Larry King's Widow Shawn Contests Will, Says Late TV Host 'Wasn't Pushing The Divorce'

Larry King's widow, Shawn Southwick King, is fighting a handwritten will that omitted her from his estate.

After earlier announcing that she wanted to contest Larry's will, the estranged widow of the legendary TV host has now challenged the validity of the will and his son Larry King Jr.'s request to be appointed as administrator of the estate, according to court documents obtained by People.

Shawn, who had been married to Larry for over two decades before he filed for divorce in 2019, claimed in the papers that they were working on a possible reconciliation.

"Larry was not pushing the divorce and was generally nonresponsive and refused to participate in the divorce proceeding. He gave no indication that he actually wanted to pursue divorce," the court documents read. "After the filing, the parties had gone to counseling, were still speaking, and reconciliation remained possible until Larry's health conditions made that impractical."

Shawn added that she was "actively involved" in Larry's business dealings. She also claimed to have "the most knowledge" of his assets and last wishes so she hopes to be the administrator of his estate instead of Larry Jr., whom she said had no relationship with his dad until he was in his 30s.

"[Larry Jr] has never been involved in Larry's career or business, and it would be highly inappropriate to place him in a position of representing Larry's estate," the document said.

Last week, a copy of Larry's handwritten will resurfaced, showing he had requested that his entire estate be divided equally among his five children — sons Larry Jr., 59, Cannon, 20, and Chance, 21, and late son Andy and late daughter Chaia.

"This is my Last Will & Testament," the document stated. "It should replace all previous writings. In the event of my death, any day after the above date I want 100% [placed above illegible cross-out] of my funds to be divided equally among my children Andy, Chaia, Larry Jr., Chance & Cannon."

The handwritten will was dated Oct. 17, 2019, two months after he filed for divorce from Shawn, his seventh wife, whom he married in 1997. However, he died last month before their split was settled in court.

Larry died on Jan. 23 at the age of 87 due to sepsis, according to his death certificate. He was hospitalized weeks before his passing after he tested positive for COVID-19.