Actress Riley Keough has agreed to give Priscilla Presley, her grandmother and ex-wife Elvis Presley a lump sum as part of a settlement that will resolve a dispute over control of the family fund, according to court documents made public. Tuesday.
Attorneys for both parties sought to keep the details of their agreement secret, but the papers mention what appears to be a $1 million payment.
In the 95-page filing, Ms. Keough also agreed to pay up to $400,000 to cover Ms. Pressley’s legal fees related to a petition Ms. Pressley filed earlier this year, speaking in the validity of a 2016 document that removed her as an official. The entity known as the Promenade Trust. With the settlement, Ms. Keough will become the sole custodian of that financial instrument created by her mother, Lisa Marie, who died in January.
Mrs. Keogh also agreed to retain Mrs. Presley as a “private advisor” to the fund, to which an undisclosed annuity would be paid for 10 years, or until her death, whichever was earlier.
The terms of the agreement still need to be approved by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge, as they have been filed. In exchange for Ms. Presley’s resignation from the fund, the documents say, Ms. Keogh will issue the payment after receiving the proceeds from her mother’s life insurance policy.
“In settling the outstanding claims in Priscilla’s petition, the parties save significant legal fees by avoiding litigation, and they also avoid a spectacle of intra-family litigation that would have hurt Lisa’s wishes rather than in the best interest of the family,” the filing said.
The settlement, if approved, would end months of legal wrangling between Ms. Keough and Ms. Presley.
Lisa Marie Presley died suddenly at the age of 54 and was subsequently buried in Graceland with Elvis. Priscilla Presley quickly filed court papers challenging a 2016 amendment to the trust, allegedly authorized by Lisa Marie, that removed Priscilla and the family’s former business manager, Barry Siegel, as trustees. She also named Mrs. Keough and her brother Benjamin Keough as co-guardians in the event of Lisa Marie’s death. (Mr. Q He died in 2020 at the age of 27).
Priscilla Presley’s attorneys argued that the amendment was invalid, saying that it was not delivered to Mrs. Presley during Lisa Marie’s lifetime, as required by trust language. Court papers also alleged that the amendment was likely fraudulent, asserting that Lisa Marie’s signature was “inconsistent” with her usual streak. In the current battle, Priscilla was asking the court to recognize her as regent.
At a hearing last month, lawyers for Ms Keough and Ms Pressley announced that the parties had reached a settlement but did not describe it publicly.
Monday was the deadline set by Judge Lynn Scadotto for the attorneys to file additional petitions; I set an August 4 hearing date to formally consider the settlement for approval.
Today the Elvis brand is still profitable, bringing in more than $100 million annually. The Presley family’s share of these profits is transferred to the Promenade Trust. She keeps 15 percent of Elvis Presley’s projects and Graceland’s main home in Memphis, which makes her worth tens of millions of dollars. As reported by The New York Times, Lisa Marie, before her death, made $1.25 million in income from the fund last year.
The exact amount of the total payment Ms. Pressley will receive in two cases has been revised from court documents made public on Tuesday. But the paragraph that discussed Ms. Keough’s role in collecting legal fees related to the dispute said it would be paid at the same time as the “million dollar payment” referred to earlier in the paragraph that discussed a lump sum.
The agreement also gives Mrs. Presley the right to be buried at Graceland, near her ex-husband.
Shelagh McNeil contributed research.
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