Where There’s a Way, There’s a Will
When the Fiduciary Trust Officer for the southwest region of the US Department of the Interior approached law schools in the southwest and mountain west to undertake a voluntary public service project, only one stood up: the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law. That’s not surprising given that the project was unfunded, legally complex and logistically challenging: help Native Americans draft wills to redress the unintentional consequences of federal legislation.
Sturm College of Law Professor Lucy Marsh, who teaches trusts and estates, understood those challenges well. Land held in trust for Native Americans was being divided into increasingly smaller parcels when inherited by multiple surviving heirs – to the degree that some holdings were so fractionated that they might yield only a few cents in annual leasing revenue. In 2008, Congress tried to address that fractionization by amending the American Indian Probate Reform Act (AIPRA) to require that, when tribal members died without a will, their trust holdings would be passed entirely to a single oldest child or single oldest grandchild. That solved one problem but raised an even bigger one. As Marsh phrased it, “Nothing to the surviving spouse, nothing to the other kids. You can imagine that causes a lot of conflict in the family.”
Starting the Tribal Wills Project
When Marsh accepted the DOI’s challenge in 2013, she didn’t underestimate its magnitude. The AIPRA is highly complex, and law students had neither the specialized training nor experience to adequately navigate it. Students also lacked the cultural perspective to understand Native American traditions and customs – including that certain Native American tribes and nations have a taboo against speaking about death. Additionally, Marsh and her students would only be able to help clients draft wills if they were invited to do so by tribal leaders. Since the proposed project would not be offered for class credit and would occur during school breaks, students would be required to volunteer their personal time. Finally, since law students aren’t yet lawyers and can only draft wills under the supervision of a practicing attorney, licensed attorneys who understood tribal law would need be invited to participate as supervising attorneys – and asked to contribute their expertise and time pro bono.
Even if all those conditions could be satisfied, funding was still necessary for travel, food, lodging and equipment. In the face of these challenges, Marsh remained indomitable. She secured startup funding from Sturm College of Law, colleagues, alumni and friends in the Colorado legal community to get the first tribal visit underway in 2013.
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Support to Sustain the Project
To provide continued and sustaining funding for the Project, however, more robust and enduring financial support was required. That’s when Dan and Beth Whittemore stepped forward to inspire others to fund the future of the Tribal Wills Project.
Dan (BSBA ’63, JD ’72) spent the better part of his career as an auditor, serving as Colorado’s State Controller and Controller for the Chicago Public Schools, among other roles. His passion for Native American culture is long-standing and was energized while earning his master’s degree from Iliff School of Theology.
Dan’s wife, Beth, shared his passion. She worked for Chicago Blue Cross in various positions. In Arizona, she served as Chief Operating Officer for a Medicaid contractor and later as Agency Chief of Arizona Children’s Rehabilitation Services. During this time, she served on the Phoenix Indian Center Board.
The Whittemores met with Marsh to learn more about the Tribal Wills Project, its impact, and how they might help. Long-time and generous supporters of DU and the Sturm College of Law, the Whittemores have traditionally given to endowed funds for which matching funds were available. This time, the script was flipped: The Whittemores created a matching fund to encourage others to match their philanthropy dollar-for-dollar.
“We focus on the rights and well-being of Native Americans,” Dan explains. “Supporting Native American communities also means sensitizing non-native populations to Native American needs, interests, and culture. We also want to honor Lucy Marsh and her work by keeping the Tribal Wills Program going in perpetuity.”
Without hesitation, Steven Toltz (JD ’88), of Dependable Cleaners – a 94-year-old local, family-owned business – matched the Whittemores’ commitment to create the Lucy A. Marsh Endowed Fund for Native American Legal Services. In addition to Toltz’ long-standing financial support of the Tribal Wills Project, his company’s foundation (Dependable Cleaners – Coats for Colorado) has provided warm weather coats to over two million recipients including reservations throughout the state. Additionally, Toltz has volunteered as a supervising attorney to help DU law students draft relevant legal documents for clients on multiple trips.
Another DU alumnus with a long-standing interest in assisting Native Americans is Richard “Dick” Eason (JD ’56). Eason grew up in Sparks, NV, playing sports against teams from the nearby Reno-Sparks Indian Colony. He saw the fundamental unfairness of the treatment of the Paiute, Shoshone and Washoe peoples who lived there and carried that sense of injustice with him after he finished college and left Nevada for his service in the United States Air Force.
Following the completion of his tour, Dick attended the University of Denver Law School, where his first class was taught by Professor Thompson Marsh. For almost 40 years, the two remained friends, and Eason long sought a way to honor his mentor.
When Eason’s wife, Luella (BA’51), passed away, he and his sons turned to her alma mater for an avenue to memorialize her. They then learned about the Tribal Wills Project headed up by a second Professor Marsh—Thompson's daughter, Lucy. It was a natural fit to honor both the Marsh family legacy at DU and Luella’s innate nature to help others by creating the Luella Spargo Eason Endowment for the Tribal Wills Project, further ensuring long-term financial support for this important work.
Creating Long-Term Impact
“The Tribal Wills Project is an important and distinctive effort that exists at only one law school in the nation. The Project is a testament to the dedication of Professor Lucy Marsh, the public-spiritedness of our students, the generosity of our alumni, the excellence of our experiential learning enterprise, and our institutional commitment to equity, social justice and the public good.”
Dean Bruce Smith
Today, thanks to Marsh and a community of committed students, donors and supervising attorneys, the Tribal Wills Project is celebrating its 11th year. Student demand exceeds capacity, with over 70 members of 2023's incoming JD class applying for the 20 available spots in the Project. Demand from tribes throughout Colorado and in other states (including Arizona, California, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota and Utah) is robust. The number of wills completed by the Project has accordingly burgeoned, from 50 to more than 200 annually.
For Marsh, the impact of the program isn’t limited to drafting wills that execute upon the wishes of individuals after their deaths, as is the case with estate planning more generally. In the setting of Native American communities and culture, the Project also provides a means of addressing the disposition of precious family heirlooms such as pottery, ritual items and ceremonial costumes. According to Marsh, the multigenerational planning involved in handing down such artifacts and planning for trust land helps keep younger generations involved in tribal culture.
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