William B. Blaisdell IV, Hancock County’s elected probate judge, has been found in contempt of court in Waldo County for not paying overdue child support.
Blaisdell, 54, was ordered Friday in Belfast District Court to pay nearly $50,000 in overdue child support and attorneys’ fees after he failed to appear for a hearing on the matter, according to court documents. Blaisdell owes more than $43,000 in overdue child support and nearly $6,000 to his ex-wife in legal costs.
Judge Patricia Worth wrote a blistering order Friday against Blaisdell, saying that his refusal to pay the overdue child support, despite having the financial resources to do so, has been difficult on his ex-wife and has harmed his children’s best interests.
“Defendant is fully aware of his legal obligations and has chosen to ignore those obligations,” Worth wrote in the order.
Blaisdell did not respond Friday night to a phone message requesting comment.
Worth said that since the former couple divorced in 2019, Blaisdell has failed to comply with previous child support orders. She said that at a prior hearing, Blaisdell testified “that despite being a practicing Maine attorney and being the current sitting Hancock County Probate Judge, [he] has not filed his federal or state income taxes for 2022, 2021, 2020 and possibly for 2019.”
As part of the contempt order, Worth sentenced Blaisdell to serve 90 days in jail. But she delayed the sentence until March 25 to give Blaisdell time to respond to the order and to attempt to convince the court that he has made a good-faith effort to pay what he owes.
The judge wrote that Blaisdell has the financial resources to make the court-ordered payments. He has an annual personal income of about $326,000 and has assets he can sell to raise the needed money, she said.
These assets include a “loaded” 2023 Toyota Sequoia Capstone pickup truck, valued at approximately $77,000; a 2008 Nissan Armada SUV which is fully paid for; a 2006 BMW convertible that is fully paid for and which he displays in his front yard in the summer; and an inboard-outboard pleasure boat that is also fully paid for, the judge wrote.
“Plaintiff has had to pay her legal fees using credit cards, incurring interest fees,” Worth wrote in the document. “She has had a difficult time paying for food, and for gas and repairs for the vehicle she uses to transport the children. She has tried to shield the children from knowledge that her household finances are strained due to their father’s refusals to obey court orders.”
Blaisdell has served as Hancock County’s probate judge for the past decade. After first being elected to the post in 2014, he narrowly won re-election in 2018 and then was re-elected without opposition in 2022.
