Hancock County’s elected probate judge again faces a court order to pay his overdue child support to his ex-wife or face jail time.
William B. Blaisdell IV, who in April was suspended from both practicing law and from presiding over the county’s probate court, has until Nov. 12 to pay his former spouse $25,000. If he does not come up with the money, he will have to spend 30 days in jail, according to an order signed Oct. 29 by Maine District Court Judge William Martin.
Martin’s directive is the third such order — each issued by a different judge — that has been sought over the past 20 months to compel Blaisdell to abide by the terms of his 2019 divorce from his former wife. Because of Blaisdell’s position as a judge in Hancock County, his divorce and all subsequent hearings on it have been handled in neighboring Waldo County.
“The Court finds that the defendant has the ability to pay and has failed and refused to pay the required child support obligation,” Martin wrote in the order.
Though the state has barred Blaisdell from either practicing law or resuming his duties as probate judge until next spring, he still holds the title of Hancock County probate judge and is listed as such on the county’s website.
While he has been suspended, the county has relied on an inter-county agreement that permits probate judges from other counties to preside over probate cases in Hancock County, county officials have said.
The first time Blaisdell was found in contempt of court was in March 2024, when another judge presiding over his divorce agreement castigated him for not paying nearly $50,000 to his ex-wife in child support and attorney fees, and for not filing federal or state income tax returns for at least three years.
Then in February of this year, a second judge presiding in Waldo County again held him in contempt of court for not paying $17,000 in overdue child support and attorney fees to his ex-wife. The $17,000 he owed then was in addition to the previous $50,000 he had not paid as of March 2024, but it is believed he has paid off all of the previously ordered amounts.
The $25,000 Martin has ordered him to pay by Nov. 12 is for payments he has missed since the previous orders.
In April, because of the repeat contempt orders, Justice James Martemucci approved a petition by the Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar, which upholds standards of conduct for licensed lawyers in Maine, to suspend Blaisdell’s law license for a year. Blaisdell had continued to work privately as a lawyer while serving in the part-time position of probate judge.
The week after his law license was suspended for a year, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court temporarily banned Blaisdell from serving as probate judge, after having already done so the previous fall for four months. In its suspension, the state’s top court noted that his being unable to practice law made him ineligible to serve as a judge, and that he cannot return to the bench until his approval for practicing law is reinstated.
Blaisdell does not have an attorney and has been representing himself in the ongoing legal issues surrounding his 2019 divorce.
Blaisdell did not respond Tuesday to messages seeking comment about the latest court order. Since March 2024 he has not replied to numerous emails or voicemails from the Bangor Daily News inquiring about the multiple court orders against him and state investigations into his conduct.
Blaisdell was first elected as Hancock County’s probate judge in 2014 and since then — but not during his recent suspensions — he has overseen legal matters such as adoption, guardianship, inheritance and name changes.
Blaisdell narrowly won reelection in 2018 and then was reelected without opposition in 2022.
His current term ends in November 2026.
