Posted On: August 10, 2006
Artie Shaw and Contracts to Make a Will
Jazz clarinetist and bandleader Artie Shaw died on December 30, 2004. Mr. Shaw was married eight times -- his last marriage (to the actress Evelyn Keyes, who played Suellen O'Hara in "Gone wiht the Wind") ended in divorce in 1985. However, according to this article, Ms. Keyes has been successful in her attempt to inherit a portion of Mr. Shaw's estate. The basis for her claim is that "[l]ong after they separated but while they were
still married, Shaw wrote a two-page contract in which they promised
each other half of their estates." I discussed these types of agreements -- mutual and reciprocal Wills - here.
