Francine D. Ward, Esq. Estate Planning & Intellectual Property

05/20/2026

Your pets depend on you for everything — love, safety, routine, and care. But what happens to them if you pass away, become incapacitated, or simply can’t care for them anymore?

A Pet Trust is one of the most compassionate tools you can include in your estate plan. It lets you:

• Set aside funds for your pet’s care
• Choose a trusted caretaker
• Provide detailed instructions
• Ensure your furry family member is never abandoned or neglected

If your pets are part of your family, they deserve to be part of your estate plan. Learn how a Pet Trust can protect them when you no longer can.

Pet Trust. When people think of creating an estate plan, they think of human family members. But what about your furry kids?

04/25/2026

Many people assume having a trust means they have avoided probate. That is only true if the trust was drafted properly and fully funded.

When done correctly, a trust can help your family avoid a public, expensive, and time-consuming court process. When done halfway, the problems often show up later.

Estate planning should be complete, coordinated, and built to work in real life.

Virtual appointments. Free 15min initial consultation.

https://bit.ly/3JKwzSq

04/23/2026

You paid an attorney to draft your will or trust. You signed it. You put it in a drawer and thought you were done. You were not done.

A trust only protects assets that are actually inside it. If you never transferred your home, your bank account, or your investment accounts into a will or trust, your family may still end up in probate. An unfunded trust is like a locked safe with nothing inside.

This is one of the most common and most expensive mistakes I see. The paperwork looks right. The intent was right. But the follow-through was missing.

If you have an existing will or trust and you are not certain it has been funded properly, call me. Let us take a look before it becomes someone else's problem.

Virtual appointments. Free initial consultation.

https://bit.ly/3JKwzSq

04/21/2026

I have seen this happen more times than I care to count.

Someone spends their whole life building something. A home. Savings. A small business. And then they rely on a $29 online template to protect all of it.

Here is what no one tells you about those templates: they do not know about California's probate threshold. They do not ask about your pets. They do not account for your blended family, your estranged sibling, or the property you own in another state.

When something is missing or wrong in an estate plan, your family finds out in the worst possible way at the worst possible time.

I am Francine Ward, an attorney practicing in Palm Desert, CA. I have been practicing law for over 35 years. I offer up to 30-minutes for my initial consultation and it's complimentary.

If you live in the Coachella Valley and you have been putting this off, don't delay any longer.

https://bit.ly/3JKwzSq

04/19/2026

A complete estate plan does more than name who gets what. It helps the people you love avoid confusion, delays, and unnecessary costs when something happens. The strongest plans are coordinated, current, and built for real life, not just signed and forgotten.

Virtual appointments. Free initial consultation.

https://bit.ly/3JKwzSq

04/18/2026

Do you have a will or trust in place?

In California, dying without one means the state makes decisions for you. And in the Palm Springs area, where property values are significant, the probate costs alone can be staggering.

I am Francine D. Ward, a Palm Desert estate planning attorney with over 35 years of experience. I handle wills, revocable living trusts, powers of attorney, healthcare directives, and pet trust provisions.

Virtual appointments. Free 15 min initial consultation.

https://bit.ly/3JKwzSq

01/03/2026

Consulting with a competent estate planning attorney is advisable for matters that involve probate; trust administration; setting up wills, trusts, healthcare directives, powers of attorneys, and supplemental needs trusts, and navigating legal intricacies regarding estate matters. https://bit.ly/3JKwzSq

12/30/2025

In this situation, state laws dictate how the assets are distributed among the deceased person’s heirs, typically starting with immediate family members such as spouses, children, parents, and siblings.

Learn more: https://bit.ly/3JKwzSq

12/29/2025

A publishing lawyer specializes in legal matters related to the publishing industry. An author might have an agent and/or a lawyer. Successful agents are equipped to negotiate contracts, but if an author gets a book deal without an agent, that author would be wise to contact a competent literary lawyer to review the contract.

https://bit.ly/4ixtGkX

12/28/2025

Consulting with a competent attorney is a choice you make. You are never required to utilize legal counsel. Many people choose not to engage an attorney. Their reasons are legion. Regardless of the reason, when you go it alone, you do so at your peril. https://bit.ly/4oqtgOR