LANSING — When he died last October at age 85, Joel Ferguson left a legacy as a successful real estate developer, pioneering Black power broker and Michigan State University uber-backer who sat on the school’s governing board for years.
His death also left some of his heirs fighting over what he intended to do with his presumably sizable estate, given his declining health during his final years, when he changed his estate planning documents several times.
One of his five children, Jennifer Ferguson, is asking an Ingham County Probate Court judge to set aside the last four amendments to his trust on grounds he was incapable of making such decisions.
Jennifer Ferguson contends her father’s long-time girlfriend, whom he married in the twilight of his life, took advantage of Joel’s vulnerability after his mental state began deteriorating in 2023 following a stroke and influenced him to change his plans for his estate.
“In the new estate planning documents, the fiduciaries named by Joel over the course of the prior 36 years were suddenly replaced with a curious and concerning cadre of individuals,” Jennifer argued in a court petition.
In court filings, respondents called those allegations baseless and denied that Anna Strong, Joel’s spouse, unduly influenced him. Ferguson had a seizure, not a stroke, and despite “intermittent” episodes of confusion and memory loss, remained competent to handle his own affairs, Strong said.
Jennifer Ferguson had a “tumultuous relationship” with her father and repeatedly demanded she get “a sizeable portion” of his estate, Strong said.
A Lansing native and Sexton High School graduate, Joel Ferguson became a heavy hitter in the development business and was a mainstay at MSU, where he served several terms on the Board of Trustees. His fellow trustees elected him board chair five times, from 1992 to 2015.
He became the first Black person to be elected to the Lansing City Council in 1967.
At the time of his death, Ferguson was involved in at least three big-money development projects in Michigan − the Red Cedar project on Michigan Avenue in Lansing, the state fairgrounds re-development in Detroit and a downtown redevelopment project in Muskegon, according to court records.
According to Jennifer Ferguson’s pleadings, Joel established his trust in 1989 and amended it five times by 2022. His named fiduciaries were Patrick Reid and Richard Henderson, who died in 2022.
The distribution plan remained “fairly consistent” over that time, with Strong set to receive $1 million in cash, minus prior gifts, along with the couple’s house and personal property and two autos, Jennifer said in court pleadings. Some property in Kentucky was to go to Jennifer’s sister, Dori, and “roughly 1/6 of the remainder” was to go to the children.
Things changed after Joel suffered a stroke around April 1, 2023, according to Jennifer’s pleadings, By later that month, doctors believed he had “progressive vascular dementia,” and by late July of that year, he was formally diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and late-onset dementia, she said.
“As a result of his confusion, Joel became skeptical and distrustful of those who knew him best …,” she said in a petition.
Ferguson “inexplicably” cut ties with Reid, his longtime attorney, in July 2023, before filing “all new” estate planning documents, Jennifer’s petition said. Strong’s share was increased to $4 million in cash (this time not reduced by prior gifts), and Dori was no longer set to receive the Kentucky property.
Ferguson was hospitalized in September 2024 for disorientation and memory impairment, about a week before he executed his final trust amendment and designated a new general durable power of attorney, Jennifer Ferguson said.
“Our position is that he was amending his trust during a window of time when … he was not competent or vulnerable to manipulation,” said Jennifer’s attorney, Douglas Chalgian.
In an affidavit, Reid said he recalled meeting Ferguson at a country club after the 2023 “seizure,” and Ferguson did not remember who he was. Reid characterized the redrafting of the estate plan in the final trust amendment as “totally contrary to Joel’s lifelong wishes.”
Ferguson and Strong were “secretly married” in December 2023, Jennifer Ferguson said. Ferguson’s first wife, Erma, from whom he had long been separated, died in 2022, according to court documents.
In court pleadings, Strong described the marriage ceremony as “intimate” but denied it was secret.
Concerns about Reid had been “brewing for years,” and the final straw was a dispute between him and Jennifer’s husband over a business matter, Strong said. Joel Ferguson was competent to execute the planning documents, Strong added.
The earlier versions of the trust did not sufficiently provide for her, who as Joel’s spouse is entitled to a $4 million share of his estate, Strong said. And the newest amendments didn’t materially change the trust’s beneficiaries, Strong added.
An attorney for the Ferguson trust, John Pirich, could not be reached for comment.
Scott Knapp, an attorney for Strong, declined comment other than to say, “We’re confident we’ll prevail.”
It likely will take awhile to sort out the dispute. A trial date is set for June 2026, Chalgian said.
Contact Ken Palmer at kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on X @KBPalm_lsj.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Court battle under way over Joel Ferguson’s estate; daughter argues he was incapacitated
Reporting by Ken Palmer, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
