Following the death of Elvis’ only daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, a dispute ensued over control of the family trust. Now that ‘dispute’ has been resolved.
Priscilla Presley and her granddaughter Riley Keough reached a settlement over the control of the family trust. “My family has now resolved all confusion as it relates to our plea to the court and request for document interpretation after my daughter Lisa Marie’s sad and untimely passing. Although the media has identified such a plea as a lawsuit, I want to make clear that there was never any lawsuit filed against my beloved granddaughter. As a family, we are pleased that we resolved this together,” says Priscilla Presley’s statement.
Lisa Marie Presley died at 54 years old on January 12. Two weeks after the death, Priscilla filed a petition asking the Los Angeles Superior Court to reconsider a 2016 amendment removing her from the family trust. That amendment replaced her with Lisa Marie’s children Benjamin Keough and Riley Keough. Benjamin died in 2020.
Priscilla argued the amendment was invalid and potentially fraudulent as the signature didn’t match Lisa Marie’s handwriting and Priscilla’s name was misspelled. A fight over control of Lisa Marie’s estate was reported in the days after her death.
The Promenade Trust has a 15% stake in the company that controls the Elvis Presley brand after selling the rest of its stake in 2005. It also owns Graceland, the former home of Elvis Presley, which is now a museum and tourist attraction in Memphis, Tennessee.
Details of the settlement weren’t released, but the dispute drummed up in the media a few weeks ago is now being reframed. At the time of her death, TMZ reports that Lisa Marie has around $35 million in life insurance policies, which was potentially subject to dispute too. Lisa Marie’s lavish spending reportedly left her $4 million in debt when she died, with more than $2.5 million owed to the IRS.