Sherman Hemsley Death: Body Remains in Storage While Will Is Sorted Out

Former manager and alleged brother fight over actor's estate

It's been over a month since the world lost Sherman Hemsley, however The Jeffersons star has yet to be laid to rest.

A spokesperson for the actor confirms to E! News that Hemsley's embalmed body will be kept in refrigeration at an El Paso, Texas, funeral home until a local court rules on the validity of his will.

There seems to be a dispute between Flora Enchinton, Hemsley's manager of over 20 years and "beloved partner," and Richard Thornton, a man who claims to be the actor's brother. 

In the will Hemsley signed six weeks before his death, the TV legend named Enchinton as sole beneficiary of his estate, which is estimated at more than $50,000 according to court documents. But Thornton is saying that the will may not have been written up by Hemsley.

"Some people come out of the woodwork—they think Sherman, they think money," Enchinton—who, at one point, had lived with Hemsley and his friend Kenny Johnston—said. "But the fact it [sic] that I did not know Sherman when he was in the limelight. I met them when they (Hemsley and Johnston) came running from Los Angeles with not one penny, when there was nothing but struggle."

Enchinton also shared that throughout the time she'd known Hemsley, she never heard him speak of any relatives.

The spokesman also tells E! News, "We live in a country where anyone who wants to contest anything has the right opportunity and freedom to do that. We are confident that this will be resolved on September 24 and that Sherman can be laid to rest, and Flora and everyone that was in his life can begin the grieving process."

Our source says they are hoping to hold a public memorial for Hemsley in the fall in Los Angeles.

—Reporting by Holly Passalaqua