A license you are keeping "just in case" still has reporting duties.

Our Annual Renewal and CE Compliance service ($199 a year) tracks every license and privilege you hold, including the one in the state you left, so the decision to keep or drop it is yours rather than an accident. See pricing, or read moving without abandoning clients.