‘It’s not a hobby’: Franklin County’s longest-standing probate judge looks back on career

FARMINGTON – After 35 years – the longest run in the Franklin County Probate Court’s history – Judge Richard Morton is retiring at the end of the year.

Morton first ran for the position back in 1983, a few years after he ended his active duty status with the U.S. Army’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps in 1978. Desiring to build up a practice in Farmington, Morton looked at different options: he opened up a one-room law office on Broadway, joined the Maine National Guard’s Judge Advocate General office in Waterville and provided legal assistance to the Republican leadership in the Maine Legislature. Coincidentally, Maine was adopting a new model probate code at that point, adding structure to everything from inheritance rights to guardianship.

“It created a structure for everything,” Morton said. “It really was a total re-write about how Maine probate court cases were processed.”

Through his work with the legislature, Morton attended a number of study sessions and helped educate legislators on the new code. Meanwhile, Franklin County’s then-Judge of Probate, Rangeley resident, developer and former state senator Shelton Noyes, decided against pushing forward with the new code and announced his retirement. Governor Joseph Brennan broke with the tradition of appointing a replacement from the same party; instead, local Republicans and Democrats both put forward nominations. For the Republicans, Morton was the nominee. The Democrats nominated Michael Gentile of Jay.

Brennan appointed Gentile, who served until 1982, when his term ended. Morton ran for the position, defeating a primary challenger and later beat out Gentile for the Judge of Probate position in 1983. He was 35 years old at the time. While that was relatively young, Morton said, his knowledge base was the rough equivalent of a more-seasoned lawyer due to the recently reformed probate code.

In Maine, Judge of Probate is an unusual position. It is part-time, meaning the lawyer that fills the position (per statute, candidates must be residents admitted to the general practice of law) is either partially retired or supplementing their position with private law work. The idea of judges practicing private law isn’t a popular one in judicial circles: justices on the state’s supreme court have exhibited skepticism for the concept and the legislature periodically reviews possible changes. In the last legislative session, a bill that would have launched a study into the probate court system was defeated only after a Governor Paul LePage veto was sustained.

“There’s a professional perception that judges should only be judges,” Morton said.

Morton said that he could foresee the current system – 16 probate courts elected and operating in each county – changing in the not-so-distant future. One possibility would be having probate functions absorbed by the judicial system; district court already has a family court and a business court, for example. Another possibility would be having a state-appointed probate court that utilizes four or five full-time judges in districts made up of multiple counties. For the state, the issue is money: a full-time judge can cost $100,000 plus a year, including benefits and associated costs. For citizens looking to make use of the probate court, shifting from the county to the state carries other risks: potential losses in access, slower service, a system that is less user-friendly.

Of course for 35-year-old Morton, back in 1983, the part-time nature of the position wasn’t an issue.

“I needed the job,” Morton said. His election meant he didn’t have to work as a part-time assistant district attorney or for the legislature.

He also loved the work. Probate law is based off extremely precise, specific statutes, Morton said. He contrasted it with elements of criminal law that has evolved out of common law and countless court cases.

“You can almost always find an answer,” he said.

That isn’t to say that cases can’t be complicated. A matter regarding a decedent’s property may have multiple parties – the individual’s family, creditors, friends – and all of them represented by legal counsel. Morton has had to consider handwritten last wishes and weigh their impact on estates, or parse through a will to determine exactly how much space different parties should have access to on a single piece of property. When Morton was first elected, many cases involved the parties representing themselves, making it that much more important to keep everyone attuned to due process and the rules of the court. Now a single matter, such as a guardianship, may involve several lawyers, representing the parents, the guardians and the child.

Unlike a district court case, which typically involves a single issue or incident, probate court can consider a lot of different information over the course of a single proceeding.

“It just makes it a very interesting and rewarding position for a judge,” Morton said.

Over the years, Morton has noticed other changes, including an increase in the number of custody cases. The Department of Health and Human Services will sometimes avoid filing a child protective case in district court, instead asking parents to voluntarily place their children with a guardian. Years later, after the guardians have bonded with the children, the parents may return and request custody. While judges tended to rule in favor of guardians, Morton said, a few years ago the standard changed. Now guardianships only continue if the parents are found to be unfit, a difficult thing to prove. Morton estimated that the number of child custody cases have increased by two or three times in past 30-plus years.

The probate code will be revised again next year, Morton noted, bringing more changes. The new focus is on adult protective cases, requiring more detailed documentation.

Morton said that some of the smartest, most dedicated people he’s ever worked with were among the state’s probate judges. He’s worked in six other counties on a temporary basis, filling in for months at a time and finding different challenges in each one. Kennebec County has the state mental hospital, for example, which can create different probate cases than in Cumberland County, which has a large immigrant population. The judges from each county work hard to make the system function well, Morton said.

“It’s not a hobby,” he said. “These judges take this job very, very seriously.”

Each is backed by a staff, and Morton was quick to credit Franklin County’s court staffers – including the Register of Probate Joyce Morton, Judge Morton’s wife. He noted that Joyce Morton had served for decades and the current Deputy Register of Probate, Cheryl Osborne, had roughly 25 years of experience, as did her predecessor.

“We’ve been very fortunate to have this staff here in the probate court,” Morton said. “Everything runs most effectively when you have a great staff.”

After 35 years, and four years after closing his law practice in 2014, Morton said he’s ready to move on and enjoy his retirement. He isn’t running for reelection this year and his term will end on Dec. 31. He’s the longest-serving probate judge in the county’s 180-year history.

“I’ve done it long enough,” Morton said. “My nature is not that I need to do this to be happy. I’m happy having done it.”

Morton said he hopes to spend time traveling, with his grandchildren and in the woods with his dog.

Two local attorneys have announced their intention to run for the Judge of Probate in the November election: Ronald Aseltine is running as an Independent candidate and Margot Joly is running as a Democrat.