Lisa Marie Presley passed away in January of this year at the age of 54. She left a vast and complicated estate to her living children, Riley Keough and twins Finley and Harper Lockwood. Reportedly, Lisa Marie wanted Riley and Riley’s late brother Ben to act as executors for her estate, but that wasn’t the only thing making it complicated. Priscilla Presley, LM’s mother, had long-time arrangements within the trust controlling Graceland and the Presley estate. When LM passed away, Priscilla immediately moved to invalidate LM’s will and seemingly take over her daughter’s estate. Riley hasn’t said much about it publicly, but you could tell that the last thing she wanted to do was fight her grandmother over her mom’s estate. So, they apparently let the lawyers figure it out and now there’s some kind of settlement:
Lisa Marie Presley’s loved ones have reached a settlement in the battle over her trust. Legal counsel for Priscilla Presley and Riley Keough reached a settlement at a Los Angeles courthouse Tuesday, with Riley’s side set to submit a settlement request under seal for both the Promenade and an insurance trust, PEOPLE confirms.
“They have reached a settlement. Families are happy,” Ronsen Shamoon, Priscilla’s lawyer, told reporters. “Everyone is happy. Unified and together and excited for the future.”
Justin Gold, Keough’s attorney added, “[Riley] would not have agreed to the settlement if she was not happy with it.”
The next hearing and motion for approval is scheduled for Aug. 4.
Lisa Marie, the only child of Elvis Presley and ex-wife Priscilla, died in January at the age of 54 after suffering a cardiac arrest. An ongoing trust battle ensued four days after Lisa Marie’s memorial in January, when lawyers for Priscilla filed a petition in Los Angeles questioning the “authenticity and validity” of a 2016 amendment to Lisa Marie’s living trust.
No one has specific details about what happened, so I assume a fair compromise was reached. Either that or Riley just gave her grandmother whatever she wanted, because again, I’m not sure Riley had the heart to really fight about this. Priscilla also released an exclusive statement to People Mag about the settlement:
Priscilla Presley says her family is “stronger than ever” after she and granddaughter Riley Keough came to an agreement over the late Lisa Marie Presley’s trust in a Los Angeles courthouse.
“My family has resolved all confusion as it relates to our plea to the court and request for document interpretation after my daughter Lisa Marie’s untimely passing,” Priscilla says in a statement shared exclusively with PEOPLE. “Although some media 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. My family and I hope that everyone will grant us the privacy we have needed to properly grieve Lisa Marie and spend personal time together. We love and appreciate all of you and the Presley family is stronger than ever.”
Reps for Riley have not responded to PEOPLE’s requests for comment following the settlement.
“Although some media identified such a plea as a lawsuit” – Lisa Marie had not even been gone a full week before Priscilla and her lawyers were in court, contesting LM’s (valid although out-of-date) will. I do wonder what happened behind the scenes, but we’ll probably never find out. How distasteful this was.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
- Harper Vivienne Ann Lockwood, Lisa Marie Presley, Priscilla Presley, Riley Keough, Finley Aaron Love Lockwood attends the Handprint And Footprint Ceremony honoring Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie Presley And Riley Keough at TCL Chinese Theatre on June 21, 2022 in Hollywood, California,Image: 701640210, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Harper Vivienne Ann Lockwood, Lisa Marie Presley, Priscilla Pres, Credit line: – / JPI Studios / Avalon
- Lisa Marie Presley, Priscilla Presley, Riley Keough attends the Handprint And Footprint Ceremony honoring Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie Presley And Riley Keough at TCL Chinese Theatre on June 21, 2022 in Hollywood, California,Image: 701640237, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Lisa Marie Presley, Priscilla Presley, Riley Keough, Credit line: – / JPI Studios / Avalon
- Harper Vivienne Ann Lockwood, Lisa Marie Presley, Priscilla Presley, Riley Keough, Finley Aaron Love Lockwood attends the Handprint And Footprint Ceremony honoring Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie Presley And Riley Keough at TCL Chinese Theatre on June 21, 2022 in Hollywood, California,Image: 701640266, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Harper Vivienne Ann Lockwood, Lisa Marie Presley, Priscilla Pres, Credit line: – / JPI Studios / Avalon
- Harper Vivienne Ann Lockwood, Lisa Marie Presley, Priscilla Presley, Riley Keough, Finley Aaron Love Lockwood attends the Handprint And Footprint Ceremony honoring Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie Presley And Riley Keough at TCL Chinese Theatre on June 21, 2022 in Hollywood, California,Image: 701640279, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Harper Vivienne Ann Lockwood, Lisa Marie Presley, Priscilla Pres, Credit line: – / JPI Studios / Avalon
- Priscilla Presley arrives at the Academy’s 13th Governors Awards on Saturday, November 19, 2022, in Los Angeles.,Image: 739030469, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Editorial Use Only, Model Release: no, Credit line: Blaine Ohigashi / Avalon
- HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – FEBRUARY 23: American actress Riley Keough wearing a Schiaparelli Couture dress arrives at the Los Angeles Premiere Of Amazon Prime Video’s ‘Daisy Jones & The Six’ Season 1 held at the TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX on February 23, 2023 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 758399948, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Riley Keough, Credit line: Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon
- Riley Keough attends the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Celebrating the 95th Annual Academy Awards Hosted By Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California,Image: 762361963, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Riley Keough, Credit line: – / JPI Studios / Avalon
- Amazon Prime screening and Q&A of ‘Daisy Jones and The Six’ at 92nd Y in New York. Featuring: Riley Keough Where: New York, New York, United States When: 27 Feb 2023 Credit: Roger Wong/INSTARimages
