LAKEPORT, Calif. – After numerous delays, the trial is under way for a Clearlake man charged with first-degree murder for a September 2013 shooting that left one man dead and wounded two others.

Joshua Robert Beavers, 28, is on trial for shooting 29-year-old David Ferrell to death at his home in Clearlake on Sept. 8, 2013, and for wounding Ferrell’s friends, Rachel Patterson and Paul Cressy.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff, who is prosecuting the case, charged Beavers with murder; assault with a firearm on Ferrell, Patterson and Cressy; the attempted murder of Patterson and Cressy; discharge of a firearm in a grossly negligent manner; unlawfully carrying a loaded firearm on one’s person or in a vehicle; unlawfully possessing a short-barreled shotgun; and numerous special allegations for firearm use and inflicting great bodily injury.

Beavers pleaded not guilty to all of the charges in 2013.

On the day of the shooting, Beavers confronted a former friend, Cameron Fallis, at Ray’s Food Place over issues that arose between Fallis and his mother, Angel Esquivel, and her husband Orlando Esquivel Sr. Beavers had become a friend of the Esquivels, thought of them as parents and also dated their daughter.

The Esquivels said that confrontation occurred when they were on their way to Walmart. When they returned to their home Beavers retrieved two weapons that belonged to the couple, a .22-caliber semiautomatic Ruger handgun and a sawed-off .410-caliber shotgun. Beavers then got the Esquivels to drive him in their van – along with Brenden Alicea and Daniel Cunningham – to Ferrell’s home at 19th and Gardner, where Fallis was staying.

Parking on a nearby street, Beavers, Orlando Esquivel Sr., Alicea and Cunningham walked down to Ferrell’s home, finding him outside with Fallis nearby. Witnesses testified that Ferrell – a friendly man who wasn’t being confrontational – was unarmed, shirtless and wearing a pair of shorts.

After a brief exchange, Beavers is said to have pulled the handgun from his waistband, shooting Ferrell at point-blank range in the face. A single bullet struck him in the corner of his eye, killing him instantly.

Beavers and the men with him then fled, with Beavers reportedly firing two to three more shots, striking Cressy in the elbow and Patterson in the side.

When they got to the van where Angel Esquivel was waiting, the men piled in and directed her to drive off. She drove a short distance before several of the men got out of the vehicle and Orlando Esquivel buried the handgun. He later led police to the gun’s location.

Clearlake Police officers would track the group to the Esquivels’ home on 21st Avenue a short time later, taking them into custody.

Alicea and the Esquivels eventually were sentenced for acting as accessories. The Esquivels each received a year and Alicea 280 days, which they served in the Lake County Jail.

Cunningham – who also goes by the last name of Miller – evaded arrest until December 2013. In March 2014 he pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and was sentenced to six years in state prison.

Testimony in the case finally began on June 7, after a series of delays that ranged from Judge Andrew Blum being unavailable due to illness to issues with contaminated water at the courthouse as the result of a water main leak.

Then there was the matter of witnesses – in particular, Cressy and Alicea – reluctant to continuing to cooperate due to the time that has passed since the case began.

In a brief discussion held out of the jury’s presence at the end of the first day of testimony on June 7, Cressy objected to having to return, saying he “had a life.” Blum told Cressy he could expect to spend part of that life in custody if he continued to defy court orders and refuse to cooperate.

Hinchcliff acknowledged that it’s an old case and that Cressy had been cooperative for the first two and a half years.

Then on Thursday, District Attorney’s Office investigators tracked down Alicea, who they said had defied a subpoena and not reported to court to testify, and brought him from Clearlake to court in Lakeport in wrist and ankle cuffs.

Due to concerns he would leave the county and return to the Stockton area where he now lives without testifying, Blum ordered Alicea be kept in jail until he is due to return to court next week.

Beavers is represented by lead counsel Edward Savin and co-counsel, Andrea Sullivan, who is a partner in Lake Indigent Defense, the new organization heading up the county’s public defender contract.

