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Decedents typically die owing a variety of unpaid debts. Probate acts as a legal clearinghouse for a decedent’s unsecured creditors to file claims demanding payment of a monetary liability, or debt, owed them by the decedent.
In California, creditor claims are required to be filed regardless of whether the liability was due, accrued, contingent, or reduced to a cash value when the decedent died (Probate Code section 9000).
Generally, most creditor claims must be filed in the probate court proceeding within one year of a decedent’s death (section 366.3 California Code of Civil Procedure). If necessary, a creditor may even commence a probate to file a timely creditor claim.
While the personal representative of a decedent’s estate is required to mail a notice of probate and creditor claim form to all reasonably ascertainable creditors, creditors should be vigilant.
Any creditor aware that a debtor has died should inquire with the superior court in the county where the decedent resided whether a probate was commenced.
Also, petitioner’s seeking to commence probate are required to publish a legal notice in a local newspaper of general circulation in the county to put potential creditors on notice.
Once a creditor knows that a probate has commenced the creditor should notify the decedent’s personal representative and request a notice of probate and creditor claim.
The personal representative has 30 days from knowing of a creditor to provide the creditor a notice and creditor claim form.
In California, creditors must use the Judicial Council form DE-172 creditor claim form. The completed claim must be filed with the court overseeing the probate proceeding and be mailed to the personal representative and his or her attorney. The filed claim must also be timely and complete.
Timely means that the claim is filed either within four months after probate commenced — i.e., issuance of letters — or within 60 days of when the notice of the probate was given to the creditor, whichever is later.
Creditor claims must be supported by a sworn statement of the creditor or his or her representative, e.g., debt collections company (Probate Code section 9151).
First, if the claim is due when filed then the statement must state that the amount is justly due, that no payments have been made that are not credited, and that there are no offsets.
Second, claims that are not yet due — i.e., unmatured or contingent claims (including pending lawsuits against the decedent’s estate) — must be supported by an affidavit showing the facts supporting the claim. Supporting documents can be provided.
The DE-172 has instructions. Creditors who complete their own creditor claim forms must do so carefully. An incomplete or inadequate creditor claim form invites rejection by the personal representative.
If a creditor claim is partially or entirely rejected, the rejection typically starts a ninety day period for the creditor to file a timely lawsuit to dispute the rejection.
Only demands for monetary compensation require a creditor’s claim. Thus, claims that do not demand money, such as a demand for specific property, do not require a creditor claim.
Also, secured creditors who claims are adequately secured by a lien do not need to file a creditor claim.
The foregoing discussion is not legal advice. Consult an attorney for guidance.
Dennis A. Fordham, attorney, is a State Bar-Certified Specialist in estate planning, probate and trust law. His office is at 870 S. Main St., Lakeport, California. He can be reached at
In the short time since NASA’s Perseverance rover landed in Mars’ Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021, it’s already made history.
At the moment, Mars and the Earth are on opposite sides of the Sun, and the two planets cannot communicate with each other. After working nonstop for the past 216 Martian days, the science teams are taking the first real break since the mission started.
We are two members of the Perseverance team, and with the rover hunkered down for the 20 days of conjunction, it is the perfect time to step back and reflect on the mission thus far.
Perseverance has tested out all of its engineering capabilities, driven 1.6 miles (2.6 kilometers) over rough terrain and taken tens of thousands of photos with its 19 cameras. Of all of these incredible successes, there are three major milestones that we’re particularly excited about: collecting the first rock core samples, flying the Ingenuity helicopter and publishing our first scientific results about the Jezero Crater delta.
Return shipping
One of Perseverance’s primary objectives is to use its sample caching system to extract small rock cores – roughly the size of dry-erase markers – and seal them in special sample tubes. A future mission will then pick them up and bring them on a long, interplanetary journey back to Earth.
