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 vulner

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