Sullivan told Lake County News on Friday that it’s been decided that Beavers will take the stand and testify in his defense. While she said that could change later in the proceedings, at this point it’s anticipated to go forward.

Initial time estimates have the trial – which runs Wednesdays through Fridays – continuing through the end of July.

The testimony so far

In brief opening arguments, Hinchcliff laid out the sequence of the crime and the complex web of those who were involved.

In her opening, Sullivan said that the shooting didn’t come out of the blue, that it was the product of family issues that went back nearly 20 years combined with the involvement of the principal figures in growing and selling marijuana.

“There will be evidence that the marijuana business in Lake County can be violent,” she said.

First to take the stand in the trial on June 7 was Fallis, who the prosecution argues was the intended target of the shooting.

Fallis said he met Beavers when they were both boys and being cared for in a group home. Beavers later would meet Fallis’ mother at another group home in Ukiah where she worked and he was staying.

Both young men would gravitate to the Clearlake area when they reached their majority and left their group homes. According to testimony both would end up working in various capacities – Fallis as a seller and grower, and Beavers as a grower, overseer and “jack of all trades” – in the area’s illicit marijuana trade.

Fallis – who spent most of his childhood out of his mother’s custody – said he remembered his mother and stepfather growing marijuana from the time he was a small child.

The relationship between Fallis and his mother was troubled, and he was at various times homeless. He became friends with Ferrell, who allowed him to stay in a trailer on his property. Fallis said he sold marijuana, tended a nearby marijuana garden and also panhandled at Walmart in order to help bring money to the Ferrell family.

“David Ferrell was my best friend but I called him my brother,” Fallis said.

He recalled being assaulted by Beavers at Ray’s Food Place on the morning of the shooting. Fallis said Beavers told him he wasn’t working for the right people – in reference to selling marijuana for someone other than his parents – and Fallis had to give them an ounce of marijuana he had in his backpack. Evidence presented at court included surveillance video of the assault.

Fallis went back to Ferrell’s property, where a birthday party was supposed to take place later that day for Patterson and one of Ferrell’s daughters. He said Beavers and the others arrived, and Ferrell had told him he needed to fight Beavers – without weapons.

Fallis – who insisted that neither he nor Ferrell had any weapons during the confrontation – said Beavers reached up under his shirt and then extended his arm toward Ferrell, holding the handgun. At that point, Fallis said he was shoved from behind and then he heard the crack of the .22-caliber pistol.

“I remember David dropping in front of me,” Fallis said, crying and clutching his head with both hands. “I heard the sound of gurgling when David hit the ground.”

This week Cunningham, the Esquivels, Patterson and a doctor all took the stand.

Cunningham was returned from state prison, where he continues to serve his sentence, in order to testify. When he appeared on Wednesday in a green and white jumpsuit, he also had a blackened right eye, the result of an assault the previous week by assailants at the jail who called him a snitch.

Hinchcliff would attempt to introduce that assault into testimony before the jury in an effort to rehabilitate the credibility of Cunningham, a longtime friend of Beavers who originally had told police that Ferrell had a weapon but has since stated that Ferrell was unarmed.

Hinchcliff said the assault underscored the danger faced by Cunningham – who works as an inmate firefighter with Cal Fire – in testifying. However, Blum agreed with the defense objections that the testimony could be highly prejudicial to Beavers’ case and lead jurors to believe that Beavers – also in custody at the jail – had something to do with the assault.

Cunningham testified to witnessing Beavers assault Fallis on the morning of the shooting, and then going back to the Esquivels’ home where Beavers handed him the .410 shotgun.

Having previous felony burglary and stolen vehicle convictions, Cunningham said it was his mistake to agree to take the weapon, believing that he would have violated a “brother’s code” had he refused.

Cunningham now maintains that he saw no weapons during the confrontation other than the one handled by Beavers, who he didn’t want to get off on self-defense based on his past statements.

He said the shooting happened suddenly. “I literally heard my own heartbeat at that point,” Cunningham said, noting he “zoned out” afterward. “That shot kind of canceled everything out.”

