Harlan Douglass transformed a family property company into a Pacific Northwest real estate 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 250 commercial properties, roughly 2,000 apartments and self-storage operations spread across seven states.
Yet behind that fortune was a family marked by years of bitter conflict. Court records and testimony describe Harlan as hot-tempered and unforgiving, setting the stage for an HBO-style battle over control of his wealth.
Harlan repeatedly dismissed or excluded his children, at times turning one son against the other. His girlfriend, Jeri Via, accused his eldest son, Harley, of taking nearly $1 million in cash. Harley’s attorney said Via also accused him of trying to arrange her killing.
When Harlan began showing signs of Alzheimer’s in 2015, Harley became locked in a succession 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 the Daily Mail reveal how the family conflict escalated, reaching a decisive moment in October when a judge ruled on who would inherit the real estate fortune.
At a February trial, Harley alleged that his siblings manipulated their increasingly impaired father into removing him from two final wills written in 2019 and signing over $174 million in property interests.
A December 2018 will had divided Harlan’s estate equally among his three children, giving each an expected share of approximately $330 million.
Harlan and Maxine Douglass built assets worth more than $1 billion over six decades
Harley, Harlan’s eldest son, alleged that his siblings carried out a “calculated scheme” to strip him of his inheritance (source: Facebook/ Missy Bonnett Douglass)
The 2019 wills changed that arrangement dramatically. Lanzce was to receive 65 percent of the estate, Stacey 35 percent, while Harley was left with just $1,000.
Harley’s attorney, Steve Hassing, told the court that Lanzce and Stacey, assisted by Via, had pursued a “calculated and predatory scheme” designed to deprive 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 revised division was intended to account for decades of substantial gifts to Harley, which they estimated at approximately $400 million.
In an October 26 ruling, Judge Jacquelyn High-Edward concluded that Harlan’s final wills were the product of undue influence by Lanzce, Stacey and Via.
She further found that Lanzce and Stacey had willfully financially abused their vulnerable father to obtain leases involving four properties. As a result, both were barred from inheriting from 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,” High-Edward wrote.
All three Douglass siblings and Via declined to comment when contacted by the Daily Mail.
Harley, Stacey and Lanzce joined their father’s property business in the 1990s
Maxine and Harlan both battled Alzheimer’s before their deaths in 2016 and 2023
A friend of Harley’s told the Daily Mail that, despite years of rejection by his father, Harley had 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 difficult father.
Employees and adversaries described him during the trial as “difficult, hot-headed, spiteful, and critical.” He fired, excluded and sued friends and business partners, sometimes over minor grievances, and was said to hold onto every perceived slight.
The judge wrote that Harlan could become enraged over a $2 city tax bill while barely reacting to losing $1 million on a stock investment.
The force of personality that helped make Harlan a formidable businessman also reportedly caused turmoil inside his home.
Over a 12-day trial in February, the siblings described growing up with a father whose grudges and prolonged silent treatments made family life feel like “walking across a frozen lake.”
Harlan and Maxine reportedly had bitter arguments and sometimes went weeks without speaking. According to testimony from all three children, Christmas and Thanksgiving gatherings were often marked by icy silence and angry confrontations.
Maxine Douglass pictured with her three children on a boat
Harley, who is married to Missy Douglass, now stands to inherit most 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, working together in an unremarkable office building inside a Spokane industrial park.
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 subsequently launched his own career, building a development and property-management company across Spokane and the broader Inland Northwest that eventually rivaled his father’s business.
The younger son testified that Harlan actively attempted to damage his company.
“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. The two developed what employees described in testimony as a close professional relationship that lasted for roughly a decade.
Harley received an estimated $120 million in cash and shares, along with land for four developments, and was designated as the business heir. According to testimony cited in the judge’s ruling, Lanzce was effectively excluded from three consecutive wills.
High-Edward observed that Harlan appeared unable to sustain a close relationship with both sons simultaneously, repeatedly favoring one while shutting out the other.
The Idaho home of the late Harlan and Maxine Douglass
Stacey, Lanzce and Harley pictured with their parents in a photograph included in Maxine’s obituary
By 2015, Harlan was struggling with Alzheimer’s and reportedly could not remember the combination to his safe, even after it was written down and reset to his birth date.
Maxine died in 2016 at age 79 following her own battle with Alzheimer’s.
By that point, Harlan had been in a relationship with Via for several years. She was 11 years younger than him, and Harley’s attorney said Harlan himself had referred to her as a “gold-digger.”
As Via became Harlan’s full-time caregiver, court testimony cited in the ruling indicated that she worked to weaken the relationship between Harley and his father.
The court heard that Via accused Harley of attempting to remove Harlan from the family company and of taking $1 million in cash from his father’s home safe. The judge said Via allegedly made false reports to law enforcement in an effort to “draw suspicion” toward Harley.
Hassing also accused Via of spreading 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 worked to restore Harlan’s connections with Lanzce and Stacey, the judge wrote.
By early 2019, the younger siblings had returned to Harlan’s inner circle, while Harley had been shut out.
High-Edward found that Lanzce and Stacey used “undue influence” to persuade their father, who was suffering from dementia, to rewrite his will twice in 2019. The new documents awarded 65 percent of the estate to Lanzce, 35 percent to Stacey and only $1,000 to Harley.
The judge also found that the younger siblings discussed moving money from a family trust to Harlan, a step that would have reduced Harley’s eventual inheritance.
Witnesses testified that Harlan was falling asleep during the signing of the transfer documents and did not appear to understand what was taking place.
The Douglass family pictured in the 1970s
Missy and Harley Douglass with their children and grandchildren (source: Facebook/Missy Bonnett Douglass)
Harlan died in 2023 at age 86 after suffering from late-stage Alzheimer’s.
High-Edward also ruled 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.
The judge said the evidence of the trio’s “poor behavior” was overwhelming and concluded that their actions were driven by personal interests rather than the needs of Harlan’s estate.
High-Edward said the finding that the siblings financially exploited a vulnerable adult barred both younger children from receiving any inheritance from their father.
Harley is now positioned to receive most of his parents’ combined $1 billion estate, although the 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.