Posted on 11/26/2014 5:14:19 AM PST by Gamecock
Nearly two months after awarding a $100,000 life insurance policy to a Fort Worth mega church and not the deceased man's children, Denton County judge Robert Ramirez has had a change of heart — sort of. In a breathless order fraught with typos, Ramirez said he was "premature in granting a summary judgment" in favor of Birchman Baptist Church.
Scarlette Rafferty Elliot and Sean Rafferty were the designated beneficiaries of their father's life insurance up until just 24 hours before his death. After meeting with Birchman senior pastor Bob Pearle on June 24, 2013, Sean C. Rafferty signed over his life insurance policy to the church; he committed suicide on June 25. His adult children are suing the church for the remaining $85,000 in benefits from the policy.
Ramirez's October 23 ruling states that Birchman Baptist has the rights to the policy, but Scarlette and Sean's lawsuit against the church can move forward to trial based on a fraud claim.
"Although we're quite perplexed by the court's rulings on the summary judgments, the court has made its decision. We are reviewing our options, and we will be moving forward," says William Brotherton, Scarlette and Sean's attorney.
After Ramirez initially ruled in favor of Birchman, the church had vowed to go after the dead man's children for attorney's fees. In light of the judge's backtracking, the issue of attorney's fees has been tabled as well.
Ramirez ruled that although Birchman was the proper beneficiary, Mr. Rafferty's children have a right to bring fraud charges against the church for coaxing a suicidal man into changing his life insurance policy.
According to Bankers Life and Casualty Company, the request to change the beneficiary from Sean Rafferty's children to Birchman Baptist was faxed from the church office on June 24, 2013. The form wasn't processed until June 26, 2013 — a day after Rafferty died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Adding to the complication of the case is the fact that a 2010 divorce decree mandated that Sean C. Rafferty designate his children as the beneficiaries of his life insurance. Brotherton argued that the decree clearly stated that Mr. Rafferty did not have the right to change beneficiaries. Ramirez, however, sided with Birchman Baptist attorney Randall "Skipper" Schmidt, who said that the divorce decree didn't apply once the children reached the age of 18.
When reached by phone, Schmidt did not immediately know whether or not he was authorized to comment on the case. We will update this story if and when he responds.
Meanwhile, Brotherton is moving forward with requests to depose Pastor Pearle and a handful of other church employees. "Our fraud claim is still alive," Brotherton says.
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I can’t imagine a mega-church that would be desperate for 100,000. They take that in an offering plate in the blink of any eye. They’d rather have all this bad publicity?
Dumb decision.
Dumb like wrestling a cop inside his own squad car for his gun. How can you be surprised if something bad happens as a result?
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.
Does Texas law not require an “insurable interest”?
I have visited this church at least twice over the past few years. The people seem sincere and ardent to follow the Word of God, but something just wasn’t right with the pastor. I’m not saying that there isn’t more to this story than the anti-church side. Read these stories with the realization that the world HATES the Church with unending fury. And the press is the mouth of the world.
Keep in mind that during Ft Worth’s battle over granting sodomites everything they wanted several years ago (the sodomites “won”) Birchman parrishioners were a very large, strong, vocal presence as the opposition during council meetings. Their social activism was the exact opposite of what we see from most weak-kneed, capitulating “Christian” congregations these days.
Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers. Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren.
um.. since when do life insurance policies pay out if you kill yourself?
Many do. There are caveats like “If you commit suicide within (2, 5, 10) years,no payout.”
Met with the church’s pastor, changed the beneficiary of his life insurance to the church, and then killed himself.
That’s a tasty meatball!
You just come here and say “something just wasn’t right with the pastor” and that’s all? Just some claim, no reasoning to back it up?
Many pastors of these mega-churches would sell the gold in their live grandmothers’ teeth. They worship Mammon.
I would be looking into the “suicide”.
Birchman is a good sized church, but not a mega-church.
This pursuit seems very strange. Most churches would stay away just to keep things out of the public eye.
FWIW, Birchman Baptist had just over 1200 members in 2013, ranking it 418th in size in the Southern Baptist Convention.
http://thomrainer.com/2013/08/03/2013-update-largest-churches-in-the-southern-baptist-convention/
I’ve never been there and know nothing about them other than their website. As churches in Texas go, they are not all that big. Compared to the 30 members where I’m a member...yeah, it is big.
I was just going on the title of this article, but if you have better info, I’m more than willing to listen. That’s one of the neat things about Free