Dolly Parton’s Husband Carl Dean’s Will Revealed After His Death

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We’re learning more about the private life of Dolly Parton and her late husband, Carl Dean.

Carl Thomas Dean, who passed away in March at the age of 82, left his entire estate to his wife of 58 years in a trust, according to court documents obtained by Us Weekly on October 9th. He had signed his will back in 2013.

According to the legal documents, Dolly Parton will receive all of her late husband’s possessions related to her career in music and entertainment. This includes things like photos, outfits, jewelry, instruments, and equipment, as well as furniture, artwork, vehicles, and other personal items.

According to reports, Dean’s will also included a handwritten note listing who should get his personal belongings and household items. If this note can’t be found, Dolly Parton—who has requested to manage his estate—will be in charge of dividing those items.

We’re learning more about the private life of Dolly Parton and her late husband, Carl Dean.

Carl Thomas Dean, who passed away in March at age 82, left his entire estate to his wife of 58 years in a trust, as detailed in his 2013 will, according to documents obtained by Us Weekly on October 9th.

According to the legal documents, Dolly Parton will receive all of her late husband’s possessions related to her work as a musician and entertainer. This includes things like photos, outfits, jewelry, instruments, and equipment, as well as furniture, artwork, vehicles, and other personal items.

Oh my gosh, you won’t BELIEVE this! Apparently, Dean said he was going to leave a handwritten note WITH his will, listing exactly who gets all his personal stuff – furniture, clothes, everything! But get this, if they *don’t* find that note, Dolly – yes, *the* Dolly Parton, who’s already asked the court to handle everything – would have to figure out who gets what! Can you imagine Dolly sorting through his belongings? It’s just…everything!

Following Dean’s death, Parton had reflected on their “many wonderful years together.”

Dolly Parton shared a heartfelt message following the death of her husband, whom she married in 1966. “Words can’t express the love we shared for over 60 years,” she said in a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. She also thanked everyone for their prayers and support.

As someone who’s observed a lot of relationships, I’ve always been struck by Dolly Parton and Carl Dean’s. While Dolly blossomed into a global superstar, Carl intentionally lived a very private life, letting her shine. It was a beautiful dynamic. After he passed, she spoke so fondly of their years together, and it really highlighted what a strong, loving partnership they had – a true testament to finding happiness outside the spotlight.

After her husband passed away, the singer of “Jolene” shared a statement on X (formerly Twitter) saying, “Words can’t express how much we loved each other over the past 60 years.” She also thanked everyone for their kind thoughts and prayers.

Over the following months, Dolly Parton shared more about her relationship with Dean, explaining that even though he preferred to stay out of the spotlight, he was always her biggest supporter.

The country singer recently shared with *TopMob News* in May that having someone who loves you unconditionally is incredibly important. She explained that knowing someone accepts you for who you are is a huge comfort, recalling that her partner fell in love with her before she became famous. She hinted at his long-term health issues prior to his passing.

Look back at Dean and Parton’s love story…

After graduating high school in 1964, Dolly Parton moved to Nashville and wasn’t thinking about starting a new romance. She’d recently left two boyfriends back home in Sevierville, Tennessee, and wasn’t interested in finding someone new right away.

Oh my gosh, it’s just… fate! She literally *just* got to Nashville, heading to the laundromat like a normal person, and BAM! There he was – Carl Dean. It was love at first sight, I just *know* it. The story says they met right there on the street, and honestly, it’s the most perfect, serendipitous thing ever! I’ve read about it a million times, and it still gives me chills!

I’ll never forget it. Dean – a truly private man who sadly passed away on March 3, 2025, at 82 and never gave interviews – drove past me in a white Chevy and yelled out, “You’re gonna get sunburnt out here, little lady!” It was such a random, sweet thing to happen, and I’ve remembered it ever since.

In her 2020 book, *Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics*, she wrote that they started talking and quickly fell in love. She also remembered in a later interview how tanned Dean appeared when they first met. At 6-foot-2, he seemed much taller than her 5-foot frame. He had a naturally bronzed look because he was 22 and worked outside with his father, running an asphalt paving business.

Despite the invitation, she didn’t immediately get into his car. As Dolly Parton explained in Stephen Miller’s 2011 biography, *Smart Blonde*, she was cautious, saying, “You have to know someone well before getting in their car, or they might take you somewhere dangerous.” The next day, Parton did invite him to her aunt and uncle’s house, but she only agreed to sit with him outside. He visited her every day for a week, and for their first date, he drove her to meet his parents, because he told her he knew instantly that she was the one he wanted.

As she began to gain recognition as a songwriter, often working with her uncle Bill Owens (who was also her boss, Fred Foster, at Combine Music), Foster cautioned her against getting married. He believed she was about to achieve success as a singer and didn’t want marriage to jeopardize that.

Rather than wait, she and Dean—who had been planning a large wedding—decided to get married immediately. They eloped to Ringgold, Georgia, on May 30, 1966, with only the bride’s mother, Avie Lee Parton, present to witness the ceremony and take their wedding photos.

Foster had no idea his colleagues were married for an entire year – they kept it completely secret. Eventually, a record label executive let it slip, jokingly asking if he was relieved they hadn’t tied the knot, given Parton’s rising fame.

Dolly Parton, known for singing “Jolene,” has shared that her legal name is Dolly Parton Dean, but she decided to keep using her birth name, Dolly Parton, for her music career because she’d already signed a record contract under that name.

