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Frederick County's register of wills, Virginia Fifer (R) wants voters to know that she's alive and kicking and raring to go for four more years.

A 20-year incumbent, Fifer, 65, has faced serious health problems recently, including a heart bypass operation in 2007. "They didn't expect me to live," she said.

Fifer's defending her health and her performance against a challenge by longtime colleague Tim May, who resigned as chief judge of the Orphans' Court of Frederick County earlier this summer after finding out that he was unable to run in a partisan race and keep his seat on the court.

May, 60, served for 16 years on the Orphans' Court, which handles the judicial end of probate, while the register of wills handles the administrative end. Sooner or later, Fifer said, everyone will pass through her office, either to store a will for safekeeping or to administer the will of a loved one.

May said he signed up for the race believing that Fifer was not going to run again because of health issues. Though she admits she has missed several days because of illness, Fifer did not have to document them because her position does not require her to do so.

Fifer disputes the allegation that she's unwell, and said that even though her husband, Jay, is retired, she's not ready to join him.

"I feel better than I have in years," she said. Behind her desk in her office at the Frederick County Courthouse, Fifer uses a walker, but mostly just to transport things, she said.

Fifer is the first woman to take the reins as register of wills, defeating incumbent Tommy Eichelberger in 1990. When she first signed on to run, she said, a member of the Republican Central Committee told her not to waste $25 on a filing fee because she didn't stand a chance against a 32-year incumbent. After the absentee votes were counted, Fifer won by 200 votes out of 35,000 cast.

She earned it, she said, because she "paid attention to the areas nobody was paying attention to like Urbana and New Market." She also had a good foundation working for an attorney who handled trusts and estates.

Maryland has a register of wills in each county and salaries, paid by the state, vary depending on the size of the county. Frederick County's register earns $93,900 a year. The office runs somewhat like an enterprise fund, relying on 25 percent of inheritance taxes and all related fees. The state receives the balance.

Registers of wills cannot keep more than a $250,000 monthly balance in their office accounts and must turn over the excess, which then goes to the state comptroller's office. At the end of each fiscal year, leftover revenues go into the state's general fund.

Frederick County, Fifer said, is always in the black.

Much of her day, Fifer said, is spent talking to people who are grieving. "Sometimes all they need to do is talk about their dear, lost husband or wife and I am very good at listening and so are my clerks," she said.

Fifer came under fire a few years ago when she hired her son-in-law to work in her office. She scoffs at allegations of nepotism, defending her choice because he is "qualified for the job."

As for May, he thinks it's time for a change, a breath of fresh air. He said he's worked with Fifer for all his years in the Orphans' Court and that while he does not have any animosity toward her, he does believe that her ailing health and other challenges indicate it is time for her to go.

"We were 100 percent friendly, but not in 100 percent agreement," May said.

kheerbrandt@gazette.net