The family of Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic, wanted for genocide, requested legal authorities to declare him dead, saying there was no proof since 2003 that he was alive.
Mr Mladic faces genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity charges before the International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, particularly relating to the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.
"The family has decided to do this as there has been not a single shred of evidence since February 2003 that Mladic is alive," Beta news agency quoted the family lawyer, Milos Saljic, as saying.
Under Serbian law, people who are over 70 years old and have not been heard of for more than five years can be declared dead without a heavy burden of proof, Mr Saljic said.
But as former Bosnian Serb General Mladic would now be 68, the family would have to prove that his health condition made it probable that he was no longer alive, he added. He also requested Mr Mladic's medical files from Belgrade Military hospital, which he said would prove that the suspect had suffered a stroke in 1996, along with other vascular and health problems.
"It is questionable whether Mladic, as someone who needs constant medical attention can live persecuted, in caves or dens," Beta quoted the lawyer as saying.
A court clerk at Belgrade's district court said he was unable to give details of further legal steps following the filing of the motion, officially submitted by the lawyer in the name of Mr Mladic's son.
His family claims Mr Mladic was last seen seven years ago while Serbian authorities say they were aware of the general's movements in Serbia up until three years ago.
Although it is widely believed that Mr Mladic is hiding in Serbia, protected by a handful of hardcore supporters, he was last seen in public at a football match in 2000.
In the past years, Serbian authorities have tried to break a network of his aides, especially among the military, whose assistance he had allegedly used for hiding in remote army barracks.
Mr Mladic is accused of masterminding the 44-month siege of Sarajevo that left 10,000 people dead and the July 1995 massacre of around 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica.
Rasim Ljajic, chairman of Serbia's National Council for cooperation with the ICTY, has vowed that the family's motion will not hamper Belgrade's search for Mr Mladic.
"We will keep up with operative searches for Mladic, this is our obligation and it is in Serbia's interest to fulfil it as soon as possible," Mr Ljajic told Beta.