After the shooting, Beavers shaved off his long hair to help change his appearance, Cunningham said. He said Beavers appeared to be anything but remorseful or regretful afterward, calling Ferrell a “fool.”

During cross-examination Cunningham also would testify that he had been involved in helping Beavers in the marijuana trade, and that Fallis and the Esquivels also were in the marijuana business.

During the course of the Esquivels’ testimony, it was revealed that Angel Esquivel owned the gun Beavers used to kill Ferrell. She had bought both the handgun and shotgun a week apart, from different individuals, about a month before the shooting, trading Norco, a prescription painkiller, for the handgun.

While Angel Esquivel said she couldn’t identify the handgun presented to her in court as hers, her husband confirmed that it was her gun.

They both also discussed their personal issues with Fallis, who Orlando Esquivel said had often stolen items from them so he could quickly sell them. He said that, days before the shooting, Fallis had stolen three of his eight surveillance cameras.

Orlando Esquivel said Beavers – who had started calling him “Pops” a few days before Ferrell’s shooting” – wanted to confront Fallis and “slap him up” over the family issues that had developed.

Asked why he didn’t stop the confrontation that turned fatal, Orlando Esquivel said of his stepson, “I wanted to watch Cameron get beat up, to be honest.”

Also testifying on Friday was Dr. David Racker, a diagnostic and intervention radiologist who reviewed the x-rays of Cressy’s damaged elbow.

His brief testimony was followed by that of Cressy, who said he had known Ferrell for about a year before the shooting occurred. Cressy was at the Ferrell home that afternoon, ahead of the birthday party, when he heard loud voices and a gunshot.

“I went around the corner and he was down,” Cressy said of Ferrell, who he tried to help by applying pressure to his wound. He said Ferrell stopped breathing within 30 seconds of him arriving at his side.

While he was sitting on the ground trying to help Ferrell, Cressy said he heard at least two more gunshots, and was struck in the elbow by a bullet. He subsequently was flown to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital for treatment.

During her turn on the stand, Patterson said she had never known Ferrell to have a gun, and that Ferrell listened to Fallis about his assault by Beavers and tried to calm him down.

She said she was inside Ferrell’s home with his wife and children when she saw him, through the window, talking with individuals who came to the property. Then she heard a gunshot and yelling.

Another man blocked the front door to try to keep her from going out, but she said she jumped through a window to go out to help Ferrell, who she found on the ground, not breathing.

While she was outside she was struck by a bullet in the side. She said she looked up the driveway and saw the face of the man with the gun in his hand, pointed in her direction. At that time she had never seen him before.

A juror submitted a written question about whether Patterson saw the shooter in the courtroom. She said yes, referring to Beavers.

She also was asked by a juror if she had identified Beavers during an in-field lineup. At that time, he had shaved off his hair, and Patterson said she had told police that he looked familiar.
 
Testimony in the case will resume on Wednesday, June 21.
 
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

On June 17, NASA's MAVEN, or Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission, will celebrate 1,000 Earth days in orbit around the Red Planet.

Since its launch in November 2013 and its orbit insertion in September 2014, MAVEN has been exploring the upper atmosphere of Mars. MAVEN is bringing insight to how the sun stripped Mars of most of its atmosphere, turning a planet once possibly habitable to microbial life into a barren desert world.

"MAVEN has made tremendous discoveries about the Mars upper atmosphere and how it interacts with the sun and the solar wind," said Bruce Jakosky, MAVEN principal investigator from the University of Colorado, Boulder. "These are allowing us to understand not just the behavior of the atmosphere today, but how the atmosphere has changed through time."

During its 1,000 days in orbit, MAVEN has made a multitude of exciting discoveries. Here is a countdown of the top 10 discoveries from the mission:

10. Imaging of the distribution of gaseous nitric oxide and ozone in the atmosphere shows complex behavior that was not expected, indicating that there are dynamical processes of exchange of gas between the lower and upper atmosphere that are not understood at present.

