Ed Barton is a tax, estate, and trust attorney, CPA, and CFA charterholder with more than 25 years of experience in tax, finance, and executive management. He helps families plan for incapacity and death, settle estates and trusts, and handle the tax issues that come with passing wealth to the next generation.

Current Practice

Ed is the founder and Managing Member of Centerbridge Law Group, PLLC, an estate and trust law firm in Anacortes, Washington, founded in 2015. His practice covers estate planning, trust administration, probate, and estate, gift, and income tax. In 2023 he founded Centerbridge Accounting & Tax, LLC, a tax preparation and accounting firm, where he serves as Managing Member and CPA.

Ed teaches inheritance and family wealth transfer on the Centerbridge Law Group YouTube channel and is the author of Washington Estate Tax for Families and The Washington Executor's Guide, practical guides to Washington estate, trust, and estate tax law. He also owns a vehicle dealership and serves as fractional CFO and outside counsel to a vehicle warranty company, so he sees tax and succession questions from the business owner's side.

Executive and Operating Experience

Ed's senior finance and operating roles include:

CFO and General Counsel of Prosidium Warranty & Capital (2023 to 2025)

CEO of FZ Holdings, Inc., parent of fusionZONE Automotive, Lead Revenue, and FZA Digital, Primus Capital portfolio companies (2018 to 2023)

Vice President of Finance, General Counsel, and Assistant Professor of Business at Saint Martin's University

Co-founder and chairman of Clarity Energy Consulting, LLC, an energy risk management firm for mid-market companies

President and COO of G2 Web Services, after leading its finance, legal, and HR teams as VP of Finance

CFO, President, and CEO of B-Line, LLC, where he oversaw the purchase of more than $45 billion in bankruptcy receivables, grew the bank client base by 65 percent, and secured nearly $1 billion in structured financing

CFO of Lone Star Steakhouse during the 2008 financial crisis, where he led sale-leaseback transactions and rebuilt cost controls

Army engineer officer

Community Service

Ed serves as Treasurer of the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia and chairs its Joint Finance Panel. He previously served as a City of Mill Creek Planning Commissioner, an elected member of the Snohomish County Charter Review Commission, a member of the Snohomish County Historical Preservation Commission, and a board member of the Northshore YMCA. He ran for the Washington State Legislature in 2014 with the endorsement of the Seattle Times.

Education and Credentials

Ed.D. in Leadership Studies, Marshall University (2022)

LL.M. with Merit in Economic Regulation, University of London

Juris Doctor, Northwestern California University

MBA, Syracuse University Martin J. Whitman School of Management

BBA in Finance and Business Economics, University of Notre Dame

Master Certificate in Six Sigma, Villanova University

Master of Divinity, Liberty University (in progress)

Ed is licensed to practice law in California (2015) and Washington (2017) and is admitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. Tax Court, and the U.S. Supreme Court. He is a CPA licensed in Washington and Florida, an Enrolled Agent, a CFA charterholder since 1998, and a member of the CFA Institute and the American Bar Association.

Centerbridge Law Group, PLLC, 1610 Commercial Avenue, Suite 203, Anacortes, Washington 98221. Course content is general education, not legal or tax advice.