Larry King's widow Shawn to go to court for a share of his $2M estate after she was secretly cut out of his will
Larry King's widow Shawn Southwick King has recently claimed that she was completely blindsided to learn that she was left out of a handwritten amendment to her husband's will, keeping her from receiving any inheritance. And now, reportedly claiming that someone pressured into drawing it up, she says she plans to challenge it in court.
On October 17, 2019, King penned a handwritten note ensuring an even-split of his $2 million estate to his five children in the event of his death. On January 23, 2021, King died of sepsis at the age of 87 in Los Angeles after battling Covid-19.
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King's seventh wife Shawn believes that the handwritten amendment, which would have been written two months after he filed for divorce from her, reportedly said that she will now go to court to fight for her share claiming external pressure on the renowned journalist.
“We had a very watertight family estate plan,” the 61-year-old said in a report to Page Six, adding that they wrote the plan “as a couple” in 2015. “It still exists, and it is the legitimate will. Period. And I fully believe it will hold up, and my attorneys are going to be filing a response, probably by the end of the day.”
In her account to the publication, Shawn also claimed that she had become close with her former husband despite the reports of their separation and they spoke to each other every day. In fact, Shawn had also said that King's last words to her were over a video call from the hospital: "I love you, take care of the boys." She also added that her sons with King — 21-year-old Chance and 20-year-old Cannon — were also 'shocked' to learn that she had been written out of the inheritance. "They are not happy about this," Shawn said. The reports add that Shawn responded 'yes' and did not elaborate further when questioned about the alleged pressure King was facing when writing the amendment.
Actually, the legalities surrounding King's inheritance were already an issue before Shawn's latest threat of legal action. According to the amendment, King said, "This is my Last Will & Testament. It should replace all previous writings." He went on to write that he wanted 100 percent of his money to be "divided equally among my children Andy, Chaia, Larry Jr, Chance and Cannon". However, Andy and Chaia both died within a month of each other in 2020.
At the same time, what makes it even more complex of an issue is that King's divorce from Shawn was still ongoing and was not yet completed at the time of his death in January 2021. The pair had filed for divorce in August 2019, but it had not yet been settled in court. They were married for 22 years, making it the longest of any of King's eight marriages.
According to reports, should Shawn be successful in winning a share of the money, it would probably only get her $300,000. At $2 million, the estate is not massive and a division between her, King's three surviving children, and the descendants of Andy and Chaia, would render it a small amount. But "it's the principle," she said.
When asked about why he may have amended his will, Shawn said, "It beats me!"
During their divorce, King had reportedly said, that their 26-year gap and religious differences, took a toll on the marriage. “We had a big age difference and that eventually takes its toll,” King told People. “It became an issue. Also, [Shawn] is a very religious Mormon and I’m an agnostic atheist, so that eventually causes little problems.” He said that his near-fatal stroke in May 2019 put things into perspective for the talk show host and that he realized that he wanted to be “happy”.