Suspect Judges

This page highlights judges who have been subject to repeated complaints to the Probate Trap and other guardianship advocacy and reform groups, media reporting, court records, or other publicly available information.

There are judges who approve guardianships without the strong evidence that should be required to deprive individuals of their civil rights.  There are judges who act in guardianship cases without due process; act without jurisdiction; award high fees to the professional guardians and lawyers who regularly appear before them; and replace family guardians with professional guardians without sufficient justification.  They also override alternatives to guardianship, including durable powers of attorney, medical powers of attorney, and family trusts; exclude family members from guardianship proceedings; and are fail to seriously listen to people subject to guardianship and their family members.

If you know of other problematic cases involving the judges on this page, or other judges whom you think should be added, please contact us.

Our initial judge to highlight is Denver County Probate Judge Elizabeth Leith.  Judge Leith is the sole judge on the Denver Probate Court.  She is up for renomination in 2026 for another six-year term. The Probate Trap opposes renomination and, in May 2026, participated in delivering to Governor Jared Polis a substantial list of statements about Judge Leith in support of that opposition.