At 82, Harlan Douglass couldn’t pay his own bills or make sense of numbers. Yet two of his children had him sign paperwork they’d drafted themselves, with terms he knew nothing about, a Spokane judge found.
As a result, a court has tossed out the paperwork, and Harley — the son that Douglass’ altered will left with just $1,000 — could inherit an estimated $1 billion, the Spokesman-Review reported.
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Harlan, a Spokane real estate developer, died Nov. 26, 2023, at 86, after dementia and Alzheimer’s disease took hold. On Oct. 26 of this this year, Spokane Superior Court Judge Jacquelyn High-Edward sided with his eldest son, who had challenged the will changes. She found that Harley’s younger siblings, Lanzce Douglass and Stacey Douglass Boies, unduly influenced their father.
What the judge found
The judge tossed the promissory notes, which were payable to Lanzce, Stacey and their children that totaled $155 million. She also canceled the real estate transfers made out to the two siblings. In the end, the judge reinstated the version of the will that predates 2019, which divides his estate equally among his three kids.
The altered version had given Lanzce 65% and Stacey 35%. On the stand, the siblings said the shift followed their reconciliations with Harlan and balanced out what Harley had already received over the years, including an inheritance from their mother…