Larry King's wife, "I'm not going to fight a dying man"

Larry Kingwife, Shawn, is not going to declare war on her now separated husband who has just filed for divorce … because doctors told him of his death.

Sources who spoke directly to Shawn told TMZ that Shawn had been having problems with Larry for years – and Larry with her – but she says the problem is more serious. Larry came in and out of the hospital in the last six months and she says the doctors told her that Larry did not have a lot of time to live.

We are told that Larry was at Cedars-Sinai's cardiac USI at the end of April, at the same time. John Singleton was in intensive care. Our sources say the doctors told him that Larry could live for a very short time – they were clearly wrong. Larry was transferred to a 24-hour health facility and returned to the hospital.

TMZ broke the story … Larry asked for a divorce Tuesday because we were told that their 2 children came to see him and urged him to divorce. A source on Shawn's side said that only one of their children had urged him to divorce.

In terms of what triggered things … we were told that Shawn came to Larry's bedside and asked him to adjust his will / confidence. Sources related to Larry say that Shawn's finale consisted of getting more for herself and stealing the children from their heritage. Sources on Shawn's side call BS, saying the estate planning lawyer had asked Larry and Shawn to update the documentation. When he was told that he had days to live, she was content to follow, but in no way tried to flirt with her children.

The couple would have celebrated her 22nd wedding anniversary in two weeks. It's his 8th wedding.