(CNN) — Sherman Hemsley’s body lies in an El Paso, Texas, funeral home refrigerator more than a month after his death while a court decides who gets the actor’s remains.
A Philadelphia man claiming to be the “Jeffersons” actor’s brother is challenging a will Hemsley signed a month before his death, according to the funeral home handling his arrangements.
“It is disgraceful,” Hemsley’s longtime partner Flora Enchinton told CNN affiliate KVIA-TV. “It is sad. This was a man with dignity.”
The will signed by Hemsley on June 13, 2012, a month after he was diagnosed with cancer, named Enchinton as executor and left his entire estate to her, according to court papers.
Hemsley’s embalmed remains are kept in a refrigerator at San Jose Funeral Home in El Paso awaiting a court order allowing burial or with instructions on who should be given the body, funeral home employee Renny Dosier said Thursday.
