In Re Schwarzkopf

Leonard M. Shulman, Gary A. Pemberton and Franklin J. Contreras, Jr., Shulman Hodges & Bastian LLP, Foothill Ranch, CA, for the plaintiff-appellant-cross-appellee.

Martha A. Warriner, Reid & Hellyer, Riverside, CA, for the defendants-appellees-cross-appellants.

Before: ALFRED T. GOODWIN and JOHNNIE B. RAWLINSON, Circuit Judges, and ALGENON L. MARBLEY, District Judge. [*]

GOODWIN, Senior Circuit Judge:

Robert L. Goodrich, the Chapter 7 trustee for the bankruptcy estates of Alex Michaels, aka Alexis Michaels, aka Alex Schwarzkopf ("Michaels"), and Joanne Louise Michaels, aka Joanne Louise Schwarzkopf (collectively, "the Debtors"), seeks to recover for the estates' benefit approximately $4 million in assets. Goodrich alleges that the Debtors fraudulently transferred those assets to two irrevocable trusts known as the Apartment Trust and the Grove Trust and that the district court erred in holding that neither trust is Michaels's alter ego. On cross-appeal, the Debtors contend that the district court erred in holding that the Apartment Trust is invalid and may therefore be disregarded.

"We apply the same standard of review to the bankruptcy court findings as does the district…