By Renee Worthing
Staff Writer


Democratic Probate Judge Robert Nadeau said he is ready for the June 10 primary election.
Thank you cards and letters are tacked to a corkboard just inside the entrance of Nadeau’s Sanford law practice.
From behind his office desk, he speaks in a calm and quiet voice.
 “Many times I have received cards and letters from children thanking me for decisions I made,” Nadeau said. “Some have said they want to grow up to be a lawyer because of my actions.”
Nadeau, who has served as the York County Probate Judge for 12 years, is currently fulfilling the third year of his fourth term.
Each of the 16 counties in Maine has its own probate court, as dictated by the Maine Constitution, which was created more than 200 years ago.
He said when the probate courts were first created, they dealt mainly with contested wills, but throughout the years, as populations grew, the courts’ authority expanded to include family matters.
 “Most of what I do relates to resolving child custody disputes and very emotional guardian cases,” Nadeau said.
He said some of his time on the bench is spent settling disputes when adult children decide an ailing parent should be placed in a long-term care facility, often over the objection of the parent.
“My primary consideration is to ensure, to the fullest extent possible, the dignity of the parent remains intact, regardless of what the kids think,” Nadeau said.
It is Nadeau’s job to give appropriate authority to family members and safeguard the assets of the parent while granting adult children power to pay bills on their parent’s behalf.
He said the decisions are sometimes time-consuming and emotional. He often stays up past midnight, while the details of a case are fresh in his mind, writing his decisions.
“I want to offer closure as soon as possible,” he said.
In many cases he decides whether to terminate parental rights due to abuse, neglect or abandonment. He said he strives to make the decision in the best interest of the child with an ultimate goal of reuniting the child with his or her parents, but only if it will be safe for the child.
Nadeau, born in Sanford in 1955, said he was influenced to become a probate judge by family members’ participation in local government. Many of his relatives have served in a community service capacity, including his uncle, Red Nadeau, who served as Sanford’s town clerk and tax collector, county commissioner and state Legislator. His cousin served as a state Legislator and another cousin was the deputy state fire marshal. His father Roland (Bill) Nadeau was the general manager of the Sanford Water District and his mother, Nancy Auclair is the former York County Treasurer.
“There is a tradition of public service in my family,” he said. “Public service is always a big thing and something I always wanted to do.”
Nadeau received his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science, sociology and economics from John Hopkins University in Baltimore in 1977. He earned his Juris Doctor degree from the Delaware Law School of Widener University, Wilmington, Del. in 1980 and then he served as a captain in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps in Charlottesville, Va. from 1981 to 1985. He also attended National Judicial College in Reno, Nev. before returning to Sanford.
Nadeau is a member of the Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts Bar Associations, the bars of the U.S. Court of Appeals, U.S. Court of Military Review and the U.S. Court of Military Appeals, the Maine Trial Lawyers Association and the York County Bar Association.
He divides his time between sitting on the bench at Alfred Superior Court and his office, Nadeau Attorneys, in Sanford.
He said one of the things he likes about being a judge is the opportunity to make people feel they have been heard.
Now he hopes people will hear him in his bid for another four-year term as the Probate Judge of York County.
This year, there are no nominees for the Republican primary and he faces only one Democratic contender, Donna Bailey.
He said one of the challenges of running for another term is limited voter knowledge, but a “number of lawyers” are supportive of his campaign. He is also garnering support from people he works with.
 “The Court staff knows me and is behind me as they’ve always been,” he said.
  He said his campaign will focus on his accomplishments.
“I am the judge who encouraged the state legislature to give probate courts the authority to order parents to pay child support to guardians appointed for the children,” he said.
He said whether it was an oversight or no one wanted to deal with the extra paperwork involved in enforcing child support to guardians, it seemed unfair guardians raising the children were not getting money.
He said he is the first judge in Maine to grant adoption to a same sex couple, an action that earned him “a lot of praise.”
“Many others have followed suit,” he said.
Nadeau also recently implemented a system to save taxpayers’ money by requiring able-bodied people who need a lawyer to work off the cost the county pays for a court appointed attorney at a rate of about $10 per hour.
He said the idea stemmed from York County Sheriff Maurice Ouellette who suggested costs incurred at the jail could be recouped by assigning jobs to prisoners. The idea was adopted at the Alfred Superior Court.
“I would estimate that we probably spend close to $15,000 on court appointed lawyer fees,” Nadeau said. “We can recoup that.”
He said the system, which has been in place for a couple of months, “seems to be working out OK.”
Nadeau has three children, Matteson, a junior in college, Kennebunk High School senior Ian and Kennebunk High School sophomore Erin.