We have the opportunity in Waldo County to re-elect a judge of probate whose work over the past years has benefited those who appear in her court and the taxpayers. How lucky can we get? Judge Susan Longley deserves our support and our thanks.

Susan Longley instituted an incentive-based monthly co-payment system for those seeking financial aid for court fees. The system dignifies those with limited funds, making them feel as though they are paying at least some of their way and encourages them to understand their responsibilities. Incentives such as discounts and forgiveness of amounts due for those who make payments regularly have proved successful as 99.9 percent of those asking for court help have made their monthly payments, saving taxpayers thousands of dollars.

The basic probate courses she teaches, free, around Waldo County help people prepare for the probate process, enabling them to get through the process more easily and in a more timely fashion. And the mediation program she instituted respects participants and moves the process of adjudication along more quickly.

Susan Longley's intelligence and work have been recognized by the chief justice of the state supreme court, who recently reappointed her to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court's Probate and Trust Advisory, where she will continue her work with Maine's best and brightest probate law professionals to recommend updates to Maine's probate code.

We could not have a better judge of probate.

Judy Stein lives in Belfast