Work things out. Lisa Marie Presley’s death has caused both emotional and legal turmoil for her famous family.
Elvis Presley’s only daughter died on January 12, 2023 at the age of 54 after suffering cardiac arrest. Although her eldest daughter, actress Riley Keoughtook possession of her estate after her death, Lisa Marie’s mother, Priscilla Presleycontested her daughter’s will a few days after her death.
This is evident from court documents obtained by Us weekly in January 2023 the Dallas alum claimed a change was made to the will in 2016, removing her and Lisa Marie’s former business manager Barry Siegel as co-trustees and replaced them with Keough and her late brother, Benjamin Keough – was void. The Nude gun star claimed that her daughter’s signature appeared to have been forged and that the amendment had not been attended or notarized. The documents also state that Priscilla should have been notified of the change, but that never happened.
Riley has been the sole administrator of her late mother’s estate since her brother Benjamin died by suicide in July 2020 at the age of 27. (Lisa Marie shared her two eldest children with ex-husband Danny Keough. She was also the mother of twin daughters Harper and Finley, whom she shared with ex-husband Michael Lockwood.)
A source told this exclusively in March 2023 Us that the Daisy Jones and the Six star had often acted as a mediator between Lisa Marie and Priscilla. “Riley knew there was disagreement with her mother and grandmother and has always tried to be a bridge between them,” the insider said at the time. “She still does this even after her mother’s death, but she still respects her mother’s wishes.”
Despite the drama, honoring the legacies of both Lisa Marie and Elvis is of paramount importance to Priscilla. “I loved Elvis very much as he loved me. Lisa is the result of our love,” the author of Elvis and Me – who was married to the King of Rock and Roll from 1967 to 1973 – said in a statement to E! News on February 3, 2023. “If anyone thought otherwise, it would be a mockery of the family legacy and would be disrespectful of what Elvis left in his life.”
Priscilla broke the news of her daughter’s death in early 2023. At the “Storm & Grace” singer’s memorial service later that month, Priscilla tearfully read the eulogy written by Lisa Marie’s youngest daughters, Harper and Finley, in honor of their mother.
“I have no idea how to put my mother into words, the truth is there are too many. Lisa Marie Presley was an icon, a role model, a superhero to many people around the world, but Mom was my icon, my role model, my superhero in way more ways than one,” Priscilla read at the ceremony. “Even now I can’t get over her everything there is to understand or know about her, but as she always said, ‘I’ll do my best.'”
Riley’s husband Ben Smith Petersen also read a letter on behalf of his wife during the service, which took place at the Graceland family estate. “A letter to my mother,” the stuntman read. “Thank you for being my mother in this life. I am eternally grateful to have spent 33 years with you. I am sure that I chose the best mother for me in this world and I knew that as far back as I can remember.
After the memorial service, Priscilla took to Twitter to thank fans for their support. “Thank you all for your condolences, you touched me with your words,” she wrote in January 2023. “It’s been a really hard time, but just knowing your love is there makes a difference.”
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Scroll below for an overview of the drama surrounding Lisa Marie’s will.