Did Gary Coleman's Wife Have Authority to 'Pull Plug?'

By PopEater Staff Posted Jun 2nd 2010 06:55PM

Several news outlets are reporting a surprising twist in the Gary Coleman tragedy -- his wife, Shannon Price, might not have had the right to remove Coleman from life support. In fact, Entertainment Tonight has obtained court papers confirming that the actor was divorced from Price at the time of his death. Coleman, 42, was taken off life support on Friday with Price's permission.

Update: Hospital Confirms Gary Coleman's Ex Did Have Medical Authority

Coleman's former lawyer Randy Kester is also speaking out, telling PEOPLE, "I can confirm they've been divorced since August 12, 2008. At the time of Gary's death, they were not married. I have no knowledge if they were ever remarried." His lawyer went on to say, "Gary wanted me to keep their divorce private but now that it's been made public, I'm compelled to say it's all true."

Eariler in the day, Kester told UsMagazine, "Some people have raised the issue that they saw Gary and Shannon on 'Divorce Court' and now there's some questions about whether or not they were married at the time of the death and whether [Shannon] had the authority to pull the plug at the hospital." In 2008, Coleman and Price went on 'Divorce Court' in an effort to solve some marital issues.

Kester went on to say, "Some people in the public are raising issues whether she had authority to do that and if she has authority to be making funeral arrangements, and exactly where she fits into his estate."

"I think there's going to be some developing controversy about some issues of authority," he concluded.

When reached for comment by PEOPLE, Janet Frank, spokeswoman for the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center where Coleman was treated said, "Shannon certainly portrayed herself as his wife to our staff and doctors. We assumed she was telling the truth. We can't comment on specific details in Mr. Coleman's case, but in general, any patient on life support is thoroughly evaluated medically before life support is ended."

"We're definitely concerned about this and we're looking into what exactly happened here," Frank continued.

This controversial news comes hours after details from the Coleman 911 tape was released to the press. On the tape, Price seems reluctant to help the actor stating she didn't "want to be traumatized right now" since she had a fever.

Tags: Gary Coleman, Shannon Price

Comments

(43)

Wednesday 02 June

By Steffen Jobbs

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I think it's a little late to be quibbling over "plug-pulling" rights.

Thursday 03 June

By sheesh

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Its not a matter of " quibbling over pull the plug" issues, now its a question of murder. If she was not married to him she had no say in anything. Also if the hospital puts you on life support they have to keep it on for a least three mandatory days... phhhshawww, she murdered him. Poor guy never had a chance in life. Everyone screwed him, including his ex.. but Gary will have the last laugh

By babygirl

For real!

By cjd99d

She was on his insurance policy. hmmmm

By crazyloc

I THINK THIS WOMAN MURDERED GARY COLEMAN. She was pretty quick on that decision. Maybe she did'nt want to chance him waking up and telling everybody that she pushed him down the stairs, or hit him upside his head with something.

By Linda

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HIGHLY DOUBT HE WAS ON HER INSURANCE POLICY SINCE THEY WERE NOT MARRIED..BUT IT SURE AS HELL SOUNDS GOOD ENOUGH TO GET EVERYONE GOING ON THESE POSTS! MORON! UNLESS YOU CAN PROVE SHE WAS ON HIS INSURANCE POLICY THEN WHAT YOU SAY IS PURE BS. NOTHING MORE, NOTHING LESS..JUST BS!!!

By RAS

Well if he was divorced and still living with her and did not change or have a living will..then so be it. The doctors would not have ever given an option to pull the plug if he was already brain dead. Now if his accident was really an accident..that needs to be looked into

By Ro

First of all, if anybody thinks they got a divorce because they appeared on "Divorce Court" i I have a bridge in Brooklyn I can see to you cheap. That tv Court is a "Show" not a genuine divorce court. People - including Mr & Mrs Coleman - were on that show because they were paid to be there (in my opinion). GC has been broke for quite a number of years, and it was a good way to get a hold of some cash. I don't know if they were or were not married at time of death, but they certainly didn't get a divorce on "Divorce Court".

By terri

How you know? Who make you an expert!

By Tee K

Divorce Court, just like the rest of the TV court shows, involves a real judge and real decisions. The shows are not courtrooms though; rather the process is actually "binding arbitration".

In other words, what is decided is actually legally binding despite it not taking place in a "real" courtroom.

(sidebar: y'all need to read about what REALLY happens during those TV court shows....)

i meant to say the doctors would not have given the option to pull the plug if he was not already brain dead

By percy

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i dont see how all these famous black male artist,and basketball players want all these white girls,what is it about them.but by the way i wish i had one or two.

By janequilla

I know, they are worse than black women. Wake-up they just want your money, they don't care anything about you. White woman has been a gold digger for years. Ball players get hurt and see how fast she will sing, "ready to sign them papers".

By MelissaJ

And you call whites racist??? WHAT does being a white woman have to do with it??? "Absolutely Nothing!" If his wife had been black, latina, asian, etc...would you be saying the same thing?? Get a grip! You may have had "white women" take advantage of you...for I am certain it has happened...but however, RACE has nothing to do with anything.

By Tired

It may be that Gary Coleman had a "Living Will" that stated his wishes in event of something like this.

By comenowletsrock

Wow she didnt want to be traumatized she must have really "loved" her husband She shouldnt get a dime from his estate and shouldnt even be allowed at the the funeral if she did nothing to help him in the house when he fell besides yell directions at him because she had a fever and didnt want to be traumatized, thats just crazy they need to investigate this and see if his fall didnt start with a slight push

By Trish

It wasn't a secret that G. colman was divorced, I remember seeing something about it on the news a while back. Boy people have short memories.

By icdou007

I was thinking about why the plug was pulled so quick. I wonder about that marriage. It matters because if she didn't have the right, she could be in trouble for lets say something!

By Pialamotem

Perhaps the hospital had a say in how quick the plug was pulled. Intensive Care is expensive and if he didn't have the money for insurance or for private pay, they wouldn't have wanted to keep him on life support any longer than necessary. If he was brain dead, 48 hours would be long enough to meet protocol for termination of life support. Sadly, he was estranged from his parents, so who is to say who had the right to pull the plug.

By ann

Did Mr. Coleman have family

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