This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The battle for the estate of Gary Coleman will hit a Provo courtroom today in a two-day trial that pits the late actor's former wife against the head of Coleman's corporation.
The case hinges on whether Coleman and his former spouse, Shannon Price, continued living as husband and wife even after their 2008 divorce until Coleman's death on May 28, 2010.
The head of Coleman's corporation, Anna Gray, of Portland, has a 2005 will signed by Coleman naming her as the executor and beneficiary to his estate.
Price claims that Coleman had a handwritten codicil, or amendment, to the will in 2007 that gives all assets to her, including their $315,000 home in Santaquin. There is a question of whether that codicil is valid given the couple divorced.
The bench trial before 4th District Court Judge James R. Taylor is scheduled to last two days.
Price has filed a witness list that includes members of her family and residents of Santaquin — where she and Coleman lived — who will testify that Price and Coleman continued living as a couple and had joint finances until Coleman's death. One of Price's witnesses is a Utah Division of Workforce Services employee who will testify Coleman and Price filed for public assistance together.
Gray's witness list includes other residents of Santaquin who will testify about "the quality of the relationship" between Coleman and Price and statements each of them made, according to court documents.
Coleman was best known for his role on the television comedy "Diff'rent Strokes," which aired from 1978 to 1986. Coleman was taken off life support in a Provo hospital after suffering a fall in his home days earlier that resulted in a brain injury. He was 42.
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