Practice Areas

The Oak Crest Law Group has experience developing asset protection strategies for families and business owners.  Many people believe that having a living trust will protect their assets from creditors. Unfortunately, a living trust provides no asset protection for the trust maker during his or her life. Upon the death of the trust maker, however, or upon the death of the first spouse to die if it is a joint trust, the trust becomes irrevocable as to the deceased trust maker’s property and can provide asset protection for the beneficiaries, with two important caveats. First, the assets must remain in the trust to provide ongoing asset protection. In other words, once the trustee distributes the assets to a beneficiary, those assets are no longer protected and can be attached by that beneficiary’s creditors. If the beneficiary is married, the distributed assets may also be subject to the spouse’s creditor(s), or they may be available to the former spouse upon divorce.

The second caveat follows logically from the first: the more rights the beneficiary has with respect to compelling trust distributions, the less asset protection the trust provides. Generally, a creditor ‘steps into the shoes’ of the debtor and can exercise any rights of the debtor. Thus, if a beneficiary has the right to compel a distribution from a trust, so too can a creditor compel a distribution from that trust.

Contact asset protection attorney Edward R. Cainglit today in order to discuss asset protection options available to you and your family.

Estate Planning is more than a set of instructions that tells the government who your property should go to after your death. Estate Planning is the process of understanding your unique needs and goals and creating a plan to pass your wealth, wisdom and values to your loved ones.

By working with the attorneys at The Law Offices of Edward R. Cainglit your estate plan will address those needs and goals using an approach that makes sense to you and a strategy that you can be confident in.  At The Law Offices of Edward R. Cainglit we begin the estate planning process for each client by taking the time to understand your unique goals and concerns, the unique dynamics of your family, and what the you hope to achieve. Once a plan has been developed, we typically draft a Revocable Living Trust, Pour Over Will, Power of Attorney, and Living Will to document our clients’ wishes.

Whether you are looking to create your estate plan for the first time or to update your existing plan, The Oak Crest Law Group can help you create your comprehensive and personalized estate plan, providing you peace of mind that your wishes will be followed.

The Oak Crest Law Group provides integrated gift and estate tax planning strategies in Westlake Village, Los Angeles and throughout California. We work with clients who need an entire estate plan drafted and those who have an existing estate plan to develop a comprehensive gift and estate tax plan.
Our goal is to reduce your estate tax burden by providing you with the most up to date legal strategies, information, and benefits for your family.

We take the time to consider your values, goals and family dynamics so that the gift and estate tax plan enhances your legacy.
Contact The Oak Crest Law Group today for help with your gifting plan or estate tax planning.

The Law Offices of Edward R. Cainglit has years of experience providing strategic counsel to business owners throughout California. Many of our business owner clients are first generation owners who seek guidance on the creation of business entities such as Limited Liability Companies, S-Corporations and Partnerships. Once the business is created, our attorneys provide ongoing counsel through the creation of operating agreements, annual meetings, and asset protection planning during their lifetime.

For other clients, we provide strategic counsel to them as they sell their business or seek to pass their business down to their children or key employees. Regardless of the exit strategy, we work with business owners on the succession planning that suits their individual goals and tax needs.

Contact The Oak Crest Law Group today for help with your business creation or succession planning.

The Oak Crest Law Group has significant experience assisting families pass not only their wealth, but their values to their loved ones. We refer to this process as Values Based Planning.

Experts agree it is important to talk to children about money and wealth, and the family values that should guide the investment and enjoyment of the wealth. We understand the importance of values and incorporate them into your estate panning. Instead of concentrating solely on taxes, money and passing your wealth, we talk with you about your values and opportunities to convey them with your money. Most parents want their children to think about others, and many want to encourage entrepreneurship. Some give their children a small amount of money at a young age, and teach them how to save and invest, give a certain amount to charity and spend wisely. Regardless of your planning, your loved ones will see your values based estate plan as a legacy to them. Plan your legacy today, contact Values Based Planning Attorney Edward R. Cainglit to learn how.

Trust administration occurs when your loved one owned his or her assets through a well drafted and properly funded revocable living trust. If this is the case, your family may administer the revocable living trust privately without a public, court-managed probate administration.

The process begins with an event that triggers a provision in your revocable living trust based estate plan, such as incapacity or death. Trust administration provides for the successor trustees you designated in your revocable living trust to step into action and execute according to your instructions.

Even though the trust administration process is handled privately, without court supervision, it can be complex. Often, your successor trustees need the assistance of competent and experienced counsel to guide them through the process. Trust administration requires them to make important decisions including preparing inventories of your property, preparing tax returns, and signing other important documents on your behalf. Ultimately they must folow your written instructions provided in your revocable living trust and divide and distribute your property to those individuals or charities you identified.

The trust administration process carries a lot of responsibilities. The Oak Crest Law Group can help guide your trustees through the process as efficiently and caring as possible.