Carl B. Zacharia

Carl began practicing elder law when the term had only just been coined. His early office was in a community with a large population of older residents, and families kept arriving with the same fear: that a nursing home stay would take everything they had built. He set out to understand the programs and rules that govern long-term care, and he has spent the decades since guiding families through those decisions, in the office, before state and federal appellate courts, and in the classroom as a frequent lecturer on estate planning and elder law.

He has argued Medicaid and medical assistance cases before state and federal appellate courts, including a federal court of appeals in Washington, D.C. That courtroom experience is unusual for a Medicaid planner, and it is why Senior Care Resources knows what a caseworker's decision has to withstand.

Carl founded Senior Care Resources in 2007 because most families who need a Medicaid application do not need a lawyer for every step of it, and should not have to pay attorney rates for document gathering and caseworker follow-up. What they need is an application managed by people who do it every day, with an attorney available for the steps that require one.

The company began in Pennsylvania and opened its Florida operation in 2025, alongside Zacharia Frey PLLC. That is the structure Senior Care Resources still has. The application service is separate from the law firm and is not a legal service. When a case needs a Qualified Income Trust, a cured transfer, a caregiver contract, a deed, or an appeal, Zacharia Frey PLLC handles it under its own engagement, and Carl is the link between the two.

Carl is the author of Florida Long-Term Care and Medicaid: A Family’s Guide to Finding, Getting, and Paying for Good Care (2026 Edition), written for families rather than lawyers. It explains choosing a care setting, who pays and when Medicare does not, Florida Medicaid's income and asset rules, homestead protections, powers of attorney, spend-down planning, and Qualified Income Trusts. Much of the material in the Florida Medicaid guides on this site comes from it. It is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle.

Carl also developed the online tools that Senior Care Resources uses with families: the free Medicaid eligibility screening at medicaidinaminute.com, which tells a family where they stand before they apply, and MyLifeFolio, for keeping the documents and information a family needs in one place.

A native of Pittsburgh, Carl built one of Western Pennsylvania's most respected estate planning and elder law practices as a principal of Zacharia Brown, and he remains of counsel to it. He is licensed in both states. Senior Care Resources' work today is concentrated in Florida, where Carl lives and practices, and where Zacharia Frey PLLC is based.