Mark Elling

I find the one idea inside a lecture that changes how you see money.

[Mark Elling @markelling_]

@judithstephen Agreed, 22 years is a lifetime. But he filed for divorce first. Does that change anything for you?

[Mark Elling @markelling_]

Larry King was married to his seventh wife for 22 years. His last will split his $2 million among five children and left her nothing.

It was one handwritten page, dated October 17, 2019. Two months earlier he had filed for divorce.

He put it in writing:

“100% of my funds to be divided equally among my children Andy, Chaia, Larry Jr., Chance and Cannon.”

And one more line: “It should replace all previous writings.”

The previous writing was a 2015 will. It made his wife Shawn executor and sole trustee of the family trust that controlled his name and likeness.

Then the year went wrong. In July 2020 his son Andy died of a heart attack. Weeks later his daughter Chaia died of lung cancer. Two of the five names on the page were gone.

In January 2021 King died at 87. The divorce was never finalized. His eldest son filed the handwritten page in court.

The case for Shawn. Her lawyers said Larry “was not pushing the divorce.” She says the last thing he told her was: “I love you, take care of the boys.”

She fought the will. It ended in a confidential settlement.

Here’s the lesson. A divorce filing proves nothing. A will proves everything. One page outranked 22 years.

In the video, Shawn talks about her husband after his death. Watch her, then decide. A wife cut out over a divorce he never finished, or a man who wrote down exactly what he wanted?

[Mark Elling @markelling_]

@deereo93 True, she didn’t walk away empty-handed. Makes you wonder how much the kids gave up to end it. Worth it for them?

[Mark Elling @markelling_]

@TyhonneB Not quite. Being married doesn’t override a will, but she may still have had a claim to community property. That’s probably why it settled. Do you think she got a fair deal?

[Mark Elling @markelling_]

@gobrien86720525 Rumors were everywhere when they split, but none of it was ever proven. Do you think it would have changed the will if it were?

[Mark Elling @markelling_]

@djkabzx Technically you’re right. Eight marriages, seven wives. He married one of them twice. Would you have been brave enough?

[Mark Elling @markelling_]

@AlphaVMan That’s a great memory. What was the play? I’d love to know what she was like on stage.

[Mark Elling @markelling_]

@WhartoniteWG That’s my read too. The page covered the cash, the trust covered the rest. Do you think Shawn’s settlement touched the trust or just the $2 million?

[Mark Elling @markelling_]

@Melvjj47 Fair enough. Forget the writing for a second, though. Which part of the story did you think was wrong

[Mark Elling @markelling_]

@keriexotic1 @Josephine4kr5ww @DjDJRJames1 Seven weddings will do that. Do you think he regretted any of them, or just the lawyers’ bills?

[Mark Elling @markelling_]

@keriexotic1 @CSharp192623170 A lot of people agree with you. Then again, the kids would say they lost two siblings and a father in one year. Who do you think had the stronger claim?

[Mark Elling @markelling_]

@Cracked_Canoe That’s just what the handwritten page covered. The rest was likely in trusts. What would you have guessed he was worth?

[Mark Elling @markelling_]

@andymke It’s sad. Losing two kids within weeks, and then he was gone a few months later. Nice memory of the radio days

[Mark Elling @markelling_]

@Wangu_w_Makeri Ha. On paper, maybe. The nurse just didn’t have seven weddings to pay for.

[Mark Elling @markelling_]

@DjDJRJames1 That’s just the part on paper. Rich people rarely keep their fortune where a one-page note can reach it

[Mark Elling @markelling_]

@VittonSue Only on that one page. The rest was likely in trusts the note never touched

[Mark Elling @markelling_]

@brass263 Good instinct. The $2 million was just what the handwritten page covered. The rest was likely sitting in trusts

[Mark Elling @markelling_]

@Bob_Loblaw2022 Pretty much. He earned like a TV legend and divorced like one too

[Mark Elling @markelling_]

@pho_nen Fair point that it’s never simple. But a will doesn’t have to be fair. It has to be valid. That’s what the lawyers fight about

[Mark Elling @markelling_]

@diablomediablo Deal. Though at $397 billion, boring becomes a full-time job.

[Mark Elling @markelling_]

Larry King was married to his seventh wife for 22 years. His last will split his $2 million among five children and left her nothing.

It was one handwritten page, dated October 17, 2019. Two months earlier he had filed for divorce.

He put it in writing:

“100% of my funds to be divided equally among my children Andy, Chaia, Larry Jr., Chance and Cannon.”

And one more line: “It should replace all previous writings.”

The previous writing was a 2015 will. It made his wife Shawn executor and sole trustee of the family trust that controlled his name and likeness.

Then the year went wrong. In July 2020 his son Andy died of a heart attack. Weeks later his daughter Chaia died of lung cancer. Two of the five names on the page were gone.

In January 2021 King died at 87. The divorce was never finalized. His eldest son filed the handwritten page in court.

The case for Shawn. Her lawyers said Larry “was not pushing the divorce.” She says the last thing he told her was: “I love you, take care of the boys.”

She fought the will. It ended in a confidential settlement.

Here’s the lesson. A divorce filing proves nothing. A will proves everything. One page outranked 22 years.

In the video, Shawn talks about her husband after his death. Watch her, then decide. A wife cut out over a divorce he never finished, or a man who wrote down exactly what he wanted?