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Most people who have heard about special needs trusts are familiar only about the Testamentary Special Needs Trust.
Testamentary trusts are established at the death of the person establishing the trust pursuant to his trust or will.
Stand-alone Special Needs Trusts, however, are established while the benefactor is alive. Let us compare these two trusts.
First, the Stand-alone SNT can receive assets from multiple persons wishing to provide for the well-being of the person with special needs.
This can be a real cost saving to the family and encourage giving by persons who might otherwise be discouraged by the cost of establishing a special needs trust. That is, only one special needs trust would be established to allow multiple benefactors to make bequests into the same special needs trust.
Second, when the benefactor dies, or perhaps becomes disabled, the assets inside Stand-alone SNT remain immediately accessible to assist the person with special needs from the date the trust is established.
The Testamentary SNTs are not immediately accessible until the share belonging to the special needs trust is transferred into the special needs trust. That delay can be avoided by having assets inside a Stand-alone SNT that are always accessible to the trustee of the special needs trust
Third, the Stand-alone SNT is a single purpose trust. A Testamentary SNT, on the other hand, is a subtrust created within the scope of the broader revocable living trust document.
Accordingly, the Stand-alone Trust has more provisions specifically relevant to special needs trust.
The most important provisions typically pertain to the oversight and replacement of the trustee (usually by a trusted family member), the distributions at the death of the special needs beneficiary, and the amendment of the special needs trust if necessary to conform to new laws affecting special needs benefits.
Fourth, the assets transferred into the standalone trust are not answerable to the creditors of the estate of the deceased benefactor.
Provided that the benefactor transferred assets into the Stand-alone SNT at a time when he or she was solvent, those transferred assets are removed from the benefactor’s estate.
They are not subsequently answerable to the benefactor’s own creditors, whereas the assets within the benefactor’s living trust, on the other hand, are answerable for the debts of the deceased benefactor.
If these assets are the assets with which the benefactor intended to fund the Testamentary SNT, then what is actually transferred into the special needs trust may be less than intended (after the creditors are paid).
Finally, establishing the Stand-alone SNT and administering it while the benefactor is still alive, allows an opportunity to become familiar with the rules related to administering such a trust.
That way, if experience shows that any adjustments are needed they can be made under the supervision of the benefactor who may be the initial trustee or the trust protector (i.e., person who can replace the trustee).
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 55 First St., Lakeport, California. Dennis can be reached by e-mail at
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A search effort was under way Thursday night in the Cow Mountain area, where officials were attempting to locate a lost man.
Lake County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue teams, along with K-Corps and CalStar 4, were working into the early morning hours attempting to find the man, according to radio reports.
Based on latitude and longitude coordinates CalStar gave, it located the man in an area near the Whitethorn trail off of Trail No. 15 in the wilderness area, on an eastern facing slope one ridge over from the Cow Mountain repeater site, according to radio reports.
The area was estimated to be about two miles by ground from the Mendocino County side of the wilderness area, based on reports from the scene.
However, CalStar’s pilot said there was no place to land safely due to vegetation and terrain, so he gave latitude and longitude coordinates to help the teams locate the man.
With CalStar 4 running low on fuel, it had to leave shortly after 10:30 p.m.
Shortly after 11:30 p.m., the missing man – who was calling 911 on a cell phone with a low battery – reportedly told a dispatcher that he was shaking, couldn’t stand and was out of water after drinking the one bottle of water he had with him some time before.
Search teams were moving into the area on foot and four-wheel motorcycles early Friday morning.
Additional details about the search and the missing man were not immediately available.
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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A Redding man wanted for a parole violation in Mendocino County was arrested in Clearlake early Thursday on a number of charges including possession of stolen, vandalism and alcohol-related charges.
Clearlake Police Sgt. Rodd Joseph said Anthony Shane Wilburn, 26, was taken into custody in the case.
Joseph said a Clearlake Police officer was dispatched to a report of a man on a bicycle prowling parked vehicles at Winding Road Motors at 14952 Lakeshore Drive at about 4:30 a.m. Thursday.
When the officer arrived at the scene he noticed that one of the parked vehicles at the dealership had a shattered window, Joseph said.
While the officer was investigating the parked vehicle, he overhead yelling coming from Flyers, located at 15010 Lakeshore Drive, according to Joseph.
He said the officer drove to Flyers and learned that a subject on a bicycle had just stolen merchandise and food and fled from the store. The suspect was last seen heading behind the business toward W. 40th Avenue.
The officer found the suspect – later identified as Wilburn – behind Flyers, pushing a bicycle and holding a large quantity of food and merchandise, Joseph said.
When Wilburn saw the officer approaching, he dumped his load of merchandise, got on his bike and fled, according to Joseph’s report.
Joseph said the officer managed to catch up with Wilburn and, using his patrol vehicle, stopped Wilburn and arrested him.
After taking Wilburn into custody, the officer found out Wilburn was a wanted parolee out of Mendocino County, Joseph said.
Evidence found at the parked vehicle with the broken window allegedly linked Wilburn to the vandalism, and the property and food that Wilburn dumped was determined to have been stolen from Flyers, Joseph said.
In addition, Wilburn was alleged to be intoxicated and uncooperative with police, according to Joseph.
