Family Members Are Already Fighting Over Lisa Marie Presley’s Will
Priscilla Presley is contesting Lisa Marie Presley's Will, which was allegedly changed in 2016 to cut her out and give everything to Elvis' grandchildren.
It’s been almost three weeks since Priscilla Presley had to share the heartbreaking announcement that Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter she shared with Elvis Presley, died after a cardiac arrest on January 12 at the age of 54. Over the past 19 days, it’s been revealed that not only had Lisa Marie lost the fortune she had inherited from her father, but she had also removed her mother from the estate. Priscilla Presley is now challenging the validity of her daughter’s will, citing a misspelled name and unusual signature, per Deadline.
Priscilla Presley has filed a petition to challenge Lisa Marie Presley’s will, which allegedly removed Priscilla as co-trustee with Lisa Marie’s former business manager, Barry Siegal, and replaced the pair with Lisa Marie’s eldest children, Riley and Benjamin Keough, in 2016. Sadly, Benjamin died by suicide in 2020. In her petition, Priscilla stated that she believes that Siegal will resign as co-trustee, leaving the estate to herself and her 33-year-old granddaughter, Riley.
In the filing, Priscilla Presley states that she was never aware that the amendment was made to the trust in 2016, and due to the terms of the trust, Lisa Marie Presley would have had to inform Priscilla of any changes during her lifetime. Priscilla’s lawyers also cite that the document was never witnessed nor notarized and that the name on the trust is misspelled and bears a signature inconsistent with the one that Lisa Marie typically used.
Priscilla Presley aims to deem Lisa Marie Presley’s current trust invalid and reinstate the trust that was created in 2010, which mentions Priscilla as the trustee.
Lisa Marie Presley was nine years old when her father, Elvis Presley, died. At the time of his death, Graceland was worth about $5 million dollars (which would be about $25 million today). Thanks largely to Priscilla turning Graceland into a tourist attraction, by the time Lisa Marie was able to inherit the estate at age 25 in 1993, it was worth $100 million (roughly $205.3 million in 2023). Unfortunately, over the next 29 years, Lisa Marie would end up losing it all.
When Lisa Marie Presley was 27, she hired her former business manager Barry Siegal, beginning a decades-long finger-pointing competition on who was to blame for losing the King of Rock and Roll’s fortune. Siegal blamed Lisa Marie’s spending habits, claiming that she lived above her means, and Lisa Marie blamed Siegal for having selfish business pursuits and selling 85% of Graceland’s interest. In 2021, Lisa Marie divorced her former husband, Michael Lockwood, and the court documents showed that Elvis’s daughter was $16 million in debt, largely due to credit cards, unpaid taxes, and defaulted mortgages.
Despite Lisa Marie Presley’s debt, the Graceland estate still contains the historical Graceland Mansion, property grounds, and many items previously owned by Elvis, including furniture, costumes, cars, and awards.
In 2022, Baz Luhrmann wrote and directed a biopic on Lisa Marie Presley’s father, Elvis Presley. The film stared Austin Butler as the King of Rock and Roll with Tom Hanks as his business manager Colonel Tom Parker. The film followed Elvis’ life and the complicated relationship he had with his business manager.
