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Utah judge won't rule on Gary Ott’s custody case following his death. A fight over the former recorder’s estate could last years.

Former Salt Lake County Recorder Gary Ott’s family will file a probate action to gain control over his estate after he died last week before a judge decided who should serve as his legal guardian.

Ott died following a years long battle — much of it kept from the public — with Alzheimer’s disease. Judge Bruce Lubeck was set to decide whether Ott’s siblings or his former fiancée and secretary, Karmen Sanone, would be his permanent guardian after the disease progressed to an advanced stage.

Ott died a week after the testimony in the case concluded. He was 66.

“His siblings will be filing a probate action shortly and will be asking to have one of them appointed as the personal representative of the estate,” said Mary Corporon, the family‘s attorney. “That would put them in charge of his estate on a temporary basis, and eventually a permanent basis.”

If Sanone intervened, the case could last for years in open court. Ott has a home in Salt Lake City and other assets.