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It is better to rely on one's trust when possible.
In the event of one’s incapacity or death, assets held in a living trust can be controlled much more reliably than assets outside of a trust.
Let us examine why it is better to rely primarily on one’s trust rather than to rely on on one’s power of attorney and will as the primary tools in one’s estate plan.
If you should become unable to manage your financial and property affairs a power of attorney does not afford you the same protections as a trust.
To begin with, many banks, insurance companies and title companies insist upon their own in-house power of attorney and are reluctant to accept an attorney drafted power of attorney or even a California statutory power of attorney.
That's unless the power of attorney specifically says that it applies to the financial accounts in question or the drafting attorney convinces them to accept the power.
Thus a generally worded power of attorney that provides general authority is often not readily accepted. Such reluctance is particularly frequent nowadays due to the prevalence of financial elder abuse.
As the owner in charge of the trust estate, a successor trustee, on the other hand, has more authority and power to manage the assets inside the trust.
A trustee can rely not only upon the authority granted in the trust but also the authority granted under California statute.
The trustee’s greater authority is particularly relevant when dealing with mortgages, lines of equity, insurance, related to trust owned real estate, and the sale of real property trust assets.
For anyone using their equity in their homes to balance their finances it is particularly reassuring to know that such financing can be managed by the trustee.
Moreover, a well-drafted trust typically provides more flexibility to the trustee than are provided to an agent in most powers of attorney.
A trust can authorize the trustee to use his or her own discretion when addressing unforeseen circumstances.
For example, consider a trustee who is authorized to allow family members to reside in a residence owned by the trust.
The trustee may have absolute discretion under the trust to allow such persons to reside there so long as such family members are getting along with each other and are respecting the residence.
Nevertheless, the power of attorney and the will are still each very much necessary.
A well-drafted power of attorney is indispensable to controlling retirement accounts, Social Security income and legal affairs as these are nontransferable to a trust.
A will is necessary to control who inherits any assets held in one's name – including vehicles and checking accounts – at time of death.
Dennis A. Fordham, attorney (LL.M. tax studies), is a State Bar Certified Specialist in estate planning, probate and trust law. His office is at 870 S. Main St., Lakeport, California. Fordham can be reached by e-mail at
In a new study, scientists have gathered all available NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope data on the four outer moons of Pluto to analyse the system in more depth than ever before.
The observations show that at least two of Pluto’s moons are not neatly rotating on their axes but are in chaotic rotation while orbiting around Pluto and its companion Charon.
The study also hints that one of the moons has a mysterious jet-black colouring. These surprising results appear in the June 4 issue of the journal Nature.
Almost every moon in the Solar System, including our Moon, rotates on its axis at the same speed as it orbits its parent body.
It is for this reason that we always see the same side of the Moon facing us on Earth. On Pluto, however, astronomers have now discovered that there are no hidden sides to its moons.
In a surprising new study, it has been found that two of Pluto’s moons, Nix and Hydra, are in a chaotic rotation. This means that an observer on Pluto would not see the same face of the moons from one night to the next.
For visitors on the moons themselves, things would get even more confusing, as every day would be a different length to the one that preceded it.
The other two moons studied, Kerberos and Styx, will likely be found to be chaotic too, pending further study.
“Prior to the Hubble observations, nobody appreciated the intricate dynamics of the Pluto system,” said Mark Showalter of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute in California, USA, main author of the study.
The chaotic motion of the moons is caused by the system’s two central bodies, Pluto and Charon.
“These two bodies whirl around each other rapidly, causing the gravitational forces that they exert on the small nearby moons to change constantly,” explained Doug Hamilton, co-author of the study. “Being subject to such varying gravitational forces makes the rotation of Pluto’s moons very unpredictable. The chaos in their rotation is further accentuated by the fact that these moons are not neat and round, but are actually shaped like rugby balls!”
The movement of the moons in the Pluto–Charon system offers valuable insights into how planets orbiting a double star might behave.
“We are learning that chaos may be a common trait of binary systems,” Hamilton continued. “It might even have consequences for life on planets orbiting binary stars.”
Clues to the Pluto system chaos first came when astronomers measured variations in the light reflected off of the two small moons.
Looking at images taken by Hubble between 2005 and 2012, the brightness was found to change unpredictably — instead of following a regular cycle — in a way that could only be explained by chaotic movement.
