As the Butler County register of wills/clerk of orphans' court, Judy Moser has dealt with tough legal issues.

Moser, 68, of Winfield Township, who is retiring at the end of the year, said the register makes rulings on the probate of wills.

“It's not something to take lightly,” she said.

Moser, who took office in 1992, deals with numerous types of filings, ranging from requests for an original will to determination of who administers a will.

“It's very demanding,” she said.

Moser, whose work extends into evenings, said for that reason, she decided it was time to retire.

“I don't have the energy I had 20 years ago,” she said.

Moser said the next person to fill her seat will need one trait in particular.

“You have a have a love of the law,” she said.

Moser said it's rare for a judge to reverse a ruling made by a register.

“It's hard to overturn,” she said.

Moser said the time-consuming aspect of the dual row office is processing all the filings.

In 2014, there were 10,012 filings comprised of 37,602 pages related to nearly 1,100 register of wills cases.

For the same period, orphans' court processed 9,659 filings made of by 36,662 pages dealing with more than 300 cases.

“That's a lot of paperwork,” Moser said.

Along with legal concerns, she also has dealt with numerous odd inquiries.

“The questions I get are very strange,” Moser said.

In one such call, a man told her he came across a tombstone at St. Michael's Cemetery in Butler that read an unknown infant was buried there.

“He wanted me to tell him who was there,” Moser said.

Moser was appointed deputy register of wills in 1983. Eight years later, she was elected to the newly combined row office of register and clerk of orphans' court.

Since then, she computerized the dual office.

Whenever Moser bought new office items, she used a fund compiled from fees charged to people.

She said that practice saved taxpayers' money because the expenses were paid from the county general fund.

Throughout her tenure, Moser has worked with the state Supreme Court and the state Department of Aging.

She helped push legislation, which became known as “Judy's Bill,” that blocked a proposed a 6 percent sales tax on all documents accessed from county courthouses.