For Perserverance’s first drilling attempt in August, our team picked a nice flat rock that was easy to access with the drill. After six days of assessing the bedrock – and finally drilling into it – we were thrilled to see a hole in the ground and get confirmation that the sample tube had sealed successfully. However, the next day the rover sent photos of the inside of the tube, and we saw it was actually empty. Some of Mars’ atmosphere is trapped inside and will be useful to study, but it’s not what the team was hoping for.
Ultimately, our team concluded that the rock itself was much softer than expected and it was completely pulverized during the act of drilling.
Three weeks and 1,800 feet (550 meters) later, we came across some promising-looking rocks protruding up above the red surface. This suggested that the rocks were harder and therefore easier to take a sample of. This time Perseverance successfully extracted and stored two core samples from the grayish, wind-polished rock. After collecting up to a few dozen more, it will drop the samples at a safe and easily accessible location on Mars’ surface. NASA’s Mars Sample Return mission, which is currently in development, will pick up the sample tubes in the late 2020s and bring them home.
But scientists don’t have to wait that long to learn about the rocks. At both sites, Perseverance used the SHERLOC and PIXL spectrometers on its arm to measure the composition of the rocks. We found crystalline minerals that suggest the rocks formed in a basaltic lava flow, as well as salt minerals that could be evidence of ancient groundwater.
First in flight
Perseverance may be a long way from Earth, but it has a sidekick. The Ingenuity helicopter detached from the rover shortly after they landed on Mars and became the first craft to fly in the atmosphere of another planet.
Ingenuity is solar powered, weighs 4 pounds (1.8 kg), and its main body is roughly the size of a grapefruit. On April 19, 2021, the helicopter took its first flight, hovering 10 feet (3 meters) above the ground for 39 seconds before coming straight down. This short hop showed that its long blades could generate enough lift to allow flight in Mars’ thin air.
The next flights tested the helicopter’s ability to move horizontally, and it covered longer distances each time, traveling as much as 2,050 feet (625 meters) in its farthest trip to date.
Ingenuity has now flown 13 times and has captured detailed photos of the ground to scout out the rough terrain ahead of Perseverance. These images are helping the team decide how to navigate around obstacles on the way toward the rover’s eventual destination, a large delta in Jezero Crater.
Zooming into the Jezero delta
NASA selected Jezero Crater as Perseverance’s landing site specifically because it gives the rover access to a large stack of rocks that sits at the end of a dry river valley. Based on satellite images, scientists think that these rocks are made of sediment deposited by an ancient river that flowed into a lake roughly 3.5 billion years ago. If true, this location could have been an excellent environment for life.
However, the resolution of the satellite data isn’t high enough to say for sure whether the sediments were deposited slowly into a long-lived lake or whether the structure formed under drier conditions. The only way to know with certainty was to take images from the surface of Mars.
Perseverance landed over a mile (roughly 2 kilometers) away from the cliffs at the front of the delta. We are both on the team in charge of the Mastcam-Z instrument, a set of cameras with zoom lenses that would allow us to see a paper clip from the opposite side of a football field. During the first few weeks of the mission, we used Mastcam–Z to survey the distant rocks. From those panoramic views, we selected specific spots to look at in more detail with the rover’s SuperCam, a telescopic camera.
When the images got back to Earth, we saw tilted layers of sediments in the lower parts of the 260-foot-tall (80 meters) cliffs. Toward the top we spotted boulders, some as large as 5 feet (1.5 meters) across.
From the structure of these formations, our team has been able to reconstruct a geological story billions of years old, which we published in the journal Science on Oct. 7, 2021.
For a long time – potentially millions of years – a river flowed into a lake that filled Jezero Crater. This river slowly deposited the tilted layers of sediment we see in the cliffs of the delta. Later on, the river became mostly dry except for a few big flooding events. These events had enough energy to carry big rocks down the river channel and deposit them on top of the older sediment; these are the boulders we see atop the cliffs now.
Since then, the climate has been arid and winds have slowly been eroding away the rock.
Confirming that there was a lake in Jezero Crater is the first major science result of the mission. In the coming year, Perseverance will drive up to the top of the delta, studying the rock layers in microscopic detail along the way and collecting many samples. When those samples eventually make their way to Earth, we will learn if they contain signs of microbial life that may once have thrived in this ancient lake on Mars.
