A judge has denied a husband's request to declare his missing wife legally dead, reports said Thursday. Isabella Hellmann disappeared on May 14 when the boat in which she was in along with her husband allegedly collided with an unknown object.

Lewis Bennett abandoned his sinking 37-foot catamaran near the Bahamas and told the Coast Guard he didn't know where his wife was. They were the only two people aboard the catamaran at the time.

On Thursday, Bennett's lawyer requested the judge to declare Hellmann legally dead, but the judge postponed doing so, saying that more information is needed on whether the Coast Guard search is complete before the decision can be made in the case.

“My problem is I don’t know if these are all the facts. There’s no other side to dispute this so I don’t have anybody to say are you done? Are you finished with your investigation of trying to find this person?” Judge Kathleen Kroll said according to local reports.

Kroll also said that she had several questions for the Coast Guard, adding that a death certificate cannot be issued based on a Coast Guard report the attorney presented to her, stating that the search for Hellmann was suspended after the Coast Guard concluded that she could not have survived more than 120 hours at sea.

According to the Florida law, someone must be missing for five years before he or she can be declared dead.

"I don't actually view it as a rush. I know it's not 5 years, but we do have assets that otherwise are going to go to waste,” Bennett’s attorney said.

Hellmann’s had several assets that include her West Delray condo and a 2006 Mercedes-Benz C230, totaling about $125,000 in value. These items are still in Hellmann's name and cannot be transferred to someone until a death certificate is issued.

This is not the first time Bennett wanted his wife to be declared dead, a day after authorities called off the search for Hellmann, her husband requested the Coast Guard offer him a letter of his wife’s presumed death. But the agency said it wasn’t authorized to do so.

Bennett, 40, is currently being held in jail after his arrest last month for transporting stolen gold and silver coins valued at $5,000 or more. Bennett, who is expected to remain jailed while the case is pending, is scheduled to go to trial Dec. 11 in federal court in Key West, records show.

Bennett pleaded not guilty in the stealing of the coins charges. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

When Bennett was rescued after the boat accident in May, authorities found his backpack, which contained some of the coins, was unusually heavy.

The couple’s 1-year-old daughter, who was not on the trip, is living with Bennett’s family out of the country.

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