Court declares Steve Fossett legally dead
Court Alerts
Millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett has been declared dead by a Chicago judge five months after his plane disappeared.
The 63-year-old went missing on September 3 after taking off in a single-engined plane from a Nevada airstrip.
His wife had asked for him to be declared legally dead.
The judge heard testimony from Mr Fossett's wife, Peggy, and a family friend, as well as from a search-and-rescue expert, before deciding there was sufficient evidence to declare him dead.
Mr Fossett earned millions of dollars trading futures and options on Chicago exchanges.
Attorneys representing his estate had filed a petition to have him declared legally dead so his assets could be distributed according to his will.
Mr Fossett was a record-setting balloonist, sailor and pilot who completed non-stop flights around the world.
Mrs Fossett's lawyer, Michael LoVallo, said: "It was very sad and at first she hoped and sort-of envisioned him walking down the road the next day with another story to tell.
"But as the days went on, she realised it wasn't going to happen as it had on other occasions when he'd had close calls."
Mr Fossett was on a pleasure flight when he vanished and was not looking for a dry lake bed to use as a surface on which to set the world land speed record, as was initially reported.
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Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC
A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party
Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party
However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.