Victory! Lisa Marie Presley Wins Fight To Keep Manager Lawsuit In Probate Court
Jan. 4 2019, Updated 10:18 a.m. ET
A Los Angeles judge ruled Lisa Marie Presley can keep her fight in Probate Court against her former business manager, whom the troubled singer alleges squandered millions of dollars of her famous father's fortune, RadarOnline.com can exclusively report.
Elvis Presley's daughter accused Siegel of "reckless and negligent mismanagement and self-serving ambition," in court documents filed on February 21, 2018.
Presley is suing Siegel for "breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, constructive fraud negligent, negligent misrepresentation, unjust enrichment and accounting."
Siegel has denied the claims, and said Presley is blaming him for her uncontrollable spending. Siegel's attorney's have argued Presley's petition belongs in Civil Court and keeping the case in Probate deprives Siegel of his constitutional right to a jury trial.
On Monday, however, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert S. Wade said he is able to hear both Probate and Civil cases, and denied Siegel's motion to strike Presley's petition "without prejudice."
Presley claims Siegel was in charge of all of her business affairs and blamed Siegel and his business management firm, Provident Financial Management, for losing $100 million of her father's fortune by investing in American Idol.
While she won a small battle in court this week, Presley is also fighting a civil suit filed in February by Provident Financial Management. Leon Gladstone, Providential Management and Siegel's attorney, said in a Feb 21, 2018 affidavit that Presley's claims were "self-serving." Gladstone said when Elvis Presley's Trust was first established, it was receiving millions of annual income.
"However, Lisa's continuous, excessive spending and reliance on credit far exceed what the Trust could pay her from income alone," Gladstone wrote in the affidavit. "To meet her demands for cash, the co-trustee (an officer of National Bank of Commerce) obtained a series of loans secured by EPE (Elis Presley Enterprises) assets. That still was not enough, and Lisa's spendthrift habits soon put the Trust into millions of dollars of debt. By 2003, EPE has accumulated $20 million in debt, and the Trust itself was underwater by millions of dollars."
Provident's case against Presley is slated for a hearing on August 20, while Presley's Probate Court petition against Siegel will be back in court on July 30.
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