These images also showed that the moon Kerberos is charcoal-black in colour, a stark contrast to the bright white of the other moons.
It was predicted that pollution from dust blasted off the satellites by meteorite impacts would coat the moons, giving their surfaces a homogenous look, but why Kerberos is black is a mystery.
The chaotic rotation of the moons was not the only surprise that arose from the study; Hubble’s monitoring also revealed a connection between the orbits of the three moons Nix, Styx, and Hydra.
“Their motion is tied together in a way similar to that of three of Jupiter’s large moons,” noted Doug Hamilton of the University of Maryland, co-author of the study. “If you were sitting on Nix, you would see Styx go around Pluto twice every time Hydra goes around three times.”
The chaotic movements found in this fascinating system do not necessarily mean that it is on the brink of flying apart. More studies are needed to determine the long-term fate of the Pluto system.
The researchers agree that a combination of monitoring data from Hubble, a close-up look from NASA’s New Horizons space probe, which flies by the system in July 2015 [2], and, eventually, observations with the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope will help to settle some of the many mysteries of the Pluto–Charon system.
“Pluto will continue to surprise us when New Horizons flies past it in July,” Showalter said. “Our work with Hubble just gives us a foretaste of what’s in store.”
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A jury must now decide the fate of a man accused of the September 2011 fatal shooting of an Upper Lake woman during an attempted robbery.
Deputy District Attorney John DeChaine and defense attorney David Markham spent the morning offering closing arguments in Judge Stephen Hedstrom's court in the lengthy trial of Daniel Loyd.
Loyd, 53, of Nice, has admitted to fatally shooting Cindy Yvette Quiett during an early morning robbery attempt on Sept. 13, 2011, claiming during testimony he gave on the stand during his defense last week that it was an accident.
The incident occurred in Lucerne, where the 48-year-old Quiett was with her boyfriend, Patrick “Joey” Ryden, to whom Loyd said he had fronted about $1,200 worth of methamphetamine to sell.
When Ryden didn't pay him back, the prosecution said Loyd set up a $40 drug deal, borrowed a van and a .357 magnum pistol, drove to Lucerne and just after 3:30 a.m. that day confronted Ryden, sticking the loaded gun in his face and demanding drugs and money.
When the two men struggled, the gun swung toward Quiett and fired, striking her in the stomach. She died a short time later.
Both sides have agreed that Loyd didn't intentionally shoot Quiett.
“Based on the evidence, it was accidental. He didn't intend to kill her,” or anyone else for that matter, DeChaine said during his closing arguments.
However, the key place of departure between prosecution and defense is what penalty Loyd should face.
DeChaine argued to the jury that the fact that Quiett's death was an accident didn't change the fact that it was a crime – specifically, murder – since it happened during the commission of an attempted robbery.
He explained the legal standards to the jury in order to show that a person can be guilty of felony murder even if the act was unintentional, accidental or negligent. The person who dies, he said, doesn't have to be the intended victim.
When Loyd pulled up and confronted Ryden that morning, he said, “Give me your s***, Joey. Give me your s***,” according to DeChaine.
After the struggle and Quiett's shooting, Loyd jumped back in the van with his girlfriend, Angel Spring, and another woman who DeChaine argued did not know what Loyd was planning.
Loyd had told the women he was going to buy drugs. After the shooting, Loyd let the second woman – a friend of Quiett's – out of the van at her request.
DeChaine said Loyd told sheriff's Det. John Drewrey that Ryden knew he was coming over that morning because Loyd had called to set up the drug buy, a fact Drewrey was able to independently confirm.
Quiett died, DeChaine argued, because Loyd didn't want to pay $40 for a bag of methamphetamine. “Cindy is the one that paid the price.”
In brief closing remarks that lasted only about 20 minutes, Markham went over the jury's duties and how jurors must follow the law in making their decision.
Loyd, Markham said, “committed a lot of crimes that night” – robbery, assault with a firearm, being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
“I'm telling you, he committed these crimes. He committed the special allegations that went along with them,” said Markham.
“The only issue in this case,” Markham said, “is whether or not he committed murder.”
Markham said the jurors were not going to be happy with what Loyd did, or the fact that a convicted felon high on methamphetamine was running around the community committing robberies.
Loyd had stated on the stand last week that at the time of the shooting, he had been up 10 days straight, using half a gram of meth a day.