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Melissa Rice, Associate Professor of Planetary Science, Western Washington University and Briony Horgan, Associate Professor of Planetary Science, Purdue University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
In a statement released by the county on Thursday night, Board Chair Bruno Sabatier said the supervisors accepted the resignation of Denise Pomeroy — whose department has played a key role in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and health emergency — earlier that day.
“Out of respect and appreciation for her service to Lake County residents and the Health Services Department for many years, we will not publicly announce the reasons that prompted this leadership change; it is a confidential personnel matter,” Sabatier said.
In May 2016, the board initially appointed Pomeroy — then the Health Services fiscal officer — as the department’s interim director. The board followed up in November 2016 by voting unanimously to officially make her Health Services director.
As Health Services director, Pomeroy had overseen not just the Public Health branch but also Environmental Health, which handles a wide range of services involving food safety, home kitchen operations, temporary food events, and a land program that covers services for wastewater treatment and disposal systems and water wells.
Sabatier said the County Administrative Office’s Human Resources Division has already begun efforts to recruit the county’s next Health Services director, “and we are poised to move efficiently through the process. It is important to not only attract quality applicants, but fill the position with a long-term director.”
By Thursday night, the Health Services director job had already been posted on the county’s website under “Job opportunities.” The closing date for applications is Oct. 20.
The Health Services director position’s pay range is $10,469 to $12,724 monthly, a five-step pay range the Board of Supervisors increased in late September when it voted to update all county job classifications and implement millions of dollars in raises for the second year in a row.
While the recruitment is taking place, Sabatier said County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson will also serve as interim Health Services director.
He said Huchingson has been involved with and led Public Health-focused efforts as incident commander for the COVID-19 health emergency.
“CAO Huchingson looks forward to collaborating with the many members of the Health Services team to ensure the continuity of each area of the scope of this key county department,” Sabatier said.
The board has previously placed Huchingson in other interim department head positions, including for Community Development and the Registrar of Voters Office.
Termination action scheduled during evaluations
The events leading up to the board’s decision to terminate Pomeroy — which led to Pomeroy’s resignation — appeared to have coalesced quickly early this week.
On Tuesday, at the start of its regular meeting, the board added an extra item for a closed session evaluation of the Health Services director at the request of Huchingson, who said the necessity of it had arisen since the agenda was posted, which was on Friday.
Other extra items also added to the board agenda that day at Huchingson’s request included reestablishment of the deputy Health Services director as a county classification, consideration of the appointment of Jennifer Baker to interim Deputy Health Services director effective Tuesday and consideration of appointing Huchingson as the interim Health Services director.
Baker formerly served as staff services analyst in the Health Services Administration and had most recently been serving as risk coordinator in the County Counsel’s Office.
However, those items were not added at the start of the meeting when the other extras were approved.
In reviewing the available meeting video, it is not clear if the extra items regarding Baker’s appointment or making Huchingson interim Health Services director were actually announced during the public session.
The board sat in open session for several hours before going into the closed session shortly before 1 p.m. to discuss Pomeroy’s evaluation. When the board reconvened in public at 2:15 p.m., no announcement of action was made and the rest of the existing agenda items were discussed.
The board finished its public discussion items and went back into closed session to continue to discuss Pomeroy’s evaluation as well as that of the Community Development Department director.
No report on a closed session action was made following the Tuesday meeting, as has become the recent practice by the County Administrative Office.
In September, the board had scheduled a special meeting for Thursday afternoon as part of a new process for conducting employee evaluations of department heads in the fall, ahead of beginning the budget process early next year.
When the county released the special meeting agenda on Wednesday morning, it included closed session evaluations for the directors of air quality control, information technology, animal control and the county administrative officer.
Less than an hour after that agenda was released, an addendum was issued titled “Employee Evaluation/Termination: Title: Director: Health Services Director.” That item also was to be conducted behind closed doors.
