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- Written by: LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS
Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 7. It began on Sunday, March 14.
Clocks will go back one hour in order to adjust for the shorter days.
Daylight saving time goes into effect on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November, dates established by Congress in the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
Cal Fire uses the time change to remind people to check safety features in homes, including smoke alarms and making sure batteries are charged.
Smoke alarms should be installed in all sleeping rooms, hallways that lead to sleeping areas, basements and each additional level of the home because most fatal fires occur at night, Cal Fire reported.
For more information about smoke alarms visit Cal Fire’s Web site at www.fire.ca.gov or contact your local fire department.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The City of Clearlake Animal Association also is seeking fosters for the animals waiting to be adopted.
Call the Clearlake Animal Control shelter at 707-273-9440, or email
Visit Clearlake Animal Control on Facebook or on the city’s website.
The newest dogs are listed at the top of the following list.
‘Fiona’
“Fiona” is a female pit bull terrier mix with a short gray coat.
She is dog No. 48750483.
‘Mitzi’
“Mitzi” is a female Australian cattle dog mix with a medium-length black and white coat.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 48443306.
‘Luscious’
“Luscious” is a male pit bull terrier mix with a short gray coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 48757611.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: DENNIS FORDHAM
In California, what options does a person married to a spouse who suffers from cognitive impairment have to get the couple’s affairs in order, e.g., to establish and fund a trust? Let us discuss.
Let us consider a married person with diminished capacity — such as, unable to have an involved estate planning discussion or unable to understand the terms of a living trust — but who nonetheless still retains sufficient capacity to understand and to execute a power of attorney to appoint someone else who has capacity to engage in estate planning.
In California, a person can execute a power of attorney if they have the capacity to sign a contract, which is anyone except minors, persons of unsound mind and persons deprived of civil rights can contract. Thus an adult who is neither of unsound mind nor deprived of their civil rights can sign a power of attorney.
However, what if the spouse with diminished capacity is of unsound mind (and so unable to sign a power of attorney)?
When the married couple’s estate consists of community property assets (such is often the case in a long marriage) then a court petition under section 3100 of Probate Code can ask the court to authorize a particular transaction. This is usually transferring the community property to the well spouse as the well spouse’s sole and separate property.
With complete ownership of the assets, the well spouse can then engage in estate planning for the couple’s best interests.
Being able to use the section 3100 petition, however, depends on the character of the subject assets being community property.
If a proposed transaction involves mixed community and separate property, i.e one in which a spouse also has a separate property interest, then for good cause the court may still include that separate property in the transaction.
Nonetheless, if some of the incapacitated spouse’s assets are exclusively his or her own separate property alone — such as, bank accounts from before their marriage or real property assets acquired as an inheritance during their marriage — then this approach probably will not work, unless the court is willing to be flexible and to see the bigger estate picture which is mainly community property assets.
Clearly, however, if the incapacitated spouse’s major assets are his or her separate property assets alone then it very hard to impossible to argue that the section 3100 is applicable to such separate property assets.
Next, with separate property assets, commencing a conservatorship court proceeding may be necessary. A conservatorship must be opened in order to then make a substituted judgment petition asking the court to authorize estate planning.
The section 3100 petition and the court conservatorship petition are court proceedings that each require the following: (1) a determination of incapacity with respect to spouse with diminished capacity; (2) notification to the relatives within the 2nd degree of the spouse with diminished capacity regarding the hearing; (3) representation of the interests of the spouse with diminished capacity; and (4) service of a citation to appear at the court hearing on the spouse with diminished capacity.
Each petition invites the possibility of opposition and further litigation.
Getting one’s affairs in order prior to losing one’s capacity avoids court petitions, usually brought by a spouse or child.
If a person has diminished capacity but still is not yet of unsound mind — a gray area to be sure — then they may still be able to appoint an agent to engage in estate planning.
The foregoing is not legal advice. If needing guidance regarding a person with diminished capacity consult an attorney.
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: Preston Dyches
What's up for November? Sunset planets, a partial lunar eclipse and the return of the winter stars.
From Nov. 6 through the 11, watch the Moon glide past Venus, Saturn and Jupiter after sunset in the south/southwest.
In particular, if you step outside for a look on Nov. 7, you'll find the four-day-old crescent moon just about 2 degrees away from Venus. Should be really pretty, so don't miss it.
And from now through early December, you'll find Jupiter and Saturn drawing a little closer to Venus each night.
A partial lunar eclipse is on the way, taking place overnight on Nov. 18 and 19, when the moon slips into Earth's shadow for a couple of hours. Weather permitting, the eclipse will be visible from any location where the moon appears above the horizon during the eclipse. Depending on your time zone, it'll occur earlier or later in the evening for you.
Now that's a huge swath of the planet that'll be able to see at least part of the eclipse, including North and South America, Eastern Asia, Australia and the Pacific Region. So check the timing of its visibility for your area.
For U.S. East Coast observers, the partial eclipse begins a little after 2 a.m., reaching its maximum at 4 in the morning. For observers on the West Coast, that translates to beginning just after 11 p.m., with a maximum at 1 a.m.
Partial lunar eclipses might not be quite as spectacular as total lunar eclipses — where the Moon is completely covered in Earth's shadow — but they occur more frequently.
And that just means more opportunities to witness little changes in our solar system that sometimes occur right before our eyes.
All month long, if you're up late and cast your gaze toward the east, you'll notice some familiar companions have begun rising late in the night. The familiar stars of Northern winter skies are returning, rising late at night and sitting high in the south by dawn.
You'll find the Pleiades star cluster leading the constellations Taurus the bull and the hunter Orion, followed by the brightest star in the sky, Sirius — all of them back to keep us company on the long winter nights here in the Northern Hemisphere. (And for those in the Southern Hemisphere, they're keeping you company on shorter nights as spring gives way to summer there.)
A fun note about the Pleiades this month is that several of the 8 asteroids to be visited by NASA's Lucy mission are located in that part of the sky.
The Lucy spacecraft launched on Oct. 16 on its 12-year mission to visit a bunch of special asteroids called the Trojans. They share the orbit of Jupiter, with a group of them leading the planet, and another group following behind it.
Lucy will be the first space mission to explore this unique group of asteroids, providing new insights about the formation and early history of our solar system.
Preston Dyches is with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.