Priscilla Presley is talking publicly about the fight for control of her daughter, Lisa Marie Presley’s, trust.
The widow of Elvis Presley stated to NBC News that she would proceed in this fight with “honesty, dignity” and “integrity.”
“I loved Elvis very much as he loved me. Lisa is a result of our love,” the beginning of her statement read. Lisa Marie died on January 12 at the age of 54 from a suspected cardiac arrest.
She went on to defend her love for the family saying that for anyone to think anything differently would be a “travesty of the family legacy and would be disrespectful of what Elvis left behind in his life.”
Priscilla Presley’s statement pointed towards an unnamed person who was trying to speak on behalf of the Presleys. She said they were not a representative of Elvis or our family.
“Please allow us the time we need to work together and sort this out,” Priscilla Presley’s statement continues. “Please ignore ‘the noise.’ As I have always been there for Elvis’ legacy, our family and the fans, I will continue to forge a pathway forward with respect, honesty, dignity, integrity and love.”
Lisa Marie is the sole heir to her father’s estate. She created a living trust in 1993 to legally protect her assets and to determine their distribution in the case of her death.
According to an NBC report, the trust was restated in 2010 and Priscilla Presley was appointed as a co-trustee along with her former business manager, Barry Siegel.
Lisa Marie’s will was amended in 2016 to include her children, actor Riley and Benjamin Keough, as co-trustees of her estate.
In the petition created after Lisa Marie’s death, Priscilla Presley’s attorneys alleged issues with the amendment. They said that the document misspelled her name, and was never delivered to her. And they also said that Lisa Marie’s signature “appears inconsistent with her usual and customary signature.”
Joel Weinshanker, the managing partner at Elvis Presley Enterprises, said that it had always been clear that Lisa Marie Presley “couldn’t be bought” and wanted her children to carry on her legacy.
“She was very, very, quite certain, and very direct about who she wanted have the legacy (left) to,” he said. “We’ve discussed this many, many times…And that was always Riley and Ben. There was never a question … that they would be the stewards, that they would look at it exactly the same way she did.”