9. Some particles from the solar wind are able to penetrate unexpectedly deep into the upper atmosphere, rather than being diverted around the planet by the Martian ionosphere; this penetration is allowed by chemical reactions in the ionosphere that turn the charged particles of the solar wind into neutral atoms that are then able to penetrate deeply.

8. MAVEN made the first direct observations of a layer of metal ions in the Martian ionosphere, resulting from incoming interplanetary dust hitting the atmosphere. This layer is always present, but was enhanced dramatically by the close passage to Mars of Comet Siding Spring in October 2014.

7. MAVEN has identified two new types of aurora, termed "diffuse" and "proton" aurora; unlike how we think of most aurorae on Earth, these aurorae are unrelated to either a global or local magnetic field.

6. These aurorae are caused by an influx of particles from the sun ejected by different types of solar storms. When particles from these storms hit the Martian atmosphere, they also can increase the rate of loss of gas to space, by a factor of ten or more.

5. The interactions between the solar wind and the planet are unexpectedly complex. This results due to the lack of an intrinsic Martian magnetic field and the occurrence of small regions of magnetized crust that can affect the incoming solar wind on local and regional scales. The magnetosphere that results from the interactions varies on short timescales and is remarkably "lumpy" as a result.

4. MAVEN observed the full seasonal variation of hydrogen in the upper atmosphere, confirming that it varies by a factor of 10 throughout the year. The source of the hydrogen ultimately is water in the lower atmosphere, broken apart into hydrogen and oxygen by sunlight. This variation is unexpected and, as yet, not well understood.

3. MAVEN has used measurements of the isotopes in the upper atmosphere (atoms of the same composition but having different mass) to determine how much gas has been lost through time. These measurements suggest that 2/3 or more of the gas has been lost to space.

2. MAVEN has measured the rate at which the sun and the solar wind are stripping gas from the top of the atmosphere to space today, along with the details of the removal processes. Extrapolation of the loss rates into the ancient past -- when the solar ultraviolet light and the solar wind were more intense -- indicates that large amounts of gas have been lost to space through time.

1. The Mars atmosphere has been stripped away by the sun and the solar wind over time, changing the climate from a warmer and wetter environment early in history to the cold, dry climate that we see today.

"We're excited that MAVEN is continuing its observations," said Gina DiBraccio, MAVEN project scientist from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "It's now observing a second Martian year, and looking at the ways that the seasonal cycles and the solar cycle affect the system."

MAVEN began its primary science mission on November 2014, and is the first spacecraft dedicated to understanding Mars' upper atmosphere.

The goal of the mission is to determine the role that loss of atmospheric gas to space played in changing the Martian climate through time.

MAVEN is studying the entire region from the top of the upper atmosphere all the way down to the lower atmosphere so that the connections between these regions can be understood.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – On Sunday, June 18, the SPCA of Lake County will hold an open house for the community to come and see upgrades to its Kelseyville headquarters.

The open house will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the facility, located at 8025 Highway 29.

When the facility sustained significant damage due to a burst water pipe in the ceiling in December, the SPCA Board of Directors took the opportunity to give the facility a fresh new look and update some well-used equipment.

Businesses and community members stepped up to aid in the remodel, donating time and services, or deeply discounting the prices of their products.

The SPCA Board acknowledged and thanked the following people and businesses: Fischer Development, The Carpetman, Turner Insulation, Lake County Drywall, Kelseyville Lumber, Hardester’s Market, Pierce Electric, Konocti Computers, Winston Construction, Willy White, Running Springs Heating and Air, JD Medical Supply, Rebecca Bloomquist, Langley Construction, Adrian Andrews, Sustainable Furniture Inc. and Olga Martin-Steele.

Because of the generosity of these businesses and people, the building now has new floors, freshly painted walls, shiny new equipment and much more.

Last year, through Clearlake Pet Project – a partnership with Animal Refugee Response – 800 dogs and cats were spayed or neutered at the SPCA thanks to the generous grants from PetSmart charities and Jameson Animal Rescue Ranch.

