Richard Simmons' Housekeeper Wins Seat At The Table In Battle Over Estate Trustee

The battle between Richard Simmons' family and his longtime housekeeper has resulted in a small victory for the former employee.

The drama began in September when Teresa Reveles, the fitness guru's caretaker, claimed his brother had tricked her into giving up her co-trustee rights. She and Leonard Simmons were named as co-trustees of the late entertainer's million-dollar estate.

However, Richard Simmons' family fired back at her motion to be reinstated as a co-trustee of the estate. They argued that the housekeeper's petition was fueled by greed and accused her of tarnishing the wellness influencer's legacy and stealing some of his assets.

According to new reports, a judge has not made a final decision on Teresa's request to be reinstated as co-trustee of Richard's estate. Instead, at the hearing on December 4, the legal umpire appointed her as interim co-trustee until another hearing could be held in January 2025.

While this was not a permanent position, it allowed Teresa to sit on the decision-making table about Richard's estate as she wanted. She has been adamantly fighting for this right over Leonard's alleged refusal to honor her late employer's last wishes.

"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," part of her allegations read.

In Touch reported that her claims continued, "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."

The longtime employee also accused Leonard of conspiring with Richard's ex-manager.

In his response to Teresa's claims, Leonard stressed that she was aware of the documents removing her co-trustee rights when she signed them. As for the alleged conspiracy, he argued that Richard was not estranged from the manager at the time of his death.

Additionally, Leonard painted Teresa as a problem, accusing her of stealing her late employer's jewelry. "Although Teresa has her own home, she had a room in Richard's house that she refused to vacate after his death," his documents read. The allegations continued:

"She participated in the effort to misappropriate the Trust's intellectual property. Teresa's counsel has not informed the Trustee whether Teresa intends to keep this property or return it. If she decides to try to keep it, the Trustee will have no choice but to file a petition to recover it, which is a clear reason she should not be Co-Trustee."

Leonard added in his filing that since Teresa left her co-trustee position, she had "demonstrated strong animosity" towards him. He claimed she was against him for reasons he could not understand, arguing they could not serve as co-trustees with their strained relationship. 

Richard's brother stressed that Teresa's reinstatement would be "counter-productive and almost certainly lead to the appointment of a corporate trustee." Earlier this month, The Blast reported that Leonard had filed a notice about missing assets from the estate.

He claimed he could not find "song lyrics that [Richard] wrote for a Broadway play he was working on and other handwritten notes for social media to be posted the following week." However, unlike the alleged jewelry theft, Leonard did not blame Teresa for the missing items.

Before Leonard's claims of missing belongings, the Simmons family called out Teresa in a scathing statement. Their spokesperson, attorney Tom Estey, claimed Richard would be appalled by his housekeeper's actions, saying:

"Richard's message was always one of joy and positivity. He would be heartbroken to learn of Teresa's greed and insulted that she would diminish their three decades of supposed friendship in such a public way."

The legal rep also slammed Teresa for tarnishing Richard's legacy and attempting to bill the estate for her living expenses. He stressed that she was wasting the beneficiaries' time and assets with her "meritless and pointless litigation."

The legal drama between the Simmons family and Teresa did not stop the sale of Richard's 2012 Land Rover Range Rover Supercharged car. The Blast shared that the vehicle was sold for $30,750 on Tuesday, December 3.

The "Bring A Trailer" auction house claimed the price was a steal as the car had around 18,000 miles and a luxurious interior. It featured 20" rims, leather seats, a wood-trimmed steering wheel, a sunroof, a touchscreen infotainment system, and heated seats.

The Range Rover also has a supercharged 5.0-liter V8 engine with 510 horsepower, 461 lb-ft of torque, and a six-speed automatic transmission. The bonus points continued with the car passing its most recent smog check and obtaining a clean Carfax report.

How will the battle between Richard Simmons' loved ones turn out with his housekeeper's temporary return to the co-trustee table?