Gonçalo Amaral said the Maddie-case has 'ruined' him

[icabodcrane]

Who can make an application to have her legally declared dead?

If Madeleine is still a ward of court then I suppose any such application would have to come from them,  as her   her legal guardians   

[Lyall]

Whatever the legalities of who represents Madeleine, the seven year stipulation only applies to settlement of estates.

If an inquest was desired they could have requested it years ago, they don't have to wait until seven years have passed.

[Angelo222]

Whatever the legalities of who represents Madeleine, the seven year stipulation only applies to settlement of estates.

If an inquest was desired they could have requested it years ago, they don't have to wait until seven years have passed.

An estate cannot be settled until the individual has been declared legally dead as happened in the Lord Lucan case.

[Mr Gray]

An estate cannot be settled until the individual has been declared legally dead as happened in the Lord Lucan case.

might be better if you looked at the ben needham case

[j.rob]

That case could not be more different - totally different. Apart from anything, the parents did not engage an army of spin doctors/reputation managers/dodgy detectives etc.....

[Benice]

That case could not be more different - totally different. Apart from anything, the parents did not engage an army of spin doctors/reputation managers/dodgy detectives etc.....

What has any of that got to do with Ben's disappearance?   He was left unsupervised and was abducted.  No evidence has ever been found of an abduction.   We only have the family's word for what happened.

If Kerry Needham had been offered the help the McCanns were given - do you think she would have turned it down?

Do you think the McCanns should have turned away help offered to them on the grounds that Kerry Needham didn't get the same?

[stephen25000]

What has any of that got to do with Ben's disappearance?   He was left unsupervised and was abducted.  No evidence has ever been found of an abduction.   We only have the family's word for what happened.

If Kerry Needham had been offered the help the McCanns were given - do you think she would have turned it down?

Do you think the McCanns should have turned away help offered to them on the grounds that Kerry Needham didn't get the same?

Again.  The Needhams have been refused financial assistance by Cameron.

Why ?

[Mr Gray]

Again.  The Needhams have been refused financial assistance by Cameron.

Why ?

how old would ben be now?

[stephen25000]

how old would ben be now?

What does age have to do with it ?

[lizzibif]

Was ben needham declared dead after being missing 7 years ?

[John]

Was ben needham declared dead after being missing 7 years ?

No need...he hasn't become a commodity.

[lizzibif]

No need...he hasn't become a commodity.

That's not the point john..hes still being looked for after 21 years..i get the feeling some on here hope madeleine is declared dead after 7 years..infact they seem to delight on it happening..

[Jean-Pierre]

There are two things which puzzle me:

One is the many references by posters to Madeleine being declared dead because she has been missing for 7 years.  What possible reference does this have to the case?  And what would this achieve?  Utterly pointless.

The second is that the McCanns being unable to bring an action on Madeleine's behalf because she is a ward of court.  To anyone with a modicum of (real) legal knowledge this is clearly absolute nonsense - It was they who made the original application, they remain her parents, and have all of the usual parental powers - but with the added protection of the court which could be helpful if she were to be found.     Again - this line of argument is utterly pointless.

[jassi]

There are two things which puzzle me:

One is the many references by posters to Madeleine being declared dead because she has been missing for 7 years.  What possible reference does this have to the case?  And what would this achieve?  Utterly pointless.

The second is that the McCanns being unable to bring an action on Madeleine's behalf because she is a ward of court.  To anyone with a modicum of (real) legal knowledge this is clearly absolute nonsense - It was they who made the original application, they remain her parents, and have all of the usual parental powers - but with the added protection of the court which could be helpful if she were to be found.     Again - this line of argument is utterly pointless.

The thing about the WOC is that due to the inherent secrecy of the Family Court, we have no idea of what conditions might have been put in place.
The common conception of WOC is that the Court makes all legal decisions on behalf of the Ward. This may or may not be true in this case and obviously is being tested.

[Carana]

I don't see why the "Maddie case" has "ruined" him. What would have prevented him from going back to coordinating drug investigations back in Faro?