USA Today’s recent article entitled, “Riley Keough named Lisa Marie Presley estate’s sole trustee, Priscilla to be buried at Graceland,” says Keough petitioned the Los Angeles Superior Court to approve the settlement she reached in May with her grandmother, Priscilla Presley, and Lisa Marie’s ex-husband Michael Lockwood, the father and guardian ad litem of Keough’s younger half-siblings, 14-year-old twins Finley and Harper Lockwood.
Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Lockwood, her fourth husband, divorced in 2021. However, they were still disputing finances in family court when she died. Lisa Marie was the only child of Elvis. She died at a California hospital at age 54 on Jan. 12 after paramedics answered a 911 call reporting a woman in cardiac arrest. Her cause of death hasn’t been released.
After her daughter died, Priscilla initiated a legal challenge disputing Keough’s estate oversight. She filed legal documents disputing who would oversee her late daughter’s estate not long after her death. The Los Angeles Superior Court filing disputed the validity of a 2016 amendment to Lisa Marie’s living trust that removed Priscilla and a former business manager as trustees and replaced them with Lisa Marie’s two oldest children, Riley and Benjamin Keough, if she died or became incapacitated. Benjamin died in 2020.
Priscilla’s court filing listed several issues that brought the living trust amendment’s authenticity into doubt, including a failure to notify her of the change as required, a misspelling of her name in a document supposedly signed by her daughter, an atypical signature by Lisa Marie and a lack of a witness or notarization. A living trust lets people control their assets while alive. However, it allows them to be distributed if they die. It serves the function of a will if a separate will is not filed, as appeared to be the case with Lisa Marie.
In May 2023, Priscilla Presley settled her dispute over Lisa Marie Presley’s estate trust, and in June, Riley Keough was named the sole trustee of Lisa Marie Presley’s estate and her two sisters’ sub-trusts. Priscilla will serve as trustee for her son, Navarone Garibaldi, who is Lisa Marie’s half-brother. The trust will be divided, with a ninth going to Garibaldi and the remainder evenly split between Keough and her sisters.
As the sole trustee, Keough will be the owner of Graceland. In exchange for Priscilla’s resignation as a trustee, Keough will pay her a lump sum and reimburse her legal fees up to $400,000. Priscilla will serve as a “Special Advisor to the Trust” and will be compensated monthly by Keough. The amount of Priscilla’s reimbursement wasn’t reported.
Lisa Marie’s trust included ownership of Graceland and a 15% stake in Elvis Presley Enterprises, People reports.
Reference: USA Today (June 14, 2023) “Riley Keough named Lisa Marie Presley estate’s sole trustee, Priscilla to be buried at Graceland”
