Richard Simmons’ Housekeeper and Brother’s Court Battle Turns Ugly

Richard Simmons’ longtime housekeeper Teresa Muro pleaded with a judge to stop the late entertainer’s brother from selling off his personal property and to block a documentary about the fitness icon, In Touch can exclusively report.

According to court documents obtained by In Touch, Teresa asked a judge to temporarily suspend Richard’s brother Leonard Simmons’ powers as trustee of Richard’s estate.

As In Touch first reported, Teresa filed court documents weeks after Richard’s death claiming that Leonard schemed to take control of the entertainer’s estate. She claimed he had her sign paperwork after Richard’s death that removed her as cotrustee of Richard’s trust.

Teresa claimed she had no idea what she was signing and she was grieving on top of that.

Leonard has yet to respond to her petition. Now, Teresa asked that Leonard not be allowed to sell off Richard’s property or exploit his name for projects.

Her motion read, “Richard Simmons would roll over in his grave if he knew what his brother Leonard has done since his tragic death on July 13, 2024.” She said Richard made it clear that Teresa and Leonard would serve as cotrustees, not Lenard as sole trustee.

Teresa said Leonard recently partnered with Richard’s estranged manager to “pillage Richard’s assets and legacy.”

Her motion read, “During the final years of his life, Richard unequivocally cut ties with [the manager] because he was exploiting Richard’s celebrity without proper authorization and compensation. In fact, Richard stated that he “would rather die” than participate in another project with him.”

The filing continued, “Richard also flatly rejected [the manager’s] attempts to work on a documentary about Richard’s life, proclaiming that he would never work on a project with [the manager] again. Leonard has openly defied Richard’s explicit instructions by getting back into business with [the manager]. Indeed, Leonard has turned over the keys to Richard’s home to [the manager] and, just last Thursday, October 17, 2024, allowed [the manager] to bring in a film crew so he could push forward with an apparent documentary or similar project about Richard, in direct contravention of Richard’s stated wishes.”

Her lawyer added, “Moreover, it appears that Leonard is actively preparing to dispose of numerous of Richard’s personal effects, as he has retained a real estate agent to market Richard’s home where all of his personal effects were maintained and has likely made arrangements to remove Richard’s personal effects from the premises so it can be marketed. Leonard is thus likely also making arrangements to imminently sell, donate, or otherwise dispose of Richard’s personal effects without Teresa’s input, as was envisioned by Richard in the Trust.”

Teresa wrote in a declaration, “Richard lived in the Residence for decades and kept a lot of memorabilia, collectibles, art and other personal items in the home. In addition to being valuable or important because of their association with Richard, many of the Personal Effects are of sentimental value to his friends and family.”

A judge has yet to rule.

In her initial petition, filed on September 24, Teresa said she wanted to honor the wishes of Richard. She said she lived with him for nearly 36 years and “cared for him and was his closest friend and devoted confidant.”

Teresa said Richard named her as one of his successor trustees of his trust. Richard died on July 13 at the age of 76. A rep for the entertainer said Richard’s death was accidental due to complications from falls and heart disease as a contributing factor.

Teresa found Richard’s “lifeless body on his bedroom floor.” In court documents, Teresa claimed she was the victim of a nefarious scheme by Leonard to “wrestle control” over Richard’s trust.

Teresa claimed Richard had not seen his brother in years and the two were not close. Despite this, Teresa said Richard did sign documents requesting Teresa and Leonard serve as cotrustees of his trust. She claimed that while she was grieving Richard’s death, Leonard pressured her into signing documents that removed her as cotrustee and made him the sole trustee of Richard’s trust.

Her lawyer said, “Teresa was overwhelmed by Richard’s sudden death just a few days earlier, the morning’s events at the funeral home and Leonard’s unexpected scare tactics. Moreover, English is not Teresa’s first language.”

Teresa claimed she was “coerced and fraudulently induced to sign” the paperwork.

The petition said, “Richard was buried the next day, July 19, 2024. Within days, Leonard exerted exclusive control over the administration of Richard’s assets and made clear that Teresa would have no role in the decision-making process.” Teresa said Leonard refused to change it back after she realized what had happened.

Richard’s housekeeper pleaded with the court to order her to be added back as cotrustee. The case is ongoing.