However, Markham said Loyd's actions didn't rise to the level of murder, and based on his interpretation of the law, jurors needed to return a not guilty verdict on the murder charge.
In his response to Markham's arguments, DeChaine told the jury, “Don't buy what the defendant's selling.”
He said it was entirely reasonable to conclude that, when putting a gun in someone's face, it could go off and kill someone.
Loyd, DeChaine said, also was trying to keep witnesses from coming to court. “That's consciousness of guilt.”
During his time on the stand last week, Loyd had been cross-examined by DeChaine extensively about an April 21 letter he admitted to writing to a female friend who has been visiting him in jail.
In that letter, Loyd told the woman to tell a number of witnesses in the case about the felony murder rule, and to explain to them if they showed up in court that he was going to go to prison for life.
“His last avenue was his attempt to suppress the evidence,” DeChaine said.
DeChaine told Lake County News after the morning session that Loyd's letter didn't succeed in dissuading any of the witnesses from coming to court.
He told the jury, “The evidence is overwhelming against this man,” and he urged them not to fall for a “smokescreen” the defense was offering regarding the murder charge.
“The overwhelming evidence in this case is that Danny Loyd did commit that murder,” DeChaine concluded.
Hedstrom ordered the jury to reconvene Thursday afternoon for jury instructions in order to hand the case over to them to begin deliberations.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE, Calif. – If Robert Irwin had his way, there would be roadside signs in and around Hidden Valley Lake that read “Don’t honk if you like sheep.”
Irwin, whose business is sheep, has discovered a great many Lake Countians appear not to appreciate his stock in trade, which – in the case of the Hidden Valley Lake Association – is bringing in sheep to graze on the weeds.
A third generation sheep man, Irwin was forced to move his more than 400 sheep from an area just north of Hidden Valley Lake to a more secluded place because of problems with motorists.
One of them is the honking of horns.
There are people, Irwin said, “who seem to think that it’s a lot of fun honking and startling the sheep. I don’t know why they’re honking their horns; I don’t know that many people.
“The people that I do know wouldn’t have honked like that.”
Irwin moved the sheep “because they finished the job in the Spruce Grove Road and Highway 29 parcel and went on to weed abate the Conestoga Trail, a 36-acre trail and park for our members,” said HVLA General Manager Cindy Spears.
“Unfortunately, some motorists thought it was a good idea, for whatever motivation, to honk their horns at grazing sheep,” she added. “As Irwin has mentioned, it’s never a good idea to startle livestock. Whether or not the honking precipitated some of the sheep to bolt through two fences is up for conjecture.
“We do know, however, that the sheep are doing a great job at the Conestoga Trail and the association is excited about the environmentally sound and ‘green’ solution to keeping HVLA a Firewise Community,” Spears said.
A more serious issue has been the death of Irwin’s sheep.
Three of his purebred Cordells were run over and killed by motorists on nearby Highway 29 before Irwin and his aides were able to round up the rest of them, as Lake County News has reported.
Irwin does not name the place where his sheep will be residing until July 1 when the contract he has with the HVLA administration is up. It may be presumed it is somewhere close to the Conestoga Trail.
The move to a new location for the sheep occurred after Irwin and HVLA leadership met at the Highway 29 site on Monday morning.
“They’re out of sight, out of mind right now and I’d like to keep it that way,” Irwin said of his sheep.
The sheep that were killed constitute only one of the problems associated with the first time the HVLA administration has used them to keep the weeds at a lower – and therefore less-combustible – height.
What has grown up around the death of the sheep is speculation such as that Lake County News received in a message from an area resident, who raised the issue of either poor fencing or wrong fencing to contain the sheep.
Irwin, however, says everything he uses is “top of the line” equipment.
“The corral comes from New Zealand and is used exclusively for sheep. It’s the best one on the market. We use it to load sheep and doctor sheep,” he said, adding that his fencing comes from the Midwest.
On May 22 there were only two sheep reportedly killed by motorists, but Irwin said a third dead sheep was later found in the high grass along Highway 29.
Irwin said the Lake County incident was the first he has encountered in which his animals were killed.
“I’ve grazed along Highway 20, the 101 freeway and in downtown Ukiah and Hopland and never had my sheep run over,” he added. “Four sheep got out on Saturday and a bunch of bicyclists passing by helped us get them into the corral.”
No sheep have been injured at the corral, but a worker, said Irwin, rolled his ankle.
