A real estate battle Presley is brewing.
In a petition filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Priscilla Presley challenges the will of her daughter, Lisa Marie Presley. She questions the ‘authenticity and validity’ of a 2016 amendment that replaced her and former business manager Barry Siegel as co-directors with Lisa Marie Presley’s daughter Riley Keough , and his deceased son Benjamin Keough.
Lisa Marie Presley died on January 12 after suffering cardiac arrest at her home in Calabasas, California. The singer and only child of Elvis Presley was 54 years old.
Priscilla Presley and Siegel currently head a trust established in 1993 to manage the Presley estate. The Promenade Trust retained a 15% stake in Elvis Presley Enterprises, which owns the singer’s intellectual property, after Lisa Marie Presley sold 85% of the company’s assets for around $100 million.
After her daughter’s death, Priscilla Presley says she discovered a document amending the trust. She points out that the amendment was never delivered to her during her daughter’s lifetime, as required by the terms of the trust.
“The foregoing method shall be the exclusive method by which this trust may be revoked or amended, or any amendment reversed,” the petition states, which cites several instances in which amendments to trusts were found to be invalid after it was concluded that the trustees were not notified. .
Priscilla Presley also points out that the amendment misspells her name and that her daughter’s signature is “inconsistent with her usual and customary signature.” Other inconsistencies in the document include that it was never attested or notarized and that the provisions do not appear on the signature page, as is customary.
The petition says Riley Keough should become a co-trustee of the trust with Priscilla Presley because Siegel “has already or will soon step down.” Priscilla Presley has not resigned as trustee of the trust and plans to continue in her capacity, according to the document.
“The petitioner respectfully requests an order from this court determining that the purported 2016 amendment is invalid,” the filing reads.
Riley Keough is one of the beneficiaries of the trust, along with her sisters. Benjamin Keough died in 2020 from suicide.
A lawyer for Priscilla Presley did not immediately respond to requests for comment.