If you are thinking about naming successor co-trustees to administer your trust, you must carefully consider if the individuals are likely to get along when the time comes for them to take over. Many times the arrangement works out… but not always. Money has a way of imperiling relationships – even longstanding relationships between your own children. The estate plan of the late fitness guru, Richard Simmons, illustrates the point.
Richard Simmons’ Trust
With his large personality and flamboyant appearance, Simmons built a fitness empire, opening exercise studios, making TV appearances and selling weight loss books, cookbooks and exercise tapes. His 1988 exercise video, Sweatin’ to the Oldies, grossed over $200 million. When Simmons’ knees began to fail in 2014, he dropped out of the public eye, staying in touch with fans via social media. He passed away at age 76 on July 13, 2024, a day after falling in the bathroom of his Los Angeles home. Teresa Reveles, his house manager for 36 years, was the one who discovered his lifeless body.
Simmons had a trust naming Reveles and his older brother Lenny as successor co-trustees. Both are also beneficiaries under his trust, estimated at around $30 million.
Simmons’ relationship with Reveles was apparently more than a conventional employer-employee arrangement. They were each other’s longtime companions and confidantes. They traveled together, frequently to Italy, and ate every meal together. Simmons’ brother Lenny thought highly of her, telling People magazine: “Teresa was extremely loyal and trustworthy. She loved my brother, and he loved her. We are blessed to have Teresa in our lives.”
Successor Co-Trustees
Fast forward a few months, and how things have changed. On September 24 Reveles filed a petition with Los Angeles Superior Court, claiming Lenny tricked her into giving up her role as successor co-trustee in order to gain full control of the estate. Reveles now wants to be re-instated.
Her petition states that she “lived with Richard, cared for him and was his closest friend and devoted confidant” for nearly four decades, also noting that Lenny did not visit Simmons even once in the six years preceding his death. Reveles claims that after she and Lenny viewed the body at the funeral home, he drove her to the office of the lawyer who had drawn up the trust. There, she was asked to sign a document giving up her rights and responsibilities as co-trustee. She signed it, but now says she did so because Lenny said she could lose her inheritance if she made any mistakes in her role as trustee. She claims she was too upset to realize what she was signing, and wants to be re-instated as successor co-trustee. Says her lawyer: “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.”
Unsurprisingly, Lenny doesn’t see things that way, and his once-glowing assessment of Reveles has taken a dark turn. He points out that even though she has her own residence, she continues to live in Simmons’ Hollywood Hills home and is trying to charge the estate for all her living expenses. Lenny’s legal representative states that she was fully informed about the nature of the document she signed, and her false allegations illustrate why the Simmons family wants her removed from the job: “Richard took impeccable care of Teresa and made sure, even after his passing, that she was well taken care of. She is a significant beneficiary of his will… 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. Her actions threaten to harm Richard’s incredible legacy, which we are working hard to preserve.”
A hearing on the issue is scheduled for Dec. 4. It will probably be some time before the matter is settled. If Reveles wins and is re-instated, the obvious question is, how can she and Lenny effectively share the duties of administering the estate?
Selecting who will serve as your trustee, personal representative and agent requires careful consideration. Even more when you are considering appointing more than one person to the jobs – and even more if those people are your children. Remember, preserving family harmony is an essential part of effective estate planning! When you meet with our estate planning attorneys, we will carefully review your choices with you. Call our law firm for an appointment at 561-625-1100.
