Priscilla Presley has contested who manages the estate of her late daughter Lisa Marie Presley, who died suddenly from cardiac arrest at home in Calabasas, California, on January 12, 2023.
The lawsuit, which was filed last week in Los Angeles Superior Court, challenges the legality of a 2016 modification to Lisa Marie Presley’s living trust that, in the event of her death or incapacitation, would name Riley Keough and Benjamin Keough as trustees in place of Priscilla Presley and a former business manager. In 2020, Benjamin Keough perished.
A living trust is a type of estate planning that enables a person to manage their assets while they are still alive while arranging for their distribution after death. If a separate will is not filed, as it seems to be with Lisa Marie Presley, it serves the purpose of a will.
After paramedics responded to a 911 call reporting a woman in cardiac arrest, they discovered Lisa Marie Presley, a singer and the only child of Elvis Presley, had passed away at age 54 in a California hospital.
While investigating, the Los Angeles County coroner has not yet determined the cause of death. On January 22, she was buried at Graceland, her family’s home.
According to Priscilla Presley’s court document, several problems cast doubt on the validity of the living trust amendment.
A misspelling of Priscilla Presley’s name on a document purportedly signed by her daughter, an unusual signature from Lisa Marie Presley, and a lack of a witness or notarization are among the violations listed in the filing, according to the lawsuit. It requests that the amendment be ruled invalid by a judge.
According to the previous terms of the trust, Priscilla Presley, 77, and Riley Keough, 33, would be left as co-trustees if the business manager, Barry Siegel, had intended to resign.
Representatives of Riley Keough did not immediately respond to a message requesting comment.
Three of Lisa Marie Presley’s children are still alive. She had 14-year-old twin daughters with her fourth husband, Michael Lockwood, and Riley Keough, who she had with her first husband, Danny Keough.
Although Presley and Lockwood were officially divorced in 2021, their financial disagreements in family court persisted at the time of her passing.
The filing made by Priscilla Presley is one of many that will probably be made about Lisa Marie Presley’s estate, who is the sole heir to Elvis Presley.
However, it is unclear how much that estate is worth. According to a lawsuit Lisa Marie Presley filed in 2018, Siegel mismanaged the trust, which had a value of over $100 million but had mostly been depleted.
