Priscilla Presley and her granddaughter Riley Keough have entered a settlement.
As Mamas Uncut previously reported, Priscilla and Riley have been involved in a legal battle against each other over the estate of the late Lisa Marie Presley. Now, Priscilla’s lawyers are saying the legal proceedings have come to an end.
“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.”
Riley’s lawyer, Justin Gold, also spoke out following the news of the settlement as well. “[Riley] would not have agreed to the settlement if she was not happy with it,” he added.
The specifics of the settlement have not been made available to the public, yet.
This isn’t the first legal issue since Lisa Marie’s passing to be upheld by a judge. As MU reported last month, on April 13, an LA Court named their biological father, Michael Lockwood, the guardian ad litem.
The decision comes as Lockwood argued that “the minor requires the appointment of a guardian ad litem to represent her interests in the proceeding,” referring to the battle for Lisa Marie’s estate. “There is no conflict regarding appointment because the proposed guardian is not a beneficiary of the trust instrument at issue.”
It’s unclear how the settlement between Priscilla and Riley affects Lisa Marie’s two youngest daughters.
As Mamas Uncut previously reported, it was originally believed that Lisa Marie Presley was in a lot of debt prior to her death. It made people question what Priscilla stood to gain from fighting the legitimacy of an amendment on Lisa Marie’s trust which named her oldest daughter Riley Keough as the co-trustee.
It was later reported by TMZ that prior to her unexpected passing Lisa Marie took out 2 life insurance policies. One of the life insurance policies was for $25 million and the other for $10 million, totaling $35 million.
The beneficiaries named on her life insurance policies were her three living children, Riley Keough, the reported co-trustee, and her 14-year-old twins Finley and Harper Lockwood. They will each stand to receive an equal payout.
According to TMZ, a source has revealed that Lisa Marie was in about $4 million of debt at the time of her passing. Roughly $2.5 million of that debt is owed to the IRS.
After her debts are settled, Riley, Finley, and Harper will inherit roughly $30 million from those life insurance policies.
Shortly after Lisa Marie’s passing, it was made public that Priscilla Presley allegedly took legal action to make sure her granddaughter, Riley Keough isn’t a co-trustee of her mother’s trust.
According to Today, Priscilla has asked a judge to declare the 2016 amendment to Lisa Marie’s trust, which names Riley Keough as a co-trustee invalid. In 1993, after becoming the sole heir to her father Elvis Presley’s estate, Lisa Marie established a living trust.
The living trust is put in place to protect assets and explain how the trust should be divided should they pass away. And in 2010, Lisa Marie “completely restated” that trust, making Priscilla and her former business manager, Barry Siegel co-trustees, Today reports.
However, after Lisa Marie’s tragic passing, a document was discovered that revealed an amendment to her trust. The document was allegedly dated March 11, 2016, and removed Priscilla and Siegel as co-trustees, replacing them with her two eldest children, Riley Keough and Benjamin Keough.
Riley is the only living newly appointed co-trustee as Benjamin passed away in 2020.
According to Today, in 2018, it was revealed that Lisa Marie’s trust was left with more than $500,000 in credit card debt and only $14,000 in cash. That all changes with the news of her life insurance policies.
Lisa Marie sued her co-trustee Siegel for “mismanaging her finances.” And Siegel countersued accusing Lisa Marie of “squandering her inheritance.” TMZ has since reported that during her adult life, Lisa Marie allegedly spent nearly $100 million.
According to Today, Priscilla’s filings alleged that “there are many issues surrounding the authenticity and validity of the purported 2016 amendment.” Some of those issues include the misspelling of Priscilla’s name, the fact that she was never notified of the amendment and that the signature on the amendment “appears inconsistent” with how Lisa Marie usually signed her name.
Priscilla asked the judge to keep her as the trustee. Priscilla’s motives haven’t been confirmed, however, because Riley is Lisa Marie’s only living adult child, Harper and Finely’s inheritance will remain in the trust until they are older.
Regardless of this information, it has already been confirmed that Lisa Marie’s three daughters will inherit Elvis’s Graceland, where her funeral was held. It’s unclear if that changes should the judge rule in Priscilla’s favor.