Larry King’s widow went to court to challenge a handwritten will pretending to divide the talk show host’s estate among his children.
Shawn Southwick King claims that her husband had ‘questionable mental capacity’ when the will was signed, just two months after he filed for divorce. According to her lawyers, King had just had a stroke and was susceptible to ‘outside influences’.
King died on January 23 at the age of 87. He is survived by Shawn and their two children, Cannon and Chance, as well as Larry King Jr., a son from a previous relationship. At the time of his death, the divorce had not yet been finalized.
In a petition filed on February 10, Larry Jr. filed the handwritten will dated October 17, 2019, which states that King wants “100% of my funds to be divided equally among my children.”
At the time, King had five children. Two of them – Chaia and Andy – died in 2020 with weeks apart.
In her documentation Tuesday, Shawn argues that the handwritten will has “no legal consequences at all.” She states that this is contrary to the will he signed in 2015, in which she was appointed as executor of the estate. She was also made the sole trustee of the King Family Trust, which apparently owns most of her husband’s assets.
She also accuses her stepson of exercising undue influence on his father during his waning years. She claims she recently discovered a ‘secret account’, from which King gave his son more than $ 260,000. She claims it was improper gifts of community property, and suggests she try to recover it or all of it.
In his petition, Larry Jr. argued that his father and Shawn were no longer together at the time of his death. Their house was sold and they lived separately.
But Shawn’s lawyers claim that King made the divorce petition disappear, and that the couple could still reconcile.
“After the filing, the parties went to counseling, they were still talking, and reconciliation was possible until Larry’s health conditions made it impractical,” reads her documentation.
Larry Jr. asked the court to appoint him a special administrator of the estate. He also said new officers should be appointed for his father’s businesses: Larry King Enterprises and LK Productions. He said someone had to pay different bills, and that King’s assistant and medical assistants had not been paid. He also claims that online marketers are infringing on King’s parable, and that action must be taken to stop it.
Shawn on Tuesday denied that the companies are loans that are no longer active due to her husband’s death. She also declares that they are part of the trust she controls.
According to Shawn’s submission, King of Larry Jr. ‘s mother divorced before Larry Jr. She states that King never met his son until he was in his thirties, and that he was previously unaware of the existence of Larry Jr.
“Submitter has never been involved in Larry’s career or business, and it would be highly inappropriate to place him in the position of Larry’s estate,” reads her documentation.
A trial is tentatively set for Feb. 24 in Los Angeles Attorney’s Court.