This year, Clearlake Pet Project is back bigger and stronger as PetSmart charities renewed the grant for additional 1,000 dogs and cats.

Applications can be found on the Animal Refugee Response Web site as well as the SPCA of Lake County Web site.

The SPCA of Lake County continues to provide low cost vaccinations, microchipping and more at its monthly vaccination clinic held on the third Sunday of each month from 9 to 11 a.m. There will be a vaccination clinic on Sunday before the open house.

During the open house, members of the public will be provided light refreshments and will have the opportunity to meet the board of directors, tour the facility, and hear about the great work that is taking place.

As always, the SPCA of Lake County is grateful for public donations and relies on public support to continue its mission.

If you are unable to visit the SPCA, but would like to donate, the mailing address is P.O. Box 784, Clearlake CA 95422.

Questions can be directed to the email address This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. as the phone system is still undergoing repairs.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Authorities are investigating an early Friday morning structure fire in Clearlake that resulted in one fatality.

The fire began in a travel trailer or small motor home at Art's Trailer Park on Tuli Lane, according to Lake County Fire Protection District Chief Willie Sapeta.

Sapeta said the fire was first dispatched at 4:55 a.m. Friday, with fire units getting to the scene within minutes.

At about 5 a.m., before firefighters arrived, there was a report of a large explosion, Sapeta said.

“The explosion was heard all the way in Lower Lake,” where Battalion Chief Charlie Diener reported hearing it, Sapeta said.

Lake County News received reports of the explosion, and Sapeta said there was a deluge of 911 calls as a result of it.

He said Lake County Fire and Cal Fire responded to the incident with a total of three engines, two medic units, a water tender and three chief officers.

The fire spread from the first trailer to a large debris pile nearby, and also destroyed a second structure, an adjacent trailer, Sapeta said.

It took firefighters about 20 minutes to contain the fire, with several hours of overhaul needed, Sapeta said.

On Friday morning, fire and Clearlake Police investigators were still at the scene, working to process it. Sapeta expected several more hours would be needed to complete the scene processing as part of determining the cause.

Sapeta said the fatality was in the first trailer where the fire started.

An individual from the second trailer was transported to the hospital for an unassociated medical emergency, he said.

Sapeta said the Red Cross was requested to help the second resident whose home was lost, and the organization was set to meet that individual at the hospital to arrange for temporary housing.
 
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – The California Highway Patrol will welcome its newest class of academy graduates at a Friday ceremony.

The CHP will swear in 129 new officers during a 10 a.m. graduation ceremony at the CHP Academy in West Sacramento. 

Throughout 28 weeks of training, these men and women have been preparing to provide the highest level of safety, service and security to the people of California.

California State Transportation Agency Secretary Brian Kelly and CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow will joint friends and families of the graduating CHP cadets.

After the ceremony, family members will pin badges on the newly sworn officers.

Following Friday’s graduation ceremony, the new officers will serve in communities throughout the state.

One of those areas that will welcome a new officer is Lake County.

“The Clear Lake Area will be receiving one new officer from this graduating class,” Jaime Coffee, a CHP public information officer, told Lake County News.

The California Department of Public Health and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services are reminding everyone to stay cool and hydrated as temperatures across the state continue to climb.

For the next several days, temperatures are expected to be 10 to 15 degrees above normal with many places topping 100 degrees.

“It’s going to be a hot week, and we would like everyone to protect themselves from the dangers of excessive heat,” said CDPH Director and State Health Officer Dr. Karen Smith. “It is important that everyone stay cool, stay hydrated, stay inside and take other precautions to prevent heat-related illness.”

Extreme heat poses a substantial health risk, especially for vulnerable populations including young children, the elderly, those with chronic diseases or disabilities, pregnant women and people who are socially isolated.

“Simple actions can avoid tragic situations when we know weather changes like these are in the forecast,” said Cal OES Director Mark Ghilarducci. “Err on the side of caution if you’re going to be outside these coming days.”

