His estate is reportedly valued at $50,000.
"Brother", huh? I wonder if Richard had a wife or any kidsIt was revealed in August that Hemsleys body had not been buried amid a legal dispute between his former manager and self-proclaimed business partner and live-in best friend Flora Enchinton who was named as the sole beneficiary in his will and a Philadelphia man, Richard Thornton, who claims to be the actors brother. Thornton filed a civil lawsuit disputing the validity of the will, signed by Hemsley one month prior to his death.
There is only one person in the world who I believe Sherman would call a sister, and that is my mother, Reverend Michael George Wells, a minister at Arch Street United Methodist Church who claims to be a cousin on Hemsleys mothers side told the El Paso Times, adding that he believes Enchinton was not close to Sherman and that the Thorntons were not related to the late actor. We are family, and we are not looking for money. But if we are entitled to something, we dont want anyone else to have it, he told The Times.