Late on Thursday afternoon, Johanna DeLong, assistant clerk of the Board of Supervisors, issued to Lake County News a report about the closed session during the special meeting.
“The Health Services Director has tendered her resignation. Therefore, previous action to terminate is rescinded, and her resignation is accepted,” DeLong reported in an email.
She said Supervisor EJ Crandell moved to approve Pomeroy’s resignation, which was seconded by Supervisor Jessica Pyska and approved in a 5-0 vote.
Challenges and staff changes
During Pomeroy’s tenure, the county has struggled to keep a Public Health officer, a position the state requires counties to have in order to enforce local health orders and ordinances, and state public health regulations and statutes.
Since 2017, there have been three, including Dr. Gary Pace, who also has done several stints as an interim Public Health office for the county. Recently, the county also has had Dr. Evan Bloom and Dr. Charlie Evans assist with temporarily filling that job.
In February of this year, during a board discussion about recruiting a new Public Health officer after Pace announced he was stepping down from the full-time position, Pomeroy said she had been on leave for a few months before returning to work on a part-time basis.
Sabatier said Thursday that county leaders are grateful that Pace has remained Lake County’s Public Health officer of record, despite having left the job on a full-time basis in the spring in order to return to private practice. Pace continues to serve as interim Health Officer under contract.
“Dr. Pace’s insight and leadership throughout the pandemic have been invaluable, and he will remain a key figure in ensuring the Health Services Department’s efforts are effectively oriented, moving forward,” Sabatier said.
Sabatier said Eileen VanCleave recently was appointed director of nursing “and has brought a tremendous skill set and quality leadership,” while Jennifer Baker has stepped up and is serving as interim Deputy Health Services director.
“These latest additions and changes will ensure our Health Services Department remains focused on the ongoing pandemic and the health of our community through its various programs,” Sabatier said.
He added, “The past 19 months have demonstrated the resilience and many great strengths of our tireless Public Health staff. We truly appreciate and value the sacrifices they have made to keep Lake County residents safe.”
Email Elizabeth Larson at
Dr. Charlie Evans, who has been assisting with Public Health officer duties, told the board that the picture in Lake County in recent weeks is looking better, important news after a late summer and early fall that witnessed climbing case rates and deaths.
August and September, with 16 and 13 deaths, respectively, were the months with the second- and third-highest numbers of COVID-19 deaths in Lake County since the start of the pandemic, Lake County Public Health reported in response to an information request from Lake County News. Public Health said that due to the lag in reporting COVID-19-related deaths, September’s numbers may change.
January had the most deaths, 19, with Lake County’s total deaths at 97, Public Health reported.
Public Health said that 35.1% of Lake County’s 97 total COVID-related deaths have occurred since July 1.
“We have seen a constant but steady decline in our numbers of new COVID-19 infections,” Evans said in a video update presented to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. Evans called that decline “very encouraging.”
He said the virus appears to run in cycles, and that Lake County’s declining number of cases is consistent with what other counties, states and countries are seeing.
Those cycles tend to be every two to three months. “It’s poorly understood why it runs this way,” said Evans.
Just as fast as the infections go up, after 8 to 12 weeks the infection rate starts to go down. “We have seen this phenomenon across the world,” Evans said.
He said the first time that cycle was seen was in India. “Unfortunately, in India and in many other places across the world, when we saw the decline, the decline didn’t come down to the same low baseline from which it started.”
In May, Lake County saw its lowest case rate, at three per 100,000. As of Tuesday, it was at 38 per 100,000. Evans said Lake County peaked at about 70 per 100,000 in early August.
While the current numbers are better, Evans said the case rate is still dangerously high with a lot of the virus circulating in the community.
He said those numbers need to continue to decline as the winter and the holidays approach, when more community transmission is likely with people moving indoors and temperatures dropping.
That’s what’s happening in Alaska, where Evans said the infection rate is 150 per 100,000.
Evans said current statistics have shown that many of the 100,000 people across the country who have died since July 1 were much younger than those who died at the beginning of the pandemic.
