In one of the many legal battles taking place in the Presley family, the ex-husband of Lisa Marie Presley was granted custody of the couple’s twins, according to a new report.
Presley had been battling Michael Lockwood for custody of the 14-year-old twins Harper and Finley when she died in January. Last week, with Presley dead, Lockwood received full custody of the teens, according to the Daily Mail.
The Mail noted that California law awards custody to a surviving parent when the other dies unless that parent can be shown to be unfit.
The ruling caused tension within the family, the Mail reported, because Riley Keough, who is Lisa Marie Presley’s daughter, did not want Lockwood, who she calls an “outsider,” to win custody.
Priscilla Presley, who is Lisa Marie Presley’s mother, did not pick up her daughter’s battle, which from the Mail report irritated Keough.
All of this is essentially a skirmish in the bigger war over the terms of Lisa Marie Presley’s will. Keough currently is the one in control, but Priscilla Presley is fighting that, and the Mail report suggests Lockwood could support her in court on that front.
Lockwood is also seeking to be appointed guardian for the twins in the battle over the will, according to ETonline.
Entertainment attorney Richard Roth said this could be a huge windfall for Lockwood.
“Guarding over the business is really what Mr. Lockwood is trying to get. This is akin to Britney Spears, and her father, who became the guardian over her,” Roth said.
“Both the estate of Elvis and the estate of Lisa Marie would go into their hands, and he essentially wants to control the money of these girls because they are young, and because he’s claiming that he’s the proper one, he’s the one suited to essentially take over the finances of these two young girls,” he said.
“This is who is going to essentially run the business, where the money is going to go, into what bank account, who controls the bank account. It’s very different than raising your children and being in charge of their business, which is what he’s seeking,” Roth said.
The core of the battle is a 2016 amendment to Lisa Marie Presley’s will that put Riley Keough and her late brother Benjamin Keough in charge of their mother’s trust, replacing Priscilla Presley and Barry Siegel, according to the Daily Mail, which noted that whoever controls Lisa Marie Presley’s estate gets Graceland and 15 percent of Elvis Presley Enterprises.
Priscilla Presley has said the dispute will work out in the end.
“I loved Elvis very much as he loved me. Lisa is a result of our love. 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 said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times.
“Please allow us the time we need to work together and sort this out. 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,” she said then.
However, other media outlets have painted a picture of a family at odds.
“Lisa didn’t want to have anything to do with her mom. She was basically estranged from Priscilla for the last seven to eight years. They only talked when there was no option,” Page Six reported it was told by a source it did not name.
Meanwhile, ET reported that the time since Lisa Marie Presley’s death has been “a very tense and heartbreaking few weeks for both Riley and Priscilla. Riley has been mourning the loss of her mother and is heartbroken to have to deal with a trust dispute with a family member. 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,” according to an unnamed source.
The source claimed Riley Keough “is heartbroken that this has turned into a public matter and knows her mother would never want this.”
CORRECTION, March 21, 2023: Lisa Marie Presley’s 14-year-old twins are named Harper and Finley. An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified one of them.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.