Heat-related illness includes: cramps, heat exhaustion, heat stroke and death. Warning signs of heat-related illnesses may include heavy sweating, muscle cramps, weakness, headache and nausea. Vomiting, paleness, tiredness and dizziness can also be indicators of heat-related illness.

In areas where air quality is poor, people with heart disease, asthma or other respiratory diseases should reduce or eliminate their outdoor activities.

Summer schools and programs with children who have sensitive conditions, including heart disease, asthma and other respiratory diseases, should conduct activities indoors as much as possible.

CDPH offers the following tips to stay safe during this period of excessive heat:

• Never leave infants, children, elderly or pets in a parked car. It can take as little as 10 minutes for the temperature inside a car to rise to levels that can kill.

• Drink plenty of water or juice, even if you are not thirsty. Avoid alcohol.

• If you don’t have air conditioning, visit a cooling center or a public place with air conditioning (such as a shopping mall or library) to cool off for a few hours each day.

• Avoid outdoor physical exertion during the hottest parts of the day. Reduce exposure to the sun from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. when UV rays are strongest, and keep physical activities to a minimum during that time.

• Wear a wide-brimmed hat to cover the face and neck, wear loose-fitting clothing to keep cool and to protect your skin from the sun.

• Regularly check on any elderly relatives or friends who live alone. Many may be on medications which increase likelihood of dehydration.

• To prevent overheating, use cool compresses, misting, showers and baths. Get medical attention if you experience a rapid, strong pulse, you feel delirious or have a body temperature above 102 degrees.

• Liberally apply sunscreen (at least SPF 15) 15 minutes before venturing outdoors and re-apply at least every two hours – sunscreen may reduce the risk of skin cancer, the number one cancer affecting Californians.

Visit CDPH’s Web site for more tips for preventing heat-related illness and tips for treating heat-related illness. You can also find more information about summer heat on Cal OES’ Web site.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Northern California is expected to see several days of hot temperatures in the lead up to the official arrival of summer.

The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for parts of Northern California – including Lake County – from noon on Saturday through 8 p.m. on Tuesday due to an anticipated extended period of hot weather with near-record temperatures.

The specific Lake County forecast calls for temperatures in the low 90s on Friday, the mid 90s on Saturday and topping the century mark on Sunday, when the daytime is expected to be near 105 degrees.

Monday and Tuesday also are expected to see daytime temperatures at or just over 100 degrees, rolling back slightly into the high 90s through the rest of next week.

Throughout that period, nighttime temperatures are forecast to range between the low and high 60s.

Lake County Fire Protection District Chief Willie Sapeta asked people to exercise caution and be fire safe as temperatures rise.

Sapeta and his crews were on the scene of a wildland fire in Clearlake on Thursday afternoon, and he said vegetation is extremely dry and prone to burning at this point.

He reminded people not to mow grass after 10 a.m. and to report any smoke as soon as they see it.

Sapeta also urged community members to be careful about their own health in the heat. He said to stay hydrated and to make sure pets are adequately protected from the heat.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Despite challenging wind conditions and dry vegetation, firefighters were able to contain a small fast-moving wildland fire in Clearlake on Thursday afternoon.

The fire was reported at approximately 1:23 p.m. in the 15900 block of Dam Road.

Initial radio reports indicated that Lake County Central Dispatch received multiple calls reporting flames and black smoke.

The first fire units to arrive reported a moderate to rapid rate of spread on the fire, and Lake County Fire Protection District Chief Willie Sapeta asked for a full wildland dispatch from Cal Fire, according to the first incident reports.

The radio reports stated that the forward rate of progress was stopped by 1:48 p.m., 25 minutes after the incident was first dispatched.

Altogether, the fire burned an acre and a half, Sapeta later told Lake County News.

He said wind gusts of up to 15 miles per hour had impacted the firefighting effort, and had caused spotting in the very dry vegetation.

However, he said they were able to get an engine at every corner of the fire’s footprint, and firefighters quickly put down hose line around it.

Total resources on scene, between Lake County Fire and Cal Fire, included five engines, a water tender, a helicopter and two medical units, as well as Sapeta and a Cal Fire battalion chief.

