Shawn Southwick King has claimed she and Larry King were working towards "reconciliation" before his health declined

Shawn insisted Larry, who died last month aged 87, had shown to "indication" he wanted their divorce to go ahead and they had even been attending counselling together with a view to repairing their relationship.

Her court documents stated: "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.

"After the filing, the parties had gone to counseling, were still speaking, and reconciliation remained possible until Larry's health conditions made that impractical."

She also claimed she was "actively involved" in Larry's business dealings and has "the most knowledge" of his assets and wishes at the time of his death, which she contrasted with the lack of relationship 59-year-old Larry Jr. had with his dad until he was in his 30s, and so she has asked to be named a special administrator.

According to People magazine, her documents said: "[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," state the court papers.

Shawn revealed she and Larry had drafted a Family Trust in 2015 that is "still in existence" and gave her "all the powers of the sole shareholder" for several of the reporter's businesses.

In his will, Larry has asked for his estate to be split equally among his five children, Larry, Chance, 21, and Cannon, 20, as well as Andy and Chaia, who both passed away several months after the document was filed.

It stated: "This is my Last Will & Testament. 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."

In 2010, Larry first filed for divorce from Shawn, who was Larry's seventh wife and is the mother of Chance and Cannon, but retracted the paperwork three months later. He then submitted the paperwork to end their marriage again in 2019, citing irreconcilable differences.