Harlan Douglass transformed a family real estate operation into a Pacific Northwest empire encompassing shopping centers, apartment buildings and self-storage facilities.
Over six decades, Harlan and his wife, Maxine, accumulated assets valued at more than $1 billion, including roughly 250 commercial properties, about 2,000 apartments and self-storage sites spread across seven states.
Yet behind that business success was a deeply fractured family. Court records and trial testimony describe years of bitter feuds, an allegedly volatile temper and grudges that set the stage for an HBO-style battle over control of the fortune.
Harlan repeatedly dismissed or excluded his children, at times setting one son against the other. His girlfriend, Jeri Via, accused his eldest son, Harley, of taking nearly $1 million in cash. Harley’s attorney also said Via accused him of attempting to hire a hitman to kill her.
As Harlan’s Alzheimer’s disease progressed in 2015, Harley became locked in an inheritance dispute with his younger siblings, Stacey and Lanzce, as well as Via, whom Harley’s lawyer characterized as his father’s “gold-digger” girlfriend.
Court documents obtained by Our News Outlet detail the “frantic” family conflict, which reached a climax in October when a judge ruled on who would inherit the real estate empire.
During a February trial, Harley alleged that his younger siblings manipulated their deteriorating father into removing him from his final two wills in 2019 and signing over $174 million in property interests.
Under a December 2018 will, Harlan’s estate was to be divided equally among his three children, with each expected to receive approximately $330 million.
Harlan and his wife Maxine amassed over $1 billion worth of assets over six decades
Harlan’s oldest son, Harley, accused his siblings of a ‘calculated scheme’ to deprive him of his inheritance (source: Facebook/ Missy Bonnett Douglass)
The 2019 wills radically changed that arrangement. Lanzce was assigned 65 percent of Harlan’s fortune, Stacey was given 35 percent, and Harley was left with just $1,000.
Harley’s attorney, Steve Hassing, told the court that Lanzce and Stacey, aided by Via, carried out a “calculated and predatory scheme” to strip Harley of his inheritance.
Lanzce, Stacey and Via denied in court that they had manipulated Harlan for financial gain.
The younger siblings maintained that the 2019 wills reflected their father’s genuine wishes. They said the documents were intended to rebalance the estate after Harley had received lavish gifts over the years totaling roughly $400 million.
In a ruling issued October 26, Judge Jacquelyn High-Edward concluded that Lanzce, Stacey and Via had exerted undue influence over Harlan when the final wills were prepared.
She also found that Lanzce and Stacey had willfully financially exploited their vulnerable father to obtain leases connected to four properties, barring both from inheriting any part of Harlan’s billion-dollar estate.
“Lanzce and Stacey engaged in frantic, almost manic behavior, from January 2019 until August 2019, to not only disinherit Harley from Harlan’s estate but to strip him of any inheritance,” Judge High-Edward wrote.
All three Douglass siblings and Via declined to comment when contacted by Our News Outlet.
Harley, Stacey and Lanzce all went to work for their father’s property empire in the 1990’s
Maxine and Harlan both suffered from Alzheimer’s, passing away in 2016 and 2023
A friend of Harley’s told Our News Outlet that, despite years of being pushed aside by his father, Harley remained loyal while facing what the friend called a “brutal smear campaign.”
“He was accused of the most vile things by Jeri and it took an enormous toll, but he never doubted that the truth would come out in the end,” said the friend, who knows Harley through Spokane’s real estate community.
“It is truly sad what greed can do to people.”
Court testimony cited in the judge’s ruling portrayed Harlan as a demanding employer and a difficult father.
Employees and adversaries described him at trial as “difficult, hot-headed, spiteful, and critical.” He fired, excluded and sued friends and business partners, sometimes over minor grievances, and was known for holding onto resentments.
The judge wrote that Harlan could become enraged over a $2 city tax bill while casually accepting a $1 million loss on a stock investment.
The same intensity that helped make Harlan a formidable businessman also brought turmoil to his home life.
Over a 12-day trial in February, testimony described a childhood shaped by his grudges and prolonged silent treatments. For the three siblings, family life could feel like “walking across a frozen lake.”