The fire’s area of origin was south of the McDonald’s restaurant, and between McDonald’s and the former Ray’s Food Place building, Sapeta said.

Homeless individuals have been known to camp in the area, but there were no homeless people in an around that location at the time, according to Sapeta.

He said the fire’s cause is under investigation.

Sapeta said firefighters had collected witness statements while on scene during the incident, and on Thursday evening the scene was still being processed by investigators.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

Some people, quite naturally, do not want their family to know the contents of their revocable living trust until after they die. 

So just who gets to see a copy of a person's living trust, and when do they get to see it? 

Initially the settlor and his or her attorney are the only ones who see the revocable living trust; presuming that the settlors is also the initial trustee.

While the trust is revocable the trustee has no duty to provide a copy of the trust to any beneficiaries because the beneficiaries' rights can still be taken away by the settlor.

Is a trust recorded? No, transferring real property into the trust only requires that a trust transfer deed is recorded; the trust is not recorded. A trust transfer deed only discloses the existence of the trust and the identity of the trustee.

If the real property being transferred is subject to a deed of trust (security interest) then the secured lender may sometimes ask to see a copy of certain portions of the trust or a trustee's certification of trust.

Because transferring real property into one's living trust is now so commonplace this is often ignored. Nonetheless, the gifts under the trust do not have to be disclosed.

When transferring title to a financial account (e.g., a brokerage or bank account) into a trust the financial institution will want to see who are the authorized current and possible future trustees; whether the trust is revocable (or irrevocable); and are the trustee's powers.

If and when the settlor becomes incapacitated the trust typically becomes irrevocable because the settlor, who can amend or revoke the trust while competent, is then unable to revoke or amend their trust. The beneficiaries then have vested interests in the trust.

Accordingly, the beneficiaries are entitled to a complete copy of the trust and may request information regarding the assets, liabilities and administration of the trust.

Sometimes, however, the incapacity of a settlor does not make the trust irrevocable. The trust may allow someone else – such as a power holder or trust protector – the power to amend or revoke the trust when a living settlor becomes incapacitated.

When the settlor dies not only the beneficiaries but the deceased settlor's heirs, even those who are disinherited, are each entitled to a complete copy of the trust. The trustee is required to provide them with a notice of such right.

Because all beneficiaries are entitled to a complete copy of the trust, settlors may choose to make small gifts to friends and family (who are not also heirs) outside of the trust so they do not later become entitled to request a copy of the trust.

A will may be used to make gifts to such beneficiaries. So long as less than a total of $150,000 in gross values passes under the will no probate is required.

A trust becomes open to the public when the trustee petitions the court for an order regarding the trust. A copy of the trust must be attached to the petition and served on all persons who receive notice of the proceedings. Moreover, the Trust becomes part of a court file and open to inspection by the public.

While a trust is a confidential document it is not a private document. Beneficiaries and heirs (even disinherited heirs) are entitled to a complete copy of the trust when the settlor dies.

Others, such as banks and creditors may have an interest in seeing a copy of the trust. They typically only require seeing limited portions of the trust as relevant to their interests. A trustee's certification of trust, which does not disclose any gifts, should suffice.

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 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and 707-263-3235. His Web site is www.DennisFordhamLaw.com .

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – On Saturday, June 10, Habitat for Humanity celebrated the dedication of the Gwin family’s new house on Toyon street in Clearlake. 

The home is the 21st that Habitat for Humanity has completed in Lake County.

The Gwins were joined by friends, family, and Habitat volunteers and staff to commemorate the receipt of their new home.
 
“God has given us such a blessing with this opportunity,” said John Gwin. “We are so grateful for the hard work everyone has put into helping us make this happen.” 

His wife, Terra, added, “We thank Habitat so much for this chance. It means so much to our family to have a place of our own to come home to.”

If you would like to learn more about the Habitat for Humanity Homeownership program, or to pick up a preapplication, visit the organization’s office at 15312 Lakeshore Drive, Clearlake, or call 707-994-1100, Extension 106.