He said Wilburn was charged with a parole violation, public intoxication, resisting arrest, vandalism, riding a bicycle under the influence of alcohol and possession of stolen property. Wilburn was booked into the Lake County Jail, where he remains in custody on a no-bail hold.
Anyone with information regarding this incident or other crimes in the city of Clearlake is asked to call the Clearlake Police Department at 707-994-8251. Callers may remain anonymous.
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The California Department of Water Resources will conduct this winter’s third snow survey on Tuesday, Feb. 28.
The agency said it's expected that manual measurements of snowpack water content will corroborate the low electronic readings from remote sensors up and down the state’s mountain ranges.
Electronic readings today indicate that statewide, water content in the snowpack is only 30 percent of normal for the date, and 25 percent of the average April 1 measurement when the snowpack is normally at its peak before the spring melt.
Surveyors from DWR and cooperating agencies will fan out to numerous sites for the third of five manual snow surveys made each winter to forecast the amount of frozen water that will trickle into streams, reservoirs and aquifers when the snow melts this spring and early summer.
Persistent dry weather this winter caused DWR on Wednesday to reduce its estimate of the amount of water the State Water Project will deliver this calendar year.
The reduction was from 60 percent to 50 percent of the slightly more than four million acre-feet requested by the 29 public agencies that distribute water to more than 25 million Californians and nearly a million acres of irrigated farmland, the agency reported. An acre-foot is 325,851 gallons, enough to cover one acre to a depth of one foot.
The 50 percent allocation is not severely low, and could be increased if stronger hydrologic conditions develop, according to DWR. Last year, an unusually wet year, the final allocation was 80 percent of the slightly more than 4 million acre-feet requested.
The final allocation was 50 percent in 2010, 40 percent in 2009, 35 percent in 2008, and 60 percent in 2007. DWR said the last 100 percent allocation – difficult to achieve even in wet years because of fishery agency restrictions on Delta pumping to protect threatened and endangered fish – was in 2006.
This winter’s unusually dry conditions to date have principally been caused by a high pressure ridge along California’s coast that has diverted most storms to the north.
One bright spot this year is the state’s good reservoir storage, due to conserved runoff from last winter’s storms.
Lake Oroville in Butte County, the State Water Project’s principal storage reservoir, is at 102 percent of average for the date (72 percent of its 3.5 million acre-foot capacity), Lake Shasta north of Redding, the federal Central Valley Project’s largest reservoir with a capacity of 4.5 million acre-feet, is at 95 percent of its normal storage level for the date (69 percent of capacity).
San Luis Reservoir in Merced County, an important storage reservoir south of the Delta, is at 104 percent of average for the date (89 percent of its capacity of 2,027,840 acre-feet).
San Luis is a critically important source of water for both the State Water Project and Central Valley Project when pumping from the Delta is restricted or interrupted.
Statewide, reservoir storage is 110 percent of normal for the date.
Electronic snowpack readings are available on the Internet at: http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/snow/DLYSWEQ.
Electronic reservoir level readings may be found at: http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/resapp/getResGraphsMain.action.
See DWR’s new Water Conditions page at http://www.water.ca.gov/waterconditions/.
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MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – A Middletown woman sustained major injuries and had to be flown to a trauma center following a Wednesday evening crash.
Wendy Lynn Cordar, 43, was hurt in the incident, which occurred at 4:50 p.m. on Highway 175 at Santa Rosa Avenue, according to a report from the California Highway Patrol.
The CHP said Cordar was driving westbound on Highway 175 west of Middletown in a 1990 Ford Ranger. At Santa Rosa Avenue her pickup went off the north shoulder and hit a utility pole and an oak tree head-on.
Reports from the scene indicated that Cordar was trapped in the vehicle and had to be extricated by firefighters.
The AT&T utility pole snapped as a result of the crash, according to reports.
An air ambulance transported Cordar to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, where she was treated for major injuries, the CHP reported.
The CHP report said Cordar was wearing her seatbelt at the time of the crash, and alcohol does not appear to be a factor.
The crash remains under investigation, the CHP said.
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UPPER LAKE, Calif. – Two Lucerne men were arrested Tuesday for allegedly burglarizing an Upper Lake home.
Royce Edward Katzer, 43, and 27-year-old Dominic Dennis Lucero were arrested in the case, according to Capt. Chris Macedo of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
At approximately 5:43 p.m. Tuesday, the homeowner arrived home to find an unknown man leaving his home carrying items from the home. Macedo reported that the homeowner went to a nearby home and called the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
When sheriff’s deputies arrived, they contacted Lucero, who stated that he was helping his father, Royce Katzer, clean up the property, Macedo said.
Lucero also stated that Katzer made arrangements with the homeowner to clean the property as it was allegedly in foreclosure, according to Macedo's report.
Katzer returned to the home some time later and told deputies that he had received permission from the homeowner’s son to remove items from the residence, Macedo said.
The property owner was on scene and denied that permission was given. Macedo reported that the homeowner ultimately placed Katzer and Lucero under arrest for burglary.
Sheriff’s deputies transported Lucero and Katzer to the Hill Road Jail to be booked. Jail records showed Lucerne was booked for felony burglary, while Katzer was booked for felony burglary and petty theft.
Katzer and Lucero remained in custody on Wednesday with bail for each set at $50,000, according to jail records.
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