📜 Lisa Marie Presley trust: Riley Keough ends up sole trustee
Priscilla questioned the 2016 amendment in January 2023; that August a judge approved a settlement with sub-trusts for Keough's half-sisters. 📌
By MissFortune, money desk · Desk editor Laima Ērkšķe-Kreicberga · · 2 min read
FILEDPhoto: Dora Britt · CC BY-SA 2.0By the numbers
- 7 yrsfrom first to latest entry on record
- 5receipts behind this story
Lisa Marie Presley died on January 12, 2023, and the fight over her father's estate began within weeks. Her mother, Priscilla Presley, filed a petition challenging a 2016 amendment Lisa Marie had made to her own living trust - an amendment that removed Priscilla as a co-trustee and installed Lisa Marie's two oldest children in her place, CNN reported.
What we know
- A 2016 amendment to Lisa Marie Presley's living trust removed her mother, Priscilla Presley, and former business manager Barry Siegel as co-trustees and named Lisa Marie's two oldest children, Riley and Benjamin Keough, in their place, CNN reported from the court papers.
- Priscilla Presley challenged that amendment in a petition filed days after her daughter's January 2023 memorial, questioning its authenticity and validity, People reported.
- Benjamin Keough died by suicide on July 12, 2020, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner ruled, two and a half years before his mother's death.
- A Los Angeles judge approved a settlement in August 2023 naming Riley Keough sole trustee; she now owns Graceland and presides over sub-trusts for her two half-sisters, twins Harper and Finley Lockwood, People reported.
The paperwork Priscilla contested
The 2016 amendment removed Priscilla and Lisa Marie's former business manager, Barry Siegel, as co-trustees and named Riley Keough and her brother Benjamin as trustees instead, according to CNN. Priscilla's petition argued she was never notified of the change as the trust required, noted that her name was misspelled in the document, and questioned whether it had been properly witnessed and notarized.
Why it came down to Riley
Benjamin Keough died by suicide on July 12, 2020, two and a half years before his mother. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner ruled the cause an intraoral shotgun wound and the manner a suicide, Fox News reported. That left Riley as the only surviving child the 2016 amendment had named.
One amendment, two ousted co-trustees, and a next generation that began at a Scientology Celebrity Centre, where Lisa Marie met Riley's father. Graceland's org chart has turned over more than its tour schedule.
Where the trust stands now
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge approved a settlement on August 4, 2023, naming Riley Keough sole trustee of her mother's estate, court documents obtained by People show. Under the agreement, Riley owns Graceland and presides over sub-trusts for her half-sisters, twins Harper and Finley Lockwood; Priscilla stays on as a special adviser with a monthly payment and may be buried in Graceland's Meditation Garden.
The three daughters - Riley, Harper and Finley - are the beneficiaries of their mother's estate, including Graceland and Lisa Marie's 15 percent stake in Elvis Presley Enterprises, representatives confirmed after her death. The settlement closed the dispute without any court ruling on whether the 2016 amendment was authentic.
The Riley Keough file
- Filed
Priscilla Presley filed a petition challenging the 2016 trust amendment that removed her as co-trustee, questioning its authenticity and validity. This story
- Filed
2016 amendment to Lisa Marie Presley's trust removed Priscilla Presley and business manager Barry Siegel as co-trustees, naming Riley and Benjamin Keough. This story
On file: The Riley Keough file
The Ledger
On the record
- A 2016 amendment removed Priscilla Presley and business manager Barry Siegel as co-trustees of Lisa Marie Presley's living trust and named Riley and Benjamin Keough in their place, per CNN.
- Benjamin Keough died by suicide in July 2020; in August 2023 a Los Angeles judge approved a settlement naming Riley Keough sole trustee, with sub-trusts for her half-sisters Harper and Finley Lockwood, per People.
Still rumour
- Whether Priscilla Presley's authenticity claims about the 2016 amendment had merit was never tested - the parties settled before any court ruling.
- How the three daughters' shares of the estate are divided is not spelled out in the reporting we read.
That's the record. The rest is rumour. - MissFortune
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