Lisa Marie Presley may have to pay her ex-husband, musician Michael Lockwood, $ 180,000 in their battle for divorce. Lockwood claimed in a recent court filing that she is not making enough money to pay her own attorneys due to the work stoppage caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The documents were filed a few days before Presley’s son Benjamin Keough died Sunday at age 27.
“The trial is imminent and I have no attorney or experience in this field,” Lockwood wrote in documents filed with the court on July 2. The Daily Mail. Lockwood said that “hyper-litigation” during the divorce process has left a debt of more than $ 700,000. He believes Presley should pay his legal fees, citing California rules that couples should have similar representation during a divorce case.
“According to information and belief, Petitioner has an annual income of more than a million dollars, while currently I have practically no income (I have some meager royalty payments that come from time to time, but they do not add up to a tenth or one twentieth of the petitioner’s income), “reads the Lockwood documents. “If the petitioner has access to funds to pay her attorney, then the Family Code requires an order for the petitioner to pay the attorney’s fees for the defendant.”
Lockwood is Presley’s fourth husband, after marriages with Danny Keough, Michael Jackson, and Nicholas Cage. Presley filed for divorce and custody of his children, the Harper and Finley twins, 11, in 2016. In February 2017, Presley took protective custody of his daughters and refused to play Lockwood’s child support. She accused him of having child pornography on his computer, while Lockwood accused Presley of training her children. She also accused Presley of substance abuse.
The divorce trial is scheduled to begin on July 27. Lockwood requested $ 263,000 in annual spousal support, but Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Diana Gould-Saltman denied this because of the 2006 pre-nuptial agreement the couple signed. The couple met in 2004 and Lockwood worked as their music director.
In Lockwood’s new court documents, he claimed that he is now making just $ 1,000 a month due to the destruction of the music industry by the coronavirus pandemic. He said that his bank balance is negative $ 371 and that his personal assets are only worth $ 2,500. He also listed his monthly costs, which include $ 2,900 in rent, $ 2,500 in groceries, and supplies for himself and his mother Vivian, 77. He claimed that he still owes his previous attorneys $ 736,840, and Presley has only paid him $ 160,000 for his legal costs.
Keough, Presley’s only son and Elvis Presley’s grandson, died Sunday. His death was officially declared suicide. “Lisa Marie is completely heartbroken, inconsolable and more than devastated, but she tries to stay strong for her 11-year-old twins and her oldest daughter, Riley,” the Presley representative said in a statement. “She adored that boy. He was the love of her life.”
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