Actor’s remains to be cremated after two days
2010-06-15 16:15
A judge has ordered that actor Gary Coleman’s remains be cremated
after 48 hours.
Fourth District Judge James Taylor says he will appoint an
independent attorney to oversee Coleman’s estate and the cremation of his
remains until a dispute between Coleman’s ex-wife and his ex-girlfriend is
settled.
The judge says he will name Utah attorney Robert Jeffs the special
administrator of Coleman’s estate. Jeffs wasn’t notified of the ruling in
advance and wasn’t at the hearing. He did not immediately return a call to his
office seeking comment.
Coleman’s ex-wife, Shannon Price, and his former girlfriend and
manager, Anna Gray, both contend they are the lawful administrators of his
estate.
Gray is named in a 2005 will, and the judge delayed Coleman’s
cremation so Gray could travel to Utah and see his body before it is
cremated.
Price is named in a 2007 handwritten note by Coleman that’s
intended to amend any earlier wills. The note names Price as the sole
heir.
One of Coleman’s friends and former managers, Dion Mial, yesterday
withdrew his petition to be named as the special administrator of Coleman’s
estate. Mial was named in a 1999 will by Coleman, but his attorney said the will
that names Gray takes precedence because it’s more recent. Coleman stated in
both wills that he wanted to be cremated.
Price and Gray each say they should be responsible for
administering the estate of the Diff’rent Strokes star. Price’s attorneys
objected to the judge’s decision to give Gray 48 hours to view Coleman one last
time.
Gray’s attorney, Randy Kester, said she wanted to see Coleman one
more time for sentimental reasons. He said Coleman and Gray knew each other for
eight years and that she moved to Utah and lived with him briefly before he and
Price became romantically involved in 2005 on the set of the comedy Church
Ball.
Price’s attorneys contend she is the rightful heir to Coleman’s
estate because even though the two divorced in 2008, she was still his
common-law wife. Court documents say the couple continued to live together,
shared bank accounts and presented themselves as husband and wife.
It wasn’t publicly known the two had divorced until after Coleman
died on May 28 after suffering a brain haemorrhage.
- Sapa - AP