A 19 year old Wisconsin man murdered a Milwaukee area businessman in
1971. After being sentenced to life in prison, he escaped prison in
1978, assumed the name of deceased child, established a trouble free
life in Florida as a businessman himself, and eventually married in
1996. Only when his wife pestered him for his birth certificate so he
could obtain a passport did his life unravel and she filed for
divorce. He committed suicide in 2011 five days after being asked to
testify under oath about his real name. The family of his murder victim recently filed suit to re-open his estate so they could file a claim against the estate because the estate did not publish a notice of his death in a Wisconsin paper.
Several points:
1.
Unless there was a wrongful death lawsuit and judgment, I am not sure
what claim the victim's family has against the estate 40 years after the
murder.
2. Ohio requires creditors to file a claim against an estate within six months of the date of death without exception.
3. Ohio does not require publication of any notice for estate creditors.
4.
Florida does require publication of notice for creditors but only in
the county of the decedent's residence, not in other counties and
presumably not in other states, including Wisconsin.
