Shelley Duvall, best known for her role as Wendy Torrance in Stanley Kubrick’s horror film The Shining, has passed away at the age of 75 after a battle with diabetes. The actress left behind her partner of over 30 years, musician Dan Gilroy, her co-star in Disney Channel’s 1990 musical film Mother Goose Rock ‘n’ Rhyme, and an estate said to be worth in the six figures. Court documents exclusively obtained by In Touch reveal that Gilroy has filed a court petition to be appointed administrator of Duvall’s estate and to be awarded his share of her estate as a common law spouse. It appears that Duvall died intestate.
Though she never had any children, Duvall is survived by three brothers, who have yet to respond to the petition. However, according to In Touch, the judge presiding over the case has appointed a lawyer to represent the interest of any heirs who have not responded in court yet and has asked that all relief sought be denied.
Common Law Marriage
In his filing, Gilroy asks the court award him 100% of community real property, 50% of separate real property and 100% of community and separate personal property, and that the brothers be awarded one-sixth of the separate real property. The court documents state that Duvall’s assets consisted of cash, personal effects, household goods and real estate, including the house in which she and Gilroy lived in and 10.676 acres.
Gilroy and Duvall moved to a small town in Texas from Los Angeles in 1994, following damage to their home from the 1994 Northridge earthquake. According to Section 2.401 of the Texas Family Code, in order to prove a common law marriage, Gilroy must show that he and Duvall: (1) agreed to be married; (2) after the agreement they lived together in the state of Texas as husband and wife; and they represented to others that they were married.
What Can Gilroy Get?
Since Duvall has no children, under Texas law, as a surviving common law spouse, Gilroy would be entitled to all the community property. Separate personal property will also go to Gilroy, if he meets the burden of proving a common law marriage existed. Separate real property will be split down the middle between the surviving spouse and the deceased’s parents, siblings or siblings’ descendants, in that order. Since Duvall is survived by her three brothers, it appears that Gilroy correctly asked the court to award them one-sixth of the real property. If Gilroy fails to meet the burden to prove a common law marriage, Duvall’s siblings stand to inherit her estate equally.
After a 21-year acting hiatus, Duvall appeared in the 2023 indie horror The Forrest Hills. In the years prior, Duvall’s mental health has long been the subject of much speculation, including her public acknowledgment of the toll that the grueling, prolonged filming of The Shining took on her, as well as a controversial 2016 Dr. Phil interview in which she displayed some erratic behavior.
It remains to be seen how her brothers will respond to the petition and whether her mental health and mental capacity to understand the commitment and consequences of marriage will be raised as a factor.
