Priscilla Presley challenges the validity of the will of her late daughter Lisa Marie Presley.
In a legal filing in Los Angeles Superior Court last week, Priscilla Presley challenged the validity of a 2016 amendment to Lisa Marie Presley’s living trust that removed her and a former business executive as trustees and replaced them with Lisa Marie Presley’s two oldest children, Riley Keough. and Benjamin Keough, if Lisa Marie died or became incapacitated. Benjamin Keough died in 2020.
Lisa Marie Presley, singer and only child of Elvis Presley, died in a California hospital at 54 on January 12 after paramedics responded to a 911 call reporting a woman in cardiac arrest. The Los Angeles County coroner is investigating and has not yet given a cause of death. Presley was laid to rest at her family home, Graceland, on January 22.
In the case of Lisa Marie Presley, it appears that she did not file a separate will, which means that her living trust fulfills the function of this document. A living trust is a form of estate planning that allows a person to control their assets while they are alive, but have them distributed if they die.
Priscilla Presley’s court filing alleges that there are several issues that cast doubt on the authenticity of the living trust amendment.
The filing says they include a failure to notify Priscilla Presley of the change as required, a misspelling of Priscilla Presley’s name in a document purportedly signed by her daughter, an atypical signature of Lisa Marie Presley, and the absence of witness or notarization.
Priscilla Presley is “challenging the amendment because it removes her from her role as trustee for the benefit of her granddaughter,” Caryn Young, a partner in the private client and tax team at international law firm Withers, told CBS MoneyWatch. . “Obviously she would want to control the administration of the assets, especially if she thinks the assets have been mismanaged in the past.”
While the misspelling of Presley’s name could be a simple mistake, the atypical signature could be evidence of fraud, Young noted.
Presley’s filing asks a judge to declare the amendment invalid.
Troubled financial history
At the time of her death, Lisa Marie Presley owned by Graceland, the estate of Elvis Presley which today is a tourist attraction, thanks to his trust. But she had a troubled financial history, which came to light in 2018 when she sued manager Barry Siegel, claiming he had mismanaged her fortune, which caused her trust to plummet from $100 million to $14,000. in cash in 2016. It is unclear how much the trust is worth now.
Priscilla Presley’s filing indicates that Siegel intended to resign from the trust, which, according to the trust’s preconditions, would leave Priscilla Presley, 77, and Riley Keough, 33, co-trustees.
A message seeking comment from representatives for Riley Keough was not immediately returned.
“If the court finds in favor of Priscilla, the amendment will likely be deemed invalid and the changes made under this amendment will be reversed,” Young noted. “So if the amendment changed the successor administrators, removing Priscilla and replacing her with her grandchildren, then that change would be reversed and Priscilla would be the successor administrator.”
Lisa Marie Presley 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.
Presley was declared divorced from Lockwood in 2021, but the two were still fighting over finances in family court when she died.
Priscilla Presley’s case is one of the first of what should be many legal maneuvers surrounding the estate of Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis Presley’s sole heiress.
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