Larry King's widow contests late TV host's amended will, claims he had 'questionable mental capacity' at the time

Larry King ’s widow has challenged his handwritten will in court. According to the will, the talk show host’s estate will be divided among his children. As per a report by Variety, Shawn Southwick King argues that her husband had “questionable mental capacity” at the time the will was signed, barely two months after he filed for divorce. According to her lawyers, King had suffered a stroke and was susceptible to “outside influences.” The report added that in a petition submitted on 10 February, following Larry King’s death, Larry Jr, submitted a handwritten will, dated 17 October 2019 where it was mentioned that King wanted his $2million estate to be divided equally among his children. At the time of the will, King had five children, but two of them, Chaia and Andy, passed away weeks apart in 2020. In her filing Shawn has argued that the handwritten will has no legal effect and states that it conflicts with the will he signed in 2015 where she was named executor of the estate. Shawn was also made the sole trustee of King Family Trust as well. Shawn accuses her stepson of exerting undue influence over his father in his later years, claiming that she recently discovered a secret account from which Larry gave his son more than $260,000. On his part, while Larry Jr argued that his father and Shawn were no longer at the time of his death, Shawn’s attorney’s contests that Larry had allowed the divorce petition to languish, the couple still could have reconciled. Larry Jr has asked the court to appoint him a special administrator of the estate and has asked new officers to be appointed for his father’s companies. Shawn has, however, said the companies are loan-out companies, which do not have active business due to her husband’s death. She also states they are part of the trust that she controls. According to a recent report by Independent, Larry King’s death certificate has now revealed that his immediate cause of death was sepsis and not the coronavirus. The veteran television host had passed away on 23 January at the age of 87 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he had been admitted after contracting COVID-19.