She jokingly told *The Guardian* in 2014, “If I’d gone by the name Dolly Dean, I would have ended up with the nickname ‘Double D’ all over again!”

Dolly Parton once brought her husband to the BMI Awards in 1966, where both she and Roy Owens received recognition in the country music field for co-writing the song “Put It Off Until Tomorrow.”

As soon as they left, Dean began taking off his tuxedo, even before they got to the car. Dolly Parton wrote that he told her, ‘I’m happy for you, and I want you to follow your dreams. But please don’t ever ask me to attend another event like that, because I absolutely won’t.’ And he never has gone to one since.

This award marked the beginning of an impressive collection for her, with a total of 48 BMI Awards alongside 10 Grammys (plus a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011), nine Country Music Association Awards, and 13 Academy of Country Music Awards—not to mention many other honors.

But the real prize was always waiting for Parton at home.  

When people ask the secret to my long and happy marriage, I always joke and say, ‘Stay gone!,'” the *9 to 5* star told *People* magazine in 2018. “There’s a lot of truth to that—I do travel a lot. But we truly appreciate each other when we *are* together, and it’s the small moments that matter most.”

Dolly Parton remembers one of their first dates was at a McDonald’s drive-thru in her husband’s Chevy. Even with Parton’s net worth estimated at $440 million in 2023 by Forbes, they kept things simple as a couple. They continued to enjoy local restaurants and often took road trips, with Ringgold—the place where they got married—being a frequent destination.

Dolly Parton shared in 2014 that she enjoys simple pleasures like reading and cooking. She especially loves spending time with her husband and traveling in their RV. Even after long tours, she often suggests they take off in the camper, despite her husband playfully questioning her energy levels. She describes herself as a free spirit who thrives on being on the road, and finds life much calmer when she’s away from the public eye.

Though if you wanted to catch her and Dean at Publix or Walmart, you had to stay up late.

Dolly Parton shared that she used to go shopping in the middle of the night at 24-hour stores. Speaking to reporters in 2019 at the premiere of her Netflix series, *Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings*, she said she often had good luck finding what she needed. While she enjoys being around people, she prefers to shop quickly without getting stopped or slowed down.

Fans have often wondered about Dolly Parton’s husband because there haven’t been many public photos of them together. As she explained in her 2020 book, this has even led some to believe he’s not real! However, the singer has occasionally shared older photos of the two of them.

She playfully featured her husband on the cover of her 1969 album, *My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy*. The image combined a picture of Parton lost in thought with a depiction of her strong, outdoorsman husband wearing a lumberjack shirt.

Parton understood Dean didn’t like attention, so she made sure to shield him from the public eye whenever she could.

She told *ET* in 2020 that he’s a very private person and worried becoming famous would mean losing all his privacy—and she believes he was right about that.

For their 50th wedding anniversary, Parton and her husband renewed their vows at home, and she finally had the chance to wear the beautiful wedding dress she’d always dreamed of. She also wrote a song, “Forever Love,” to accompany their vows. This song was one of several on her 2016 album, Pure and Simple, all inspired by their lasting love story.

She described their second wedding day, telling *Rolling Stone* that she wore a stunning gown and made sure her husband looked like a classic Hollywood star. They kept the celebration small and intimate with close family and friends, intentionally avoiding any stress or fuss. They had a simple ceremony at their home chapel and focused on enjoying the moment.

In addition to being asked about the keys to a happy marriage, Dolly Parton also received questions about why she and her husband, Dean, never had children.

Dolly Parton once thought she’d be sad about not having children. She and her husband initially expected to have kids and weren’t taking precautions against it – they even picked out names! But it never happened. Now, she believes she was meant to be a mother figure to everyone else’s children instead.

She told The Guardian that if they’d had a daughter, they would have named her Carla. She and Dean often wondered what their children would have been like.

Dolly Parton believes she would have been a wonderful mother, but it would have meant sacrificing her career. She thinks she would have felt too guilty leaving children to pursue her work, and ultimately, she probably wouldn’t have become famous.

But as the fourth of 12 siblings, she has had plenty of people in her life to dote on.

I’m incredibly close to my family; for many years, five of my younger siblings lived with my husband, Carl, and me. We also have a strong bond with our nieces and nephews. Now that Carl and I are getting older, we often joke about how glad we are we didn’t have children, because we don’t have to worry about them the way some people do.

Which also left more time to focus on each other.

Dolly Parton shared that she and her husband still enjoy small, special moments together. She recalled how, every spring when the first daffodils bloom, even if there’s still snow on the ground, he brings her a bouquet and a little poem. She described these gestures as incredibly meaningful – like a perfect date.

They found joy in simple moments, whether it was a cozy dinner at home or a basic overnight trip – as long as the accommodation was clean and had a bathroom. They were at their best when they were just being themselves.

Even though Dean never attended events like the Grammys or Oscars, Dolly Parton is almost always fully made up – she even wears mascara to bed! – and doesn’t need a special occasion to look glamorous. Because of this, Dean often saw his wife looking her best.

You know, I always like to put my best foot forward, especially for someone I care about – I just can’t stand the thought of letting myself go! But honestly, my partner is wonderfully supportive. He really just wants me to be happy and loves me for who I am, regardless of what I’m wearing or how I choose to present myself. It’s such a relief to be with someone who accepts me completely.

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2025-10-10 01:18