Liberace's doctor signed a death certificate that hid AIDS; the coroner pulled his embalmed body back for an autopsy

In 1982 Scott Thorson, Liberace's former chauffeur and live-in companion, sued him for $113 million in what was reported as palimony. Liberace said under oath in 1984 that Thorson was never his lover. The case settled in 1986 for a reported $95,000 in cash plus three cars and three dogs^†. Liberace died two months later. His physician, Dr. Ronald Daniels, signed a death certificate giving heart failure from brain disease. Riverside County Coroner Raymond Carrillo refused it. His office had the embalmed body returned from Forest Lawn in Hollywood and ordered an autopsy. On 9 February 1987 Carrillo announced that Liberace died of cytomegalovirus pneumonia caused by AIDS. He said: "I firmly believe that somebody along the line wanted to pull a fast one on us." Liberace's will named his lawyer, Joel Strote, executor and trustee of the Liberace Foundation and museum. Friends, employees and his sister sued, alleging Strote coerced him in his final days and spent his money on himself. Strote won. The Las Vegas museum closed in October 2010. In October 2012 the foundation filed for Chapter 11 over a $1.9 million mortgage, listing about $13 million in assets, mostly his instruments and wardrobe. In 2026 the foundation keeps the collection at the Liberace Garage in Las Vegas^†.