“The process of dying from COVID-19 is a horrible experience,” said Evans, noting the isolation and aloneness for the patients and their families. It’s something he said he sees every day in his work as an emergency room physician in Sonoma County.
Evans maintained that vaccinations are the ticket to getting out of the pandemic.
Between Sept. 1 and 25, 2,700 vaccinations were given in Lake County. At a rate of more than 100 shots a day, it was an increased rate of vaccination over August, said Evans.
As of this week, 61% of Lake County residents are fully vaccinated, compared to 70% statewide, based on Lake County Public Health numbers.
Statewide, those who are eligible but haven’t been vaccinated total 22% of the population; in Lake County, it’s 32%, Evans said. “We are doing better and we still have opportunities.”
He also updated the board on the outbreak in the Lake County Jail, where the peak was 83 cases — 11 staff and 72 inmates. As of this week, there was just one active case in a staffer.
Evans said hospitals are still struggling with staffing. As of Tuesday, there were three ICU beds available in Lake and Mendocino counties combined. Sonoma County has similar challenges.
As an ER physician, Evans said he constantly struggles to get placements, sometimes waiting 24 hours to transfer someone as far as 200 to 300 miles away. “We’re still struggling with bed availability.”
On Saturday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a mandate for all students in schools to be vaccinated against COVID-19, which Evans said follows mandates for measles, mumps, polio, rubella, diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus vaccinations.
California is the first state to mandate the vaccine for COVID-19. “It’s likely that other states will follow suit in the coming weeks,” Evans said.
He expects the school mandate to be in effect as early as January.
Evans said there have been numerous COVID-19 infections in Lake County’s schools, but no schools have had to be closed. Statewide, 12 schools have been closed because of outbreaks and the virus has closed 2,000 schools nationwide. Evans credited the masking mandate and the state’s higher vaccination rates with so few schools closing.
He said California also has a modified quarantine protocol for keeping children in school. When an unvaccinated student is exposed to an active case, they can still come to school if they are asymptomatic, they are tested twice weekly, wear the proper mask and continue to be quarantined from all extracurricular activities. That seems to be working in Lake County.
“As we muddle our way through this pandemic, the one item we can count on, I think, is change. Everything changes with new data. We don’t know where we’re going exactly or how we’re going to get to the end of this,” Evans said.
The information available currently helps to reduce and manage risk, with Evans anticipating another surge in the winter months. That’s why he said it’s all the more important for people to be vaccinated.
The delta virus is out there and active in the community, and Evans said it will find and infect the unvaccinated. It makes people sick, some critically so, and some will die.
At the same time as he urged people to get the COVID-19 vaccine, Evans also urged them to get their flu shot, which is now being rolled out for the coming flu season.
Information on vaccination availability and clinics in Lake County is available here.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
During the hourlong meeting, the council hosted a swearing-in and awards ceremony for new and promoted Clearlake Police officers, and presented proclamations declaring October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The meeting included a brief update by staff regarding progress on the Cache fire recovery process.
The fire began Aug. 18 in the city limits, burning more than 80 acres and destroying 138 structures — 57 of them homes.
City Manager Alan Flora said a few weeks ago staff met with representatives of the state Office of Emergency Services, the State Water Board, California Department of Water Resource, California Conservation Corps and Lake County Water Resources due to concerns about stormwater mitigation measures that had been put into place in the fire area.
He said the city, state and county representatives walked the entire fire site, determined a number of solutions and those additional improvements have all been installed.
He said state Sen. Mike McGuire toured the site with the city last Friday and talked about issues like water supply.
Finance Director Kelcey Young said staff has been working on getting right of entry forms from property owners in order for the debris removal process to move forward.
She said the city — along with the state Office of Emergency Services and North Coast Opportunities — held a workshop on Monday on the cleanup process, with about 15 households attending.
In addition, the city has received 41 rights of entry, “which is excellent,” Young said.