Harlan and Maxine argued bitterly and sometimes stopped speaking for weeks. According to testimony from the siblings, Christmas and Thanksgiving gatherings were often marked by icy silences and angry confrontations.
Maxine Douglass pictured with her three children on a boat
Harley, married to Missy Douglass (pictured), now stands to inherit a vast majority of the $1 billion estate (source: Facebook/ Missy Bonnett Douglass)
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All three children joined Douglass Properties Inc. in the late 1990s and worked out of a modest office in an industrial park in Spokane.
In 2001, Harlan became furious over what he viewed as wasteful spending at one of Harley’s construction projects and abruptly fired both sons, according to their testimony.
Lanzce went on to establish his own development and property-management company across Spokane and the wider Inland Northwest. Over time, his business grew to rival his father’s empire.
The younger son testified that Harlan tried to sabotage his independent operation.
“He would do whatever he needed to do to crush you,” Lanzce told the court, according to The Spokesman-Review.
By 2008, Harlan had brought Harley back into the business. For the next decade, employees testified, the pair maintained a close professional relationship.
Harley received an estimated $120 million in cash and shares, along with land for four developments, and was designated as the business’s heir. Court testimony cited in the ruling indicated that Lanzce was effectively removed from three successive wills.
The judge observed that Harlan appeared unable to sustain a close relationship with both sons at once, repeatedly favoring one while shutting out the other.
The home of the late Harlan and Maxine Douglass, located in Idaho
Stacey, Lanzce and Harley sit with their parents in a dated photo provided in Maxine’s obituary
By 2015, Harlan’s Alzheimer’s had advanced to the point that he struggled to remember the combination to his safe, even after the code was written down and reset to his birth date, according to trial testimony.
Maxine died in 2016 at age 79 after her own battle with Alzheimer’s.
By that time, Harlan had been involved for several years with Via, who was 11 years younger than him. According to Harley’s attorney, Harlan himself referred to her as a “gold-digger.”
As Via became Harlan’s full-time caregiver, she worked to damage his relationship with Harley, according to testimony cited in the judge’s ruling.
The court heard that Via accused Harley of trying to remove his father from the family business and of taking $1 million in cash from Harlan’s home safe. The judge said Via allegedly made false reports to law enforcement to “draw suspicion” toward Harley.
Hassing also accused Via of circulating false claims that Harley wanted his father dead and had attempted to hire a hitman to kill her.
Harley was fired from Douglass Properties for a second time in 2019.
As Harlan and Harley’s relationship deteriorated, Via helped rebuild the older man’s ties with Lanzce and Stacey, the judge wrote.
By early 2019, the younger siblings had returned to Harlan’s life, while Harley had been shut out.
The judge found that Lanzce and Stacey used “undue influence” to persuade their dementia-stricken father to rewrite his will twice that year. The new documents awarded Lanzce 65 percent of the estate and Stacey 35 percent, leaving Harley only $1,000.
The siblings also discussed moving money from a family trust to Harlan, a step the judge found would have reduced Harley’s eventual inheritance.
Witnesses testified that Harlan appeared to be falling asleep during the signing of the transfer documents and did not seem to understand what was taking place.
The Douglass family pictured in the 1970’s
Missy and Harley Douglass with their children and grandchildren (source: Facebook/Missy Bonnett Douglass)
Harlan died in 2023 at age 86 from complications related to late-stage Alzheimer’s disease.
The judge also concluded that Lanzce and Stacey had financially exploited Harlan by persuading him to sign over $174 million in ground leases tied to four properties. However, she rejected Harley’s fraud claims.
High-Edward wrote that evidence of the trio’s “poor behavior” was overwhelming and showed that their actions were driven by personal interests rather than the welfare of Harlan’s estate.
The judge said her finding that the brothers financially exploited a vulnerable adult meant that Lanzce and Stacey were barred from inheriting any part of their father’s estate.
Harley is now positioned to receive most of his parents’ combined $1 billion fortune, although the precise division between him and Harlan’s eight grandchildren has yet to be determined.
Attorneys representing Lanzce and Stacey have notified the court that they plan to appeal the ruling.
