Priscilla Presley has filed legal documents disputing who oversees the estate of her late daughter Lisa Marie Presley.
The filing in Los Angeles Superior Court last week disputes 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 Presley's two oldest children, Riley Keough and Benjamin Keough, if she died or became incapacitated. Benjamin Keough died in 2020.
A living trust is a form of estate planning that allows a person to control their assets while alive, but have them distributed when they die. It serves the function of a will if a separate will is not filed, as appears to be the case with Lisa Marie.
Lisa Marie, a singer and the only child of Elvis Presley, died at a California hospital at age 54 on Jan 12 after paramedics answered a 911 call reporting a woman in cardiac arrest. The Los Angeles County coroner is investigating and has not yet revealed a cause of death. She was laid to rest at her family home in Graceland on Jan 22.
Scroll through images of Lisa Marie Presley's memorial service below
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Presley will be laid to rest in the Meditation Gardens next to her son Benjamin Keough and near her father Elvis. EPA -
Fans lined up outside Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee to pay their respects to Elvis's daughter Lisa Marie. EPA -
People walk along the sidewalk outside Graceland prior to a memorial service for Lisa Marie Presley. EPA -
Members of the public wear glasses made iconic by Lisa Marie's father Elvis. EPA -
Memorial programmes are handed out as fans enter Graceland for a memorial service for Lisa Marie Presley. AP -
Fans line up to enter Graceland. AP -
Billy Corgan performs For Sheila. Getty / AFP -
Alanis Morissette performs Rest onstage at the public memorial for Lisa Marie Presley. Getty / AFP -
Axl Rose performs November Rain at the public memorial. Getty / AFP -
Fans enter Graceland for the memorial service for Lisa Marie Presley. AP -
The only child of the late Elvis Presley died after she was rushed to a hospital in California following a cardiac arrest. AFP -
Lisa Marie Presley was the only child of Elvis and Priscilla. Getty -
She was the mother of four children, including 14-year-old twins Harper and Finley Lockwood. Getty -
Lisa Marie Presley, her mother Priscilla and her daughter Riley Keough place their handprints in cement at TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. Reuters -
From left, Harper Lockwood, Lisa Marie Presley, Priscilla Presley, Riley Keough and Finley Lockwood. Getty / AFP -
The singer had three daughters, actress Riley Keough and 14-year-old twins Finley and Harper Lockwood. Reuters -
She and mother Priscilla Presley were executive producers on Baz Luhrmann's Elvis. AP -
Lisa Marie Presley, third from right, with son Benjamin Keough, who died by suicide in 2020. AP -
Lisa Marie Presley with mourners who gathered to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the death of Elvis. Reuters -
With her ex-husband, Michael Lockwood. AP -
She and musician Lockwood shared custody of their 14-year-old twin daughters. AP -
Lisa Marie Presley was also married to actor Nicolas Cage. AFP -
With her daughters Riley Keough, left, and twins Finley and Harper Lockwood. Invision / AP -
Lisa Marie Presley and her mother Priscilla. AP -
Elvis, wife Priscilla and daughter Lisa Marie in Memphis in 1968. AP -
Lisa Marie Presley was briefly married to Michael Jackson. AFP -
Next to her childhood crib at Graceland in Memphis, her first home. AP -
Lia Marie Presley died after being treated in hospital, according to her mother, Priscilla. She was 54. AP
Priscilla's court filing claims there are several issues that bring the living trust amendment's authenticity into doubt.
The filing says they include a failure to notify Priscilla of the change as required, a misspelling of Priscilla's name in a document supposedly signed by her daughter, an atypical signature from Lisa Marie, and a lack of a witness or notarisation. It asks a judge to declare the amendment invalid.
Another claim in the filing states that the business manager, Barry Siegel, intended to resign, which according to the prior terms of the trust would leave Priscilla, 77, and Riley Keough, 33, as co-trustees.
A message seeking comment from representatives of Riley Keough was not immediately returned.
Lisa Marie left three surviving children. In addition to Riley Keough, her daughter with first husband Danny Keough, she had 14-year-old twin daughters with her fourth husband, Michael Lockwood.
Lisa Marie was declared divorced from Lockwood in 2021, but the two were still disputing finances in family court when she died.
Priscilla's filing is among the first of what are likely to be many legal maneuvers surrounding the estate of Lisa Marie, the only heir of Elvis Presley.
It is not clear, however, how much that estate is worth. A lawsuit Lisa Marie filed in 2018 alleging Siegel had mismanaged the trust said it had been worth in excess of $100 million, but most of that had been depleted.
