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- Written by: DENNIS FORDHAM
For many, a manufactured/mobile home is home. What happens when a California resident dies owning a manufactured or mobile home situated in California?
If the manufactured or mobile home is situated on a permanent foundation and a form 433A filed with the county recorder then the manufactured or mobile home and the land are real property. It is administered like any other real property asset owned by a decedent.
That is, how the real property is titled, the appraised gross value of the decedent’s estate, the decedent’s will or trust, if any, whether there is a surviving spouse/registered domestic partner, are each considered, when relevant, to determine who inherits the real property and whether a probate, or other approach, is required.
However, if the manufactured or mobile home is not on a permanent foundation, it is not part of the land and is personal property.
In California, manufactured homes and mobile homes are generally titled and registered with the California Department of Housing Community Development, or HCD.
Some smaller units are titled with the California Department of Motor Vehicles. Like real property, manufactured or mobile homes can be titled individually, jointly or in trust. Again, title plays an important part in who inherits and how they inherit.
Importantly, California law excludes the gross value of a manufactured or mobile home from the gross value of the decedent’s probate estate to determine whether a probate is required.
If the total value of the decedent’s real and personal property located in California is below the current $184,500 probate threshold then no probate administration is required for a “small estate.”
Sometimes the decedent’s primary assets are the decedent’s manufactured or mobile home and its lot, unless the manufactured home is on rented land, e.g., a mobile home park where rent is paid.
Moreover, with small estates, if the appraised gross value of all the decedent’s real property holdings in California is under $55,425 (for decedent’s dying after April 1, 2022) then the decedent can record an affidavit re real property of small value and death certificate with the county recorder to change title to the lot.
Otherwise, a “petition to determine succession to real and personal property” in a small estate can be used to change title to the lot and any other real property owned by the decedent with a small estate.
With respect to the manufactured / mobile home, the decedent’s beneficiaries/heirs often sell the manufactured home and the lot to the same buyer in a single sale. If so, the decedent’s beneficiaries/heirs will only have to retitle the real property into their name (often by way of the affidavit approach) before they can sell it.
The beneficiaries/heirs can give the title company handling the sale an affidavit of small estate to claim the net proceeds in escrow with the title company attributable to the sale of the manufactured or mobile home, without the names of the beneficiaries or heirs ever appearing on title with HCD.
This approach saves the beneficiaries/heirs the expense, time and aggravation associated with retitling of manufactured/mobile homes with HCD.
Anyone owning a manufactured or mobile home that is not on a permanent foundation should keep its original certificate of title and registration in a safe location known and available to their beneficiaries/heirs.
This saves retitling fees when the manufactured home is retitled into the name of a buyer or into the name of a beneficiary / heir who keeps the asset.
Typically, a California resident who owns a manufactured or mobile home titled with HCD has a small estate and so can rely on a will for estate planning. Bank and brokerage accounts can be removed from any probate estate by titling them as pay on death and transfer on death accounts, as relevant.
Doing so is often sufficient to ensure a small estate for someone who owns a manufactured or mobile home and its lot, and no other real property.
The foregoing is not legal advice. Anyone confronting the issues discussed above should 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, Calif. He can be reached at
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- Written by: NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
In a tale of cosmic proportions, the region is being transformed by the massive stars that live and die within it.
A new image combining previously released data from three telescopes shows a region that includes the Orion Nebula, named after the mighty hunter from Greek mythology who was felled by a scorpion’s sting. But the story of how this dusty region came to be is just as dramatic.
The Orion Nebula is located in the constellation Orion, which takes the appearance of a hunter raising a club and shield at an unseen target.
Three stars in a line are together known as Orion’s belt; the region shown in the image aligns with another series of stars perpendicular to the belt, known as Orion’s sword. If you could see it in the sky, the region would appear about the size of the full moon.
Two enormous caverns that dominate the cloud were carved out by giant stars (unseen in this image) that can release up to a million times more light than our Sun.
All that radiation breaks apart dust grains there, helping to create the pair of cavities. Much of the remaining dust is swept away by winds from stars or when the stars die explosive deaths as supernovae.
The blue light in these areas indicates warm dust. Observed in infrared light – a range of wavelengths outside what human eyes can detect – the views were provided by NASA’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope and the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, which now operates under the moniker NEOWISE. Spitzer and WISE were both managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
Around the edge of the two cavernous regions, the dust that appears green is slightly cooler. Red indicates cold dust that reaches temperatures of about minus 440 Fahrenheit (minus 260 Celsius).
The red and green light shows data from the now-retired Herschel Space Telescope, a European Space Agency observatory that captured wavelengths of light in the far-infrared and microwave ranges, where cold dust radiates.
Herschel’s large mirror provided high-resolution views of these clouds, which are full of contours, nooks, and crannies. The cold dust appears mostly on the outskirts of the dust cloud, away from the regions where stars form.
In between the two hollow regions are orange filaments where dust condenses and forms new stars. Over time, these filaments may produce new giant stars that will once again reshape the region.
JPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, managed Spitzer mission operations for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington until the spacecraft was retired in 2020. Science operations were conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at IPAC at Caltech. Spacecraft operations were based at Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado. The Spitzer data archive is housed at the Infrared Science Archive at IPAC at Caltech.
More information about NASA’s Spitzer mission is here.
