I, Elvis A. Presley, a resident and citizen of Shelby County,
Tennessee,
being of sound mind and disposing memory, do hereby make, publish and
declare this instrument to be my last will and testament, hereby
revoking
any and all wills and codicils by me at any time heretofore made.
Item I
Debts, Expenses and Taxes
I direct my Executor, hereinafter named, to pay all of my
matured debts
and my funeral expenses, as well as the costs and expenses of the
administration of my estate, as soon after my death as practicable…
Item II
Instruction Concerning Personal Property: Enjoyment in Specie
I anticipate that included as a part of my property and estate
at the
time of
my death will be tangible personal property of various kinds,
characters
and values, including trophies and other items accumulated by me during
my professional career. I hereby specifically instruct all concerned
that my
Executor, herein appointed, shall have complete freedom and discretion
as
to disposal of any and all such property so long as he shall act in
good faith
and in the best interest of my estate and my beneficiaries, and his
discretion so exercised shall not be subject to question by anyone
whomsoever.
I hereby expressly authorize my Executor and my Trustee,
respectively
and successively, to permit any beneficiary of any and all trusts
created
hereunder to enjoy in specie the use or benefit of any household goods,
chattels, or other tangible personal property (exclusive of choses
in action,
cash, stocks, bonds or other securities) which either my Executor or
my
Trustees may receive in kind, and my Executor and my Trustees shall
not
be liable for any consumption, damage, injury to or loss of any
tangible
property so used, nor shall the beneficiaries of any trusts hereunder
or
their executors of administrators be liable for any consumption,
damage,
injury to or loss of any tangible personal property so used.
Item III
Real Estate
If I am the owner of any real estate at the time of my death, I
instruct
and
empower my Executor and my Trustee (as the case may be) to hold such
real estate for investment, or to sell same, or any portion therof,
as my
Executor or my Trustee (as the case may be) shall in his sole judgment
determine to be for the best interest of my estate and the
beneficiaries
thereof.
Item IV
Residuary Trust
After payment of all debts, expenses and taxes as directed
under Item
I
hereof, I give, devise, and bequeath all the rest, residue, and
remainder
of
my estate, including all lapsed legacies and devices, and any property
over
which I have a power of appointment, to my Trustee, hereinafter named,
in trust for the following purposes:
….
(b) After payment of all expenses, taxes and costs incurred in
the
management of the expenses, taxes and costs incurred in the management
of the trust estate, the Trustee is authorized to accumulate the net
income
or to pay or apply so much of the net income and such portion of the
principal at any time and from time to time to time for health,
education,
support, comfortable maintenance and welfare of: (1) My daughter, Lisa
Marie Presley, and any other lawful issue I might have, (2) my
grandmother, Minnie Mae Presley, (3) my father, Vernon E. Presley,
and
(4) such other relatives of mine living at the time of my death who
in the
absolute discretion of my Trustees are in need of emergency assistance…
(e) As each of my respective children attains the age of
twenty-five
(25)
years and provided that both my father and my grandmother are deceased,
the trust created hereunder for such child care terminate, and all
the
remainder of the assets then contained in said trust shall be
distributed
to
such child so attaining the age of twenty-five (25) years outright
and free
of further trust.
….
Item VI
Alternate Distributees
In the event that all of my descendants should be deceased at
any time
prior to the time for the termination of the trusts provided for
herein,
then
in such event all of my estate and all the assets of every trust to
be created
hereunder (as the case may be) shall then distributed outright in equal
shares to my heirs at law per stripes.
Item IX
Spendthrift Provision
I direct that the interest of any beneficiary in principal or
income
of any
trust created hereunder shall not be subject to claims of creditors
or others,
nor to legal process, and may not be voluntarily or involuntarily
alienated
or encumbered except as herein provided. Any bequests contained herein
for any female shall be for her sole and separate use, free from the
debts,
contracts and control of any husband she may ever have.
Item XI
Executor and Trustee
I appoint as executor of this, my last will and testament, and
as Trustee
of
every trust required to be created hereunder, my said father.
[various provisions dealing with the powers of the trustee]
(d) In Dealing with the Trustee, no grantee, pledgee, vendee,
mortgagee,
lessee or other transferenee of the trust properties, or any part
therof,
shall
be bound to inquire with respect to the purpose or necessity of any
such
disposition or to see to the application of any consideration therefore
paid
to the Trustee.
Item XIII
Concerning the Trustee and the Executor
….
(b) In managing, investing, and controlling the various trust
estates,
the
Trustee shall exercise the judgment and care under the circumstances
then
prevailing, which men of prudence discretion and judgment exercise
in the
management of their own affairs, not in regard to speculation, but
in regard
to the permanent disposition of their funds, considering the probable
income as well as the probable safety of their capital, and, in
addition,
the
purchasing power of income distribution to beneficiaries.
….
(e) In referring to any fiduciary hereunder, for purposes of
construction,
masculine pronouns may include a corporate fiduciary and neutral
pronouns may include an individual fiduciary.
….
In WITNESS WHEREOF, I, the said ELVIS A. PRESLEY, do hereunto
set my hand and seal in the presence of two (2) competent witnesses,
and
in their presence do publish and declare this instrument to be my Last
Will
and Testament, this 3 day of March, 1977.
[Signed by Elvis A. Presley]
ELVIS A. PRESLEY
The foregoing instrument, consisting of this and eleven (11)
preceding
typewritten pages, was signed, sealed, published and declared by ELVIS
A.PRESLEY, the Testator, to be his Last Will and Testament, in our
presence, and we, at his request and in his presence and in the
presence
of
each other, have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses, this 3
day
of March, 1977, at Memphis, Tennessee.
[Signatures of witnesses]
Ginger Alden, Charles F. Hodge, and Ann Dewey Smith, after being first
duly sworn, make oath or affirm that the foregoing Last Will and
Testament, in the sight and presence of us, the undersigned, who at
his
request and in his sight and presence, and in the sight and presence
of each
other, have subscribed our names as attesting witnesses on the 3 day
of
March, 1977, and we further make oath or affirm that the Testator was
of
sound mind and disposing memory and not acting under fraud, menace
or
undue influence of any person, and was more than eighteen (18) years
of
age; and that each of the attesting witnesses is more than eighteen
(18)
years of age.
[signatures of the same witnesses]
Sworn To And Subscribed before me this 3 day of March, 1977.
Drayton Beecker Smith II Notary Public
My commission expires:
August 8, 1979
Admitted to probate and Ordered Recorded August 22, 1977
Joseph W. Evans, Judge
Recorded August 22, 1977
B.J. Dunavant, Clerk
By: Jan Scott, D.C.
Note: The original will is quite long; parts have been deleted.
Source: http://www.courttv.com/legaldocs/newsmakers/wills/presley.html