Millionaire Adventurer Steve Fossett's wife has asked a court to declare him legally dead.

She believes he was killed in a September crash of his plane. Attorney Michael Lovallo filed the petition Monday in Cook County circuit court in Illinois. Lovallo says that as painful as it is for the Fossett family, the request is a step toward resolving the legal status of Fossett's estate.

The 63–year–old Fossett disappeared on September 3rd after taking off in a single–engine plane from an airstrip near Yerington, Nevada. He was heading toward Bishop, California.

Fossett has a home in Beaver Creek, Colorado.