Launched in 2009, the WISE spacecraft was placed into hibernation in 2011 after completing its primary mission.
In September 2013, NASA reactivated the spacecraft with the primary goal of scanning for near-Earth objects, or NEOs, and the mission and spacecraft were renamed NEOWISE.
The mission was selected competitively under NASA’s Explorers Program managed by the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. NEOWISE is a project of JPL and the University of Arizona and is supported by NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office.
More information about WISE can be found here.
NASA’s Herschel Project Office was based at JPL. The NASA Herschel Science Center was based at IPAC.
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- Written by: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Tanker trucks transporting milk from the Steve Wills facility near Fortuna were involved in three separate driving incidents, all of which resulted in discharges of raw milk into waterways.
One of the three incidents resulted in the death of a driver.
“Improper transport of goods can negatively impact waterways and compromise the safety of workers,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman. “When companies fail to manage substances that have the potential to impact waterways the local community, environment, and worker safety is put in danger.”
On Jan. 19, 2020, a tanker truck carrying raw milk on Highway 20 near Glenhaven overturned down an embankment and released raw milk into Clear Lake.
On April 12, 2020, a second incident took place when a truck on Highway 20 near Clearlake Oaks overturned down an embankment and released raw milk into Clear Lake.
Finally, on Dec. 11, 2021, a truck on Highway 20 east of Lance Road in Lake County overturned down an embankment into Grizzly Creek, a tributary of Cache Creek.
Drivers were cited for the Jan. 19 and April 12, 2020, incidents. The third incident is still pending the results of an ongoing investigation.
Steve Wills Trucking and Logging agreed to a penalty in the amount of $71,967 to resolve claims that the company discharged to Waters of the United States without a permit, which is a violation of the Clean Water Act.
U.S. law requires the safe management of materials to protect public health, the environment, and limit the need for costly and extensive cleanups.
It is unlawful to discharge pollutants into Waters of the United States, except as authorized by a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit issued under the Clean Water Act.
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- Written by: LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS
Jonathan Portney said iIncreases in the activity of respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, along with influenza, the common cold, and of SARS-CoV-2, have the potential to inhibit access to healthcare locally.
“Of particular concern is how coinciding waves of these illnesses may prevent vulnerable young children and elderly members of our community from receiving care,” Portney said. “At this time, it is advised that healthcare facilities consider expanding their capacity to evaluate and treat pediatric patients in order to manage an increase in patient volume.”
Portney said health care facilities in neighboring Sonoma County report experiencing more than three times the amount of RSV during the latter half of October than was experienced during the same period last year. This early wave has led to increased hospitalizations among children and has contributed to stresses in the pediatric health care system.
Because there is no requirement that hospitals report cases of RSV, the number of cases Lake County is experiencing cannot be estimated. Typically, respiratory illnesses are most common between fall and spring, peaking in late December, Portney said.
“The current risks stand in contrast to the lower activity of these viruses seen during the past couple of years when various mitigation measures for SARS-CoV2 were suppressing transmission,” Portney said.
He said that statewide levels of RSV currently are similar to seasonal peaks witnessed in prior years as many children are being exposed to other respiratory viruses for the first time. Most children experience a mild version of RSV before the age of 2 years. The virus typically leads to a cold, but in children younger than 1 year, RSV is the most common cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia.
In order to mitigate any potentially severe outcomes, Portney said it is very important that the local health care and childcare communities stress the importance of influenza and SARS-CoV2 vaccinations for every member of our community that is 6 months and older.
While there is no vaccine for the common cold or RSV, Portney said everyday preventive actions like staying home when sick, frequent hand washing, covering your cough or sneeze, avoiding contact with sick individuals, and wearing a mask in public indoor spaces can help protect our community.
Portney said respiratory illnesses have overlapping symptoms, so parents and caregivers of children should watch for concerning symptoms of RSV including breathing more quickly than usual, labored breathing, nose flaring, and long pausing between breaths. Irritability, increased activity, and decreased appetite are also concerning signs of infection in infants which parents should seek advice for upon discovery.
Currently, the American Academy of Pediatrics is recommending the application of prophylactic palivizumab for infants and young children at high risk for RSV, Portney said.
Health care providers caring for children and adults with respiratory illnesses in inpatient and congregate settings should test for respiratory viruses, including influenza, SARS-COV-2, and RSV, Portney said. For high-risk patients with suspected influenza, it is advised they begin influenza antiviral treatment immediately, without the delay of laboratory confirmation of influenza.
The California Department of Public Health recommends clinicians prescribe the influenza antiviral chemoprophylaxis during outbreaks in long-term care facilities.
“ As RSV and other respiratory virus activity continues to evolve and new evidence emerges, County of Lake Health Services will collaborate with local health care providers and childcare facilities to assess and provide additional updates as they become available,” Portney said.
Additional Resources:
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Use of Palivizumab Propylaxis to Prevent Hospitalization From Severe Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection: www.aap.org/en/pages/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-infections/clinical-guidance/interim-guidance-for-use-of-palivizumab-prophylaxis-to-prevent-hospitalization/
California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Pediatric Vaccinations: www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Immunization/Babies.aspx
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID-19: www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Influenza: www.cdc.gov/Flu/Index.htm
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) RSV: www.cdc.gov/rsv/index.html