Lisa Marie's ex Michael Lockwood to be legal guardian of twins

EXCLUSIVE: Locked and loaded! Lisa Marie Presley’s ex-husband Michael Lockwood is getting closer to her millions as he’s set to be appointed legal guardian of twin daughters, 14, and control their inheritance

• A judge today said there is ‘good reason’ to grant Michael Lockwood’s petition to be appointed ‘guardian ad litem’ of twins Harper and Finley, 14
• The judge said she would issue a written ruling on the petition later today
• This will allow him to represent the girls in a probate case over their late mother’s multi-million dollar trust and have control over his daughters’ inheritance

Three months after Lisa Marie Presley’s death, her ex-husband Michael Lockwood – who tried but failed to get a chunk of her millions in their contentious 2021 divorce – could end up with a piece of her fortune after all.

A Los Angeles judge on Thursday told a probate court that there’s ‘good reason’ to grant Lockwood’s petition to be appointed ‘guardian ad litem’ of Harper and Finley – his 14 year-old twin daughters with Lisa Marie – allowing him to represent the girls in a hotly-contested probate case over their late mother’s multi-million dollar Promenade Trust.

The court case has already sparked a giant feud between the twins’ grandmother Priscilla Presley and their half-sister, Riley Keough, star of the hit Prime series Daisy Jones and the Six.

Harper and Finley are both beneficiaries of Lisa Marie’s trust while their father Lockwood is not. But being declared their legal guardian gives the 61-year-old musician control over his daughters’ inheritance, at least until they reach adulthood at 18.

A judge today said there is ‘good reason’ to grant Michael Lockwood’s petition to be appointed ‘guardian ad litem’ of twins Harper and Finley, 14 

Michael and Lisa Marie spent years fighting about finances and were still negotiating up until her death

The judge said she would issue a written ruling on Lockwood’s petition later today

Lockwood’s attorney, Scott Rahn, told LA Superior Court Judge Lynne Scaduto Thursday, ‘Mr. Lockwood is the girls’ father, he is their natural guardian. He is more than capable of protecting their interests.’

Noting that there was no opposition to Lockwood’s petition from either Priscilla Presley or Riley Keough, the judge told the court, ‘There is good reason to appoint a guardian ad litem for the girls.’

She added that she would issue a written ruling on Lockwood’s petition later in the day.

Judge Scaduto’s apparent positive view of Lockwood’s petition could give him his second chance to share in the Presley wealth after his first ended in a big fat zero in his divorce

Lisa Marie – Elvis’ only child – filed for divorce from Lockwood in 2016 after 10 years of marriage. The two spent years fighting about finances and were still negotiating over child support for the twins up until her death at 54 in January.

Lockwood asked the divorce court in 2018 to order Lisa Marie to pay him $263,000 a year in spousal support so that he could ‘enjoy a lifestyle closer to my marital status of living’ – which included lavish entertaining, expensive vacations and flying on private jets.

And he tried to persuade the judge to tear up a post-nuptial agreement – in which he and Lisa Marie both signed away their rights to the other’s property and spousal support if they divorced.

But Lockwood ended up on the losing end, not getting a penny from Lisa Marie after openly admitting that he hadn’t read the post-nup and claiming his attorney at the time failed to explain it to him.

The court case has already sparked a giant feud between the twins’ grandmother Priscilla Presley and their half-sister, Riley Keough

Riley is said to be angry over ‘losing’ her teen half-sisters to ‘outsider’ Lockwood 

The judge upheld the post-nup and threw out Lockwood’s case, telling the court, ‘If Lockwood elected not to read the post-nup and accept the consequences that it would be upheld, that is his choice.’

Lockwood’s bid to insert himself into the current probate case involving his ex- wife’s trust, is the latest twist in a legal battle that has been tearing the Presley family apart.

Riley, 33, was furious when her 77-year-old grandmother Priscilla filed a challenge to Lisa Marie’s will which gives control of the rich Promenade Trust to Riley.

And to make matters worse, musician Lockwood – who reportedly angered Riley by ‘crashing’ her mother’s funeral, even though he wasn’t invited – is said to be aligned with Priscilla over the trust, which could see him also lining up against Riley in court.

Riley always supported her mother during her long drawn-out, often nasty divorce and child custody disputes with Lockwood.

It’s been reported that Priscilla and Lisa Marie were ‘barely speaking’ just before the latter’s death after Priscilla sided with Lockwood over custody of the twins.

Multiple sources told People that the mother and daughter were not on speaking terms, despite appearing at multiple events together, including the Elvis biopic.

‘Riley was always on her mom’s side when it came to Michael (Lockwood),’ one source told the magazine. ‘It bothered her that her grandmother and Michael flew to (Lisa Marie’s) funeral together.’

Priscilla also helped Michael get into the ceremony, despite her late daughter’s wishes.

‘Michael was not invited,’ a close friend of Lisa Marie told People. ‘He came to Memphis under the pretense that he had to chaperone the twins – and he forced his way in with Priscilla’s help.

‘The last thing Lisa Marie would have wanted was for Michael to be there.’

The rift between Riley and her grandmother began when Priscilla went to court – just days after Lisa Marie’s memorial service – to dispute her daughter’s decision in 2016 to change her will, remove Priscilla and her ex-manager Barry Siegel as trustees and replace them with Riley.

The will contains the rights to the Graceland mansion and a 15 percent stake in Elvis Presley Enterprises. Lisa Marie also had two life insurance policies, one for $25 million and another one for $10 million.

Once he is appointed legal guardian he can represent the girls in a probate case over their late mother’s multi-million dollar trust and have control over his daughters’ inheritance 

Just days after Lisa Marie’s memorial service, Priscilla filed a petition questioning the ‘authenticity and validity’ of the trust 

As well as replacing Priscilla as a trustee and cutting her out of the will, Lisa Marie’s 2016 amendment also named Riley’s brother Benjamin as the other trustee. But Benjamin committed suicide in 2020 leaving Riley as sole named heir.

Priscilla’s challenging petition to the court questioned the ‘authenticity and validity’ of the trust, claiming that Lisa Marie’s signature was ‘inconsistent,’ and asking to be restored as a trustee.

The grandmother of four also claimed she was not aware Lisa Marie had changed the trust in 2016 until after her daughter passed away.

If Priscilla’s petition is granted, she and Riley would be made co-trustees of Lisa Marie’s estate. That petition is due to be heard at a hearing on May 16.

Before her death, Lisa Marie and her ex were sharing custody of Finley and Harper and she was reportedly paying him $6,000 a month in child support.

But Lockwood – who is now re-married to hair stylist Stephanie Hobgood – was claiming $40,000 a month, insisting Lisa Marie had much more money than she revealed in court documents and saying his legal battles over the divorce and child custody had cost him more than $1 million.

Source: Read Full Article