Riley Keough Gets $7.5M From Lisa Marie Trust, Pays Priscilla $2.35M to be Sole Trustee of Estate: Settlement

The court battle over who will control the estate of Lisa Marie Presley is officially over. Riley Keough is now the sole trustee of her mother’s estate after a Los Angeles County judge approved the settlement agreement between her and grandmother Priscilla Presley earlier this month.

Lisa Marie’s oldest daughter is also one of the four beneficiaries set to inherit part of her mother’s $25 million life insurance policy according to legal filings related to the settlement agreement obtained by Inside Edition Digital.

Just who would control the estate became uncertain for a brief period earlier this year when Priscilla filed a petition just a few weeks after her daughter’s death questioning the legitimacy of a 2016 amendment to one of Lisa Marie’s trusts that removed her as trustee.

That trust is The Promenade Trust, and it represents the last vestiges of the Elvis Presley estate controlled in full or in part by his family.

This includes Graceland mansion, all of Elvis’ personal effects contained in the Graceland archive, and a 15 percent share in Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc.. The family had complete ownership of Elvis Enterprises until 2005, when Lisa Marie agreed to sell an 85 percent share for $97 million in cash, debt relief, and stock.

The remaining share, the famed mansion, and Elvis’ effects will now be controlled by Riley, with Priscilla agreeing to both step down as trustee and withdraw her petition in exchange for payments totaling at least $2.35 million over the next 10 years, according to the settlement agreement.

The approved settlement agreement states that these payments include:

$50,000 paid by Riley in May for “Priscilla’s immediate resignation” as trustee
$1 million to be paid from “off the top of Lisa Marie’s irrevocable trust and be borne by all beneficiaries of Lisa Marie’s irrevocable trust in proportion to their respective interests”

$300,000 “for legal fees and costs relating to the petition” to be paid by Riley, or as much as $400,000 provided an “accounting with receipts totaling said additional sums”
$100,000 “per annum, payable in monthly installments, for her role as Special Adviser to the trust” with duties to be determined by Riley and to be paid by Riley as trustee of The Promenade Trust “for a guaranteed term of 10 years”

In addition, the approved settlement agreement filed in Los Angeles County Court states that “Riley agrees to allow Priscilla to be buried upon her death in the Meditation Garden of Graceland. The burial location will be at the location closest to Elvis Presley without moving any existing gravesite.”

Riley also agrees to “assist Priscilla in retrieving all of Priscilla’s personal belongings whether owned by her individually or jointly owned with another person or entity, that remain at Graceland,” according to the settlement agreement.

The settlement agreement also includes Lisa Marie’s irrevocable trust in full, which she signed in 1993 at the same time she created The Promenade Trust.

Her irrevocable trust will be equally distributed in nine parts, with one part going to her half-brother Navarone Garcia, and Lisa Maria’s three daughters – Riley, Harper, and Finley – each receiving an equal share of the remaining 8/9 of the estate.

That means Garcia is set to receive $2.78 million, of which $111,111 will be taken and put towards Priscilla’s $1 million payment.

The three girls will each receive $7.41 million, of which $296,296 will be taken and put towards Priscilla’s $1 million payment. In addition the three girls will each receive an equal share of the Elvis assets owned by the family as detailed in The Promenade Trust.

Only Garcia will actually be able to access his full share of the irrevocable trust at this time however under the guidelines set by Lisa Marie.

The trust she signed in 1993 states that her beneficiaries may access a third of their inheritance at the age of 30, half by the age of 35, and their full distribution from the estate at the age of 40.

As such, Riley, 34, only has access to a third of her funds until next May, while sisters Harper and Finley will not be able to access their trusts for another 15 years.

Riley will serve as the trustee for both of her sisters’ trusts while their father Michael Lockwood will continue to serve as guardian ad litem for the two girls.

Riley is also required to “not make any mandatory distribution of income or principal directly related to a Beneficiary, so long as Trustee reasonably believes or suspects that the Beneficiary is dependent upon or addicted to illegal drugs, any controlled substances, or alcohol,” as per a special provision included in Lisa Marie’s irrevocable trust.

Lastly, Riley will step down as trustee of Garcia’s trust and hand over the reins to celebrity attorney Marty Singer according to an amendment to the settlement agreement filed just days before the judge signed off on the court filing.

Riley steps into her new role after spending the last two decades achieving great success on her own merits. She is an Emmy-and Golden Globe-nominated actress thanks to her critically acclaimed work on the television series “Daisy Jones and the Six” and “The Girlfriend Experience” and had early success at the box office thanks to featured roles in films such as “Mad Max: Fury Road” and “Magic Mike.” As a producer, Riley joined an elite group that includes Jim Jarmusch, Mira Nair and Steve McQueen when she picked up the prestigious Caméra d’Or for her film “War Pony” at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.

As for Riley and Priscilla, the two were seen smiling together at Harper and Finley’s middle school graduation in a photo posted to Instagram in June.

It is Priscilla who fought to keep Graceland after the death of Elvis, eventually deciding to open the property up to the public to bring in enough revenue to pay for the upkeep of the property.

Graceland now attracts over 600,000 visitors each year, and as of 2006 is a National Historic Landmark, the first site to be recognized for significance related to rock music.

Later this month the estate will host Alanis Morissette, John Legend, Kacey Musgraves, Kane Brown, Lainey Wilson, Lana Del Rey, Post Malone and The War And Treaty for a “Christmas at Graceland” special.

This will mark the first live broadcast from Graceland when it airs Nov. 29 at 9 p.m. on NBC, and both Pricilla and Riley will be on hand.

Riley will serve as a producer on the special while her grandmother will be on hand to promote the new Sofia Coppola biopic “Priscilla,” which is based on her 1985 memoir “Elvis and Me.”