Priscilla Presley says feud with Riley over estate a misunderstanding

EXCLUSIVE: ‘Elvis would be proud.’ Priscilla Presley insists feud over estate was a mere ‘misunderstanding’ as she relinquishes control and asks to seal details of agreement with Riley that could subject her to ‘significant danger’ and ’emotional distress’

• Riley Keough, 34, has become the sole trustee of her mother’s estate after coming to an agreement with grandmother Priscilla Presley
• Priscilla, 78, has appealed to a Los Angeles judge that she ‘fears for the safety of herself and her family’ if the court doesn’t seal the details of her new agreement 
•  Riley will pay Priscilla $1.4m plus an undisclosed amount ‘per year for 10 years or life,’ as a special advisor to the trust 

Elvis’ widow, Priscilla Presley, has made an emotional appeal to a Los Angeles judge, pleading that she ‘fears for the safety of herself and her family’ if the court doesn’t seal the details of her new agreement with her granddaughter, actress Riley Keough, over Lisa Marie Presley’s multi-million dollar estate.

In a recently-signed settlement Priscilla, 78, agreed – in exchange for $1.4 million an undisclosed sum of money for ten years as a special advisor to the trust  – to relinquish control of her late daughter’s Promenade Trust, leaving 34 year-old Riley, star of TV’s Davy Jones and the Six, as sole trustee.

But this week, Priscilla filed a motion, asking LA Probate Judge Lynn Scaduto to seal the financial particulars of the settlement, keeping them secret from the public.

‘The settlement agreement contains private details regarding my daughter’s Trust that is to benefit my two minor granddaughters (14 year-old Harper and Finley, Lisa Marie’s children by fourth husband Michael Lockwood, 62),’ she wrote in her motion found by DailyMail.com.

Riley Keough, 34, has become the sole trustee of her mother’s estate after coming to an agreement with grandmother Priscilla Presley

Priscilla, 78, has appealed to a Los Angeles judge that she ‘fears for the safety of herself and her family’ if the court doesn’t seal the details of her new agreement Riley will pay Priscilla $1.4m plus an undisclosed amount ‘per year for 10 years or life,’ as a special advisor to the trust

‘If this information were to become public, it could put me and my family’s safety at risk.

‘This should subject me to significant danger, emotional distress and negatively affect my physical and mental health.

‘It would also subject my son (musician Navarone Garibaldi, 36) and minor granddaughters to harassment and bullying. We have all been through enough.’

The agreement between Priscilla and Riley settled a reported feud between the two sparked when, only two weeks after Lisa Marie’s death in January, Priscilla filed a legal challenge to her daughter’s will – which took away control of Lisa Marie’s wealthy Promenade Trust and gave it to Riley.

Riley was said to be furious when her grandmother went to court to protest the will.

But in her motion to seal, Priscilla pooh-poohed the notion of a feud and said she had fired the lawyers who filed her petition disputing the will.

‘My January 2023 petition was misconstrued in the press as a ‘fight’ over my beloved daughter’s Trust,’ she wrote. ‘That was not the intent. The petition was filed by a law firm who has since been terminated.

‘I filed the petition to resolve all potential uncertainty surrounding the interpretation of the Promenade Trust.

‘My daughter’s passing was both devastating and heartbreaking.

‘We have learned that the fans realize that we are ‘Just A Family’. Elvis would be proud and his and Lisa’s wishes are what are most important to all of us.

‘We have learned that the fans realize that we are  “Just A Family”. Elvis would be proud and his and Lisa’s wishes are what are most important to all of us,’ Priscilla wrote in her declaration

‘My grand-daughter, through her own counsel, along with my team, worked diligently and tirelessly to resolve all misunderstandings as a family.’

Riley also agrees with sealing the private financial arrangement she has made with her grandmother – which includes paying Priscilla a certain amount (redacted in the court document) ‘per year for 10 years or life,’ plus $1 million and  $300,000 – $400,00 in legal fees.

Their settlement also grants Priscilla’s wish to be buried at Graceland, Elvis’ home in Memphis, Tennessee.

‘There is an overriding privacy interest that justifies sealing the supporting documents and the statements regarding terms of the money being given to Priscilla,’ wrote Riley’s attorney, Justin Gold,’ in new court documents found boy DailyMail.com.

‘The supporting documents and petition contain financial and personal information regarding payments provided to Priscilla to eliminate her role as a fiduciary for Riley, Harper and Finley.’

Gold added, ‘It is requested that this court consider that Riley, Harper and Finley did not seek to have their inheritance issues brought into the public forum….’

The lawyer said in other legal documents that if the court approves the settlement between grandmother and granddaughter, Riley will not charge for her services as a trustee.

‘The beneficiaries all save money that would have gone to Priscilla who was going to charge a trustee fee.

‘In settling the claims pending in Priscilla’s Petition, the parties are saving significant legal fees by avoiding litigation, and they are likewise avoiding the spectacle of intra-family litigation that would have been inimical to Lisa’s wishes and not in the best interests.’