There are still four property owners the city is trying to contact via phone and email, Young said. Later in the discussion, Councilman Russ Cremer said he had a list of property owners he’s compiled as part of his efforts to raise recovery funds and he offered to share that list with Young.
Young said property owners who want to have debris removed should contact the city. Information is available on the city’s Cache fire resources page.
The city submitted the 41 complete right of entry forms to Cal OES on Thursday, Young said.
She explained that those without insurance are still eligible to have debris from their homes and properties removed.
Cal OES is in the process of selecting the contractor who will conduct the debris removal, with Young estimating that the removal process could begin in early November.
Flora said Cal OES has done a great job, largely with the influence of Sen. McGuire. He also recognized City Clerk/Administrative Services Director Melissa Swanson for her efforts in getting the rights of entry forms processed.
He said that because of the anticipated impact on rainfall into the Cache Creek watershed — and with the amount of burned vehicles in the fire area — there is an effort to prioritize the Cache fire cleanup ahead of other larger fires in the state.
Councilman Russ Perdock asked staff if the city has heard anything from its members of Congress about possible federal help.
Flora said a federal declaration for the state’s wildfires has already happened and it’s unclear what disasters are included.
While the Cache fire is not mentioned in that declaration, Flora said they’ve gotten some indication from the state that it may be rolled into that larger federal declaration.
Also on Thursday, the council voted unanimously to purchase a 5,000-square-foot vacant lot at 6388 Vallejo Ave. to be used as part of the future development of the retail center at the former Pearce Field.
The lot is currently surrounded by city-owned property, Flora said. It’s also in proximity to property the city has agreed to sell for a hotel development.
The property’s current owners, who inherited it from their parents, offered it to the city. Flora said the city agreed to purchase it for $15,000, and to cover the $5,000 closing costs.
Cremer moved to approve the purchase, Perdock seconded and the council voted 5-0.
In other business, the council voted unanimously to authorize the implementation and use of teleconference accessibility to conduct public meetings pursuant to Assembly Bill 361.
Swanson said the bill allows the city to continue to hold meetings remotely through the end of 2023 as long as it makes at least one of three findings, including:
— state or local officials have imposed or recommended measures to promote social distancing;
— the legislative body is holding a meeting for the purpose of determining whether as a result of the emergency, meeting in person would present imminent risks to the health or safety of attendees;
— and by majority vote, the legislative body determined that as a result of the emergency, meeting in person would present imminent risks to the health or safety of attendees.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
The City of Clearlake Animal Association also is seeking fosters for the animals waiting to be adopted.
Another way to help is through donations. A wish list has been posted at Amazon and on Chewy. For those who wish to shop local and drop off items, call 707-273-9440 to schedule a delivery or donate at the association’s Facebook page.
Call the Clearlake Animal Control shelter at 707-273-9440, or email
Visit Clearlake Animal Control on Facebook or on the city’s website.
‘Andy’
“Andy” is a male pit bull terrier mix with a short gray and white coat.
He is dog No. 5150.
‘Bear’
“Bear” is a male American Staffordshire terrier mix with a short brown coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 3476.
‘Bella’
“Bella” is a female pit bull mix with a short brindle coat.
She is dog No. 5080.
‘Blue Eyed Jack’
“Blue Eyed Jack” is a male German shepherd mix.
He is dog No. 5046.
‘Edgar’
“Edgar” is a male American Staffordshire terrier mix with a short black and cream coat.
He is dog No. 5189.
‘Mara’
“Mara” is a female Rottweiler mix.
She has a short black and tan coat.
He is house-trained.
She is dog No. 4628.
‘Mitzy’
“Mitzy” is a female shepherd mix with a medium-length black and white coat.
She is dog No. 4648.
‘Sassy’
“Sassy” is a female American bully mix with a short black coat.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 4602.
‘Tanisha’
“Tanisha” is a female shepherd mix with a short orange and white coat.
She is dog No. 4647.
‘Terry’
“Terry” is a male Dutch shepherd mix with a smooth brindle coat.
He is dog No. 4880.
Email Elizabeth Larson at