Professor Lucy March Receives Award for Excellence from National College of Probate Judges

Professor Lucy Marsh (far r) with Tribal Wills Project students and supervising attorneys in Chinle, Arizona, March 2026.

In recognition of her outstanding contributions to the "improvement of the law or judicial administration in probate or related fields," the National College of Probate Judges (NCPJ) has selected Professor Lucy Marsh as the 2026 recipient of the Treat Award for Excellence. According to the NCPJ's press release, the Treat Award for Excellence "was established by the NCPJ in 1978 to recognize and encourage achievements in the field of probate law and related fields consistent with the goals of the NCPJ."

Organized "to improve the administration of justice in courts with probate jurisdiction," the NCPJ recognizes only one US resident each year to receive the Treat Award. Marsh will be recognized at the NCPJ 2026 conference in Hilton Head, South Carolina, this November.

In 2013, Marsh established the Tribal Wills Project at the Sturm College of Law, which she continues to direct. Several times each year, Marsh, along with volunteer supervising attorneys and students, travels to states across the West to prepare wills for tribal members at no cost. Marsh is also the founder and director of the Sturm College of Law Wills Lab, in which law students gain practical experience writing wills, medical powers of attorney, living wills, and burial instructions for actual clients who are among elderly and low-income populations in the Denver area.

In 2025, Marsh received the Colorado Bar Association Award of Merit, the organization's lifetime achievement award.

Many congratulations to Professor Marsh on her recognition by NCPJ for her ongoing outstanding accomplishments in service of others.