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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.

In this Oct. 4, 2016, photo, Salt Lake County County Recorder Gary Ott sits with his chief deputy Julie Dole before the Salt Lake County Council's findings of the County Auditor's performance audit of his office in Salt Lake City. Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill and Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams said in a statement Thursday, July 20, 2017, that Ott, who has been placed under his family's guardianship after more than a year public questions about his mental capacity will resign his office, would resign his office Aug. 1. (Al Hartmann/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP)

  | Oct. 23, 2017, 5:55 p.m.

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.