Twitty Widow Will Get Share

NASHVILLE - Conway Twitty's widow will likely receive her share of the late country music singer's estate even though she was not named in his will, a family spokeswoman said yesterday.

State law entitles Twitty's widow, Dee Henry Jenkins, to one-third of his assets even though she was not named in the signed will drafted in 1982, five years before they were married, said family spokeswoman Susan Andrews.

Twitty's four children, who were left his estate in the will, will not likely oppose Jenkins' claim to her share, Andrews said.

"Conway Twitty provided for her in the event of his death through life insurance, personal property and the entitlement to one-third of the estate by Tennessee law," Andrews said.

The two, who were married in 1987, had been working on an updated will and trust plan over the last five years, but the document was never completed or signed.

His estate will be divided among his four children as spelled out in the 1982 will, which was amended in 1984 to remove as a beneficiary Twitty's then-wife, Temple M. Jenkins, whom he was in the processing of divorcing. Twitty's real name was Harold Jenkins.