The belief that an individual or individuals opened the corral to let the sheep out – leading to their deaths – persists, according to HVLA spokesman Jim Freeman.
Irwin’s contract at HVLA is short-term, extending only to July 1.
“I would like it to be long-term if we can iron out some of the wrinkles,” said Irwin. “We’re trying to do something a little different and any time you get an idea you’re going to learn what you weren’t prepared for, but I’m surprised when people are honking their horns over sheep eating grass in an open area.”
Email John Lindblom at
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – State Sen. Mike McGuire’s groundbreaking legislation creating an all-encompassing regulatory framework for the medical marijuana industry passed off the Senate floor Thursday morning with significant support.
“This critical legislation will finally provide Northern California and North Coast communities – along with medical marijuana cultivators – the regulations and resources they need to address the impacts of this multi-billion dollar industry,” McGuire (D-Healdsburg) said.
The majority of all marijuana grown in the United States comes from McGuire’s Northern California District, which includes Lake County.
Since the voters of California passed Prop 215 in 1996, Medical Marijuana cultivation and consumption has exploded, both here in the Golden State and around the country.
Aside from local zoning regulations, this legal, multibillion-dollar industry is virtually unregulated in the state of California.
For two decades now, the state has allowed this industry to grow – for the most part, unchecked – and communities, the environment and the public’s health has been severely damaged or is at serious risk, McGuire reported.
McGuire’s bill, SB 643 – the Medical Marijuana Public Safety and Environmental Protection Act – provides a regulatory framework for the industry covering the issues of environmental protection and water regulations, law enforcement, licensing, public health related to edibles and product testing, to marketing, labeling, taxing, transporting, zoning, local control and re-sale.
This bill is only focused on medical marijuana and does nothing to legalize the recreational use of marijuana.
“Voters passed Prop 215 nearly 20 years ago and the promised rules and regulations from the legislature were never implemented and our communities and environment are now paying the price. Our state’s forests are being sacrificed and rivers are literally running dry due to the state’s impotent approach to regulating marijuana. This is the year to take action and finally solve the problems that have been plaguing our communities for decades,” McGuire said.
Without regulation, illegal water diversions from rogue marijuana grows are devastating watersheds, and the added impact of the state’s historic drought means entire rivers and streams are being sucked dry.
Rogue operators have cut down thousands of acres of Northern California forests illegally without regard for the environment, neighboring communities, downstream farms, or endangered species.
In addition, tens of thousands of pounds of pesticides, rodenticides and fertilizers have been dumped into watersheds that flow through Northern California communities. Rogue marijuana grows are the number one source of sediment and nutrient load in Northern California rivers.
On the North Coast, many of the medical marijuana growers are managing small family farm operations and are eager to comply with potential new regulations. SB 643 would provide a legal framework for those farmers who are working with McGuire on this important legislation.
SB 643 would create a statewide comprehensive regulatory program for medical marijuana, preserving local control of licenses and applications, and protecting the environment from illegal trespass grows that dump pesticides and illegally divert millions of gallons of water from rivers and streams.
SB 643 already passed the Senate Business and Professions Committee and the Senate Governance and Finance Committee and will now move to the Assembly.
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The California Highway Patrol's Clear Lake Area office will offer its free “Start Smart” traffic safety class for newly licensed and teenage drivers and their parents/guardians in Middletown on Wednesday, June 24.
The class will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. at Middletown High School in room No. 7, located at 20932 Big Canyon Road.
The leading cause of death for Americans ages 15 to 20 is motor vehicle collisions, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The CHP's goal is to reduce the death rate among young drivers as the result of these collisions.
“The CHP is committed to mitigating traffic collisions involving young, inexperienced drivers, because they are preventable,” said Lt. Hector Paredes, commander of the Clear Lake Area office. “Start Smart is an excellent program that promotes safe driving for young new drivers.”
The Start Smart program is aimed at helping newly licensed and future licensed teenage drivers understand the critical responsibilities of driving and to understand that accidents happen, but collisions are 100 percent preventable.
The program is designed to provide an interactive safe driving awareness class which will illustrate how poor choices behind the wheel of a car can affect the lives of numerous people.
Start Smart also focuses on responsibilities of newly licensed drivers, responsibilities of parents/guardians and, collision avoidance techniques.
Space is limited for this class. For more information or reservations, call Officer Kory Reynolds at the CHP office, 707-279-0103.