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Elvis Presley’s widow Priscilla is no longer on speaking terms with her granddaughter Riley Keough amid an ongoing dispute over her daughter Lisa Marie Presley‘s will, sources say.
Priscilla, 77, and Keough, 33, are the principles of the heated legal battle, which has played out through the two parties’ lawyers’ over the past month.
The sudden death of the King of Rock’s only child last month started the saga, after it was revealed the 54-year-old had changed the terms of her will to and make daughter Riley and son Benjamin – who died by suicide in 2020 – her sole heirs.
The change was made in 2016, and saw Priscilla removed from the will entirely.
While it is unclear exactly how much money Lisa Marie left – with several reports indicating the famously troubled singer-songwriter squandered the $100million fortune she inherited after her dad’s death in 1977 – news of the maneuver apparently incensed her mother, who has since challenged the 2016 amendment.
Elvis Presley’s widow Priscilla (left) is reportedly no longer speaking with granddaughter Riley Keough (right) amid an ongoing dispute over her daughter Lisa Marie Presley’s (middle) will
The sudden death of the King of Rock’s only child last month started the saga, after it was revealed the 54-year-old had changed the terms of her will to and make daughter Riley and son Benjamin (seen here with his mother in 2010) her sole heirs. Ben died by suicide in 2020
On Thursday, an insider close to the family offered a new development to the ongoing will war, revealing that Priscilla – who just a few weeks ago urged fans to ‘ignore the noise’ over the dispute seen in the media – is longer speaking to her granddaughter.
‘Riley has been mourning the loss of her mother and is heartbroken to have to deal with a trust dispute with a family member,’ the anonymous source told Entertainment Tonight.
‘Priscilla is adamant that she has a valid case and that she will prevail in court.
‘Riley and Priscilla aren’t communicating at this time, but have been in communication through lawyers.’
The source added that while Keough would prefer to settle this dispute privately, both women are now ‘gearing up’ for a bitter court battle.
‘She is heartbroken that this has turned into a public matter and knows her mother would never want this,’ the source said, noting that Priscilla has remained ‘convinced that [the] old documents had been forged.’
Keough, on the other hand, who in the past three years has had to bury both her mother and brother, has been ‘very stressed’ over the dispute, but is ‘trying to keep a positive attitude,’ the source said.
Lisa Marie is seen with her parents, Elvis and Priscilla Presley, in 1970. The only child of the King of Rock, the singer inherited $100million from her father after his 1977 death
Since the contents of Lisa Marie’s will were released, Priscilla has vehemently questioned the credibility of the amendment, claiming the appearance of her daughter’s signature on the seven-year-old document appeared inconsistent.
She has since asked that the public allow her and her relatives the time they need ‘to work together and sort this out’ – as the high-profile family works to settle the disagreement.
Speaking about the ongoing dispute this month, Priscilla said that she intended to find ‘a pathway forward with respect, honesty, dignity, integrity and love.’
She filed the necessary legal documents to challenge the 2016 amendment which removed her and Lisa Marie’s former business manager, Barry Siegel, as trustees.
Both were replaced with Riley and the late Ben Keough, whose death from a self-inflicted gun shot wound in July 2020 left Riley the sole executor – much as Lisa Marie was after the death of her larger-than-life father.
Priscilla filed legal documents to set aside an amendment to Lisa Marie’s 2010 trust which eliminates her and her daughter’s former business manager Barry Siegel as trustees and replaced them with her grandchildren Riley and the late Ben Keough (pictured)
Ben’s suicide in 2020 left Riley (right) as the sole trustee for Lisa Marie’s estate, but Priscilla hopes to make this amendment invalid. Riley is seen here in the final photo with her mother before the 54-year-old died
Other gripes Priscilla has with the recently reveled amendment include that it was never delivered to her, suspicions over the document’s date, and misspellings of Priscilla’s name.
Speaking on told SiriusXM’s Elvis Radio, Joel Weinshanker, a managing partner at Elvis Presley Enterprises, insisted: ‘It was always Riley and Ben.
‘There was never a question in her mind that they would be the stewards, that they would look at it exactly the way she did.
‘Obviously, when Ben passed, it really sat with Riley.’
Weinshanker said that Riley was aware that she would be running the trust.
‘Although Riley is a movie star, she’s an award-winning director, she had always had an interest and had always known that one day, she would be in charge,’ he said.
Weinshanker said he was speaking out because ‘sometimes you just got to take a stand.’
Fans visited the grave of Lisa Marie Presley and Graceland meditation pool during her memorial on January 22 after her death ten days earlier
‘When Elvis passed away, he left everything to his little girl,’ he said.
‘He did so knowing that she would be the one to keep his legacy going.
‘I can tell you that she has, without falter, no matter what else was happening in her life, in her career, always been the one to look at what was best for Elvis.’
Weinshanker said Lisa Marie cared for the trust ‘regardless of what somebody else was trying to do, regardless of what another family member [was trying to] do.’
Named the sole executor of the King’s estate in 1977, Lisa Marie only came into her $100 million inheritance on January 29, 1993, when she turned 25.
The trust – which includes the family’s sprawling Tennessee property Graceland – was amended and completely restated on January 27, 2010, putting her mother and Siegel as trustees.
‘Lisa Marie Presley appointed her mother, Petitioner, and her former business manager, Barry Siegel, as co-Trustees effective as of the date of the 2010 restatement,’ the court filing states.
‘The 2010 restatement further provides that Petitioner and Barry Siegel shall continue to serve as co-Trustees upon Lisa Marie Presley’s subsequent incapacity and/or death.’
Priscilla (left) has questioned the validity and authenticity of the amendment, claiming it was never delivered to her, the date on the document is suspicious, the document misspells Priscilla’s name, and Lisa Marie’s signature ‘appears inconsistent with her usual and customary signature.’ Priscilla and Lisa Marie are seen here with ‘Elvis’ star Austin Butler
In 2018, Siegel and Lisa Marie – who, like her father, struggled with drugs and finances over the course of her career – found themselves in a hefty court battle, amid her deteriorating financial situation.
Lisa Marie said Siegel had put his own financial interests ahead of her own, and then cut ties with Siegel.
That said, despite the 1993 inheritance of $100 million, many have questioned how much money Lisa Marie actually had, amid rumors she squandered her fortune.
Some celebrity websites estimated that she may have had a negative net worth at her death, and was not rich enough to make the Forbes list of highest-paid entertainers
She still owned Graceland, Presley’s $10million Memphis estate which is now a tourist attraction, through a trust.
Graceland will now be inherited by her children – Riley, and 14-year-old twins Harper and Finley.
After her death, Lisa Marie was laid to rest next to her son Benjamin and her late father.
The dispute between her surviving relatives is still ongoing.
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