This past Sunday, February 21, the Denver Post ran an article on guardianships and conservatorships. The article, Probate court rife with lapses in training, oversight – Who’s protecting the unprotected?, covers issues that have arisen in the context of protective proceedings (which include both guardianships and conservatorships). The article focuses on issues that have arisen particularly in cases in the Denver Probate Court, and difficulties the Court has in monitoring the guardians and conservators who are supposed to be doing the protecting.

The article goes through many of the issues that the Denver Probate Court has encountered, including budget cuts and reductions in staff. It also talks about some of the initiatives through that court and the state court administrator’s office aimed at improving the tracking and reporting of Colorado protective proceedings.

It’s worth a read. It’s also worth noting that inevitably other courts will pick up on the article and could move reviewing whether or not guardianship and conservatorship reports have been filed in their courts to a higher priority. As detailed in this post there are numerous possible sanctions for failing to file reports on time, including removal and surcharge. So file the reports on time and always let the court supervising your protective proceeding know about an important change – like a change of address or the ward passing away. This will help keep you in the court’s good graces.