Lisa Marie Presley reportedly wanted her children to have access to her trust and wanted her eldest daughter Riley Keough to manage it, a close friend claims.
“Lisa’s intention was very clear,” the friend said when speaking to People on Monday. “Lisa really didn’t feel it [mother] Priscilla Presley did everything in her best interests.’
The latest allegation comes as Lisa’s mother Priscilla, 77, is contesting a 2016 revision of her will that removed her and Lisa’s former manager Barry Siegel as her trusted manager and replaced them with Riley, 33.
The family controversy follows Presley’s tragic death on January 12 at the age of 54 after suffering cardiac arrest at home and being rushed to a hospital following CPR.
Speaking: A friend of Lisa Marie Presley claimed to People on Monday that she intended her daughter Riley Keough, 33, to take over her trust after a falling out with her mother Priscilla Presley; Lisa and Riley were spotted in 2017
has reached out to representatives of Riley Keough and Priscilla Presley.
According to Priscilla’s petition, obtained by People, Lisa had a 1993 living will that was amended in 2010 to make Priscilla and Siegel co-trustees.
But after Lisa’s death, her mother learned of a 2016 First Amendment that removed her and Siegel and Trustees and replaced them with Riley and her brother Benjamin Keough, who died by suicide in 2020.
Lisa’s wishes for trustees don’t seem to have been updated after her son’s death.
In Priscilla’s petition, she claims there are “many issues surrounding the authenticity and validity” of the 2016 will amendment.
Fighting back: Priscilla challenges a 2016 change of will that deposes her as trustee. She says the signature is not valid and claims she was not notified as the Trust requires. She also says the change was not witnessed or notarized; Priscilla and Lisa were seen in 2008
She says she should have been informed that she would be removed as co-trustee “as the express terms of the trust require” but she says she was never informed.
Elvis Presley’s ex-wife also claims her daughter’s signature on the 2016 amendment was “inconsistent” with previous signatures, and she says there was no witness listed, nor was a notary present.
She says the 2010 amendment, which lists her as a co-trustee, is still “the authoritative and controlling document.”
Though the friend doesn’t appear to vouch for the authenticity of the 2016 alteration, they claim it complied with Lisa’s wishes at the time, as she was reportedly having a big argument with her mother.
They say she has been “not in a relationship” with her mother since 2016, although the pair appear to have made things right to some extent after appearing at multiple events and awards shows to perform for Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Biopic starring Austin Butler as a legendary rocker.
Bad blood: Part of Lisa’s falling out with Priscilla stemmed from her mother’s continued unwilling relationship with ex-husband Michael Lockwood (pictured), the friend claimed; seen in 2013
A sticking point was reportedly Priscilla’s insistence on continuing to be in a relationship with Lisa’s ex-husband Michael Lockwood following their split in 2016. The divorce was finalized in 2021.
Lockwood was apparently not invited to Lisa’s funeral, but Priscilla – who shares an agent with him – managed to get him to the ceremony, her friend says.
In 2017, Lisa had accused her ex of having inappropriate images of children on his computer during their custody battle.
Although police searched and examined dozens of electronic devices, no criminal charges were filed and the investigation was eventually dropped.
Lisa’s friend said Lisa’s will change was part of her desire to “live her life authentically.”
“She would not remain silent if she was being taken advantage of,” they continued. “At the end of the day, these are her desires, and there’s no question what her desires were. Nobody’s going to be able to reinvent the last seven or eight years and say no, no, no.’
Fulfilling her desires: “At the end of the day, these are her desires, and there’s no question what their desires were,” the friend said. “No one is going to be able to reinvent the last seven or eight years and say no, no, no”; seen in 2012
It wasn’t just personal issues that prompted her to change the trust, as Lisa’s friend said she had “a big problem” with how it was run under her mother and Siegel’s oversight.
In 2018, she sued Siegel, claiming his mismanagement caused her trust to dwindle from $100 million to just $14,000. However, he claimed that the loss of money was due to her extravagant spending.
“There’s a lot of documentation that Lisa was basically the only trustee,” her friend claims. ‘Priscilla took part in nothing but [Siegel also] haven’t had in years… Ultimately, a trustee should have limited powers – he shouldn’t be able to do anything bad or stupid. No one can argue that Riley as trustee will not benefit the twins.’
Going Solo: The friend claims that Priscilla hasn’t worked as her trustee in years and has essentially let her manage the trust herself; Lisa and Priscilla seen out in Hollywood in June 2022