As well as being the sole trustee of Lisa Marie’s estate, Riley is also the sub-trustee for her twin half-sisters Harper and Finley Lockwood.

She is set to invest the Trust money ‘in a manner consistent with the needs of the beneficiaries,’ according to Gold.

Riley – mother to a baby daughter with husband Ben Smith-Petersen – ‘is still grieving for her mom’ and the legal tussle that came when Priscilla challenge Lisa Marie’s will was said to be ‘very tough’ on her.

So she was relieved and happy when she and her grandmother buried the hatchet and reached a settlement agreement.

‘She would not have agreed to the settlement if she was not happy with it,’ her attorney Gold told DailyMail.com.

Priscilla’s attorney Ronson Shamoun told DailyMail.com that with the settlement, ‘the families are happy and unified and together and excited for the future.’

Priscilla was officially removed as Trustee of her late daughter’s estate on May 11, according to the documents.  

The Daisy Jones & the Six star filed paperwork  earlier this week requesting the court finalize the arrangement regarding the trust of her late mother, some five months after Lisa Marie’s January 12 death following multiple cardiac arrests.

As well as being the sole trustee of Lisa Marie’s estate, Riley is also the sub-trusts for her 14-year-old twin sisters Harper and Finley Lockwood.

The actress’s lawyer Justin Gold said in documents seen by People if the court approves the petition, Riley will not charge for her services as a trustee.

He wrote: ‘The beneficiaries all save money that would have gone to Priscilla who was going to charge a trustee fee.’

Gold said: ‘In settling the claims pending in Priscilla’s Petition, the parties are saving significant legal fees by avoiding litigation, and they are likewise avoiding the spectacle of intra-family litigation that would have been inimical to Lisa’s wishes and not in the best interests.’

As well as being the sole trustee of Lisa Marie’s estate, Riley is also the sub-trusts for her 14-year-old twin sisters Harper and Finley Lockwood.

Riley is set to invest the money ‘in a manner consistent with the needs of the beneficiaries, and not influenced by the desire of a Trustee,’ according to her lawyer.

The latest transaction involving the Santa Monica, California, native comes after she and her grandmother Priscilla, 78, came to an accord in May after lawyers for both parties announced at a Los Angeles probate court that a settlement had been reached.

Following the testy months-long legal battle, Keough ‘doesn’t want any drama with her grandmother,’ sources close to the actress said.

‘Riley is relieved to have settled the dispute over her mom’s estate,’ an insider informed People.

The one time payment to Priscilla is blanked out in Paragraph 6, but mistakenly revealed in Paragraph 9 above. She will also receive $300,000 to $400,000 to cover legal fees 

The agreement says that Priscilla will be paid an unspecified annual amount in her role as ‘special advisor’ but that Riley will control what duties Priscilla will have

The granddaughter of Elvis Presley ‘is still grieving her mom,’ who died shockingly at the age of 54 in January after going into cardiac arrest at her Calabasas home. 

When the legal tussle broke out between Keough and Priscilla, Keough ‘was hoping they could reach a settlement quickly,’ the source added.

The source said the tension with Priscilla ‘has been very tough for’ Keough, who is mother to a baby daughter with husband Ben Smith-Petersen.

‘She wants to focus on making memories with her own daughter now,’ the insider told the magazine. ‘This is her priority.’

Priscilla’s attorney Ronson Shamoun told DailyMail.com she was happy when the settlement was reached, and that ‘the families are happy and unified and together and excited for the future.’

Asked if Keough was happy with the settlement, her attorney Justin Gold told DailyMail.com: ‘She would not have agreed to the settlement if she was not happy with it.’

The bitter family feud between Priscilla and Riley over the multimillion dollar estate of the late Lisa Marie Presley (pictured) ended last month. Lisa Marie was pictured two days before her death at the Golden Globe Awards in LA 

Only two weeks after Lisa Marie’s death in January, her mother Priscilla filed a legal challenge to her daughter’s will – which gave control of Lisa Marie’s wealthy Promenade Trust to her daughter Keough.

Keough, who was reportedly furious when her grandmother went to court to protest the will, did not file an objection to Priscilla’s challenge.

Keough always supported her mother during her drawn out, often nasty divorce and child custody disputes with her fourth husband, musician Michael Lockwood, 62, father of Lisa Marie’s twin, 15-year-old daughters, Finley and Harper.

It’s been reported that Priscilla and Lisa Marie were ‘barely speaking’ just before the latter’s death after Priscilla sided with Lockwood over custody of the twins.

Multiple sources told People the mother and daughter were not on speaking terms, despite appearing at multiple events together, including the premiere for the Elvis biopic starring Austin Butler.

‘Riley was always on her mom’s side when it came to Michael [Lockwood],’ one source told the magazine. ‘It bothered her that her grandmother and Michael flew to [Lisa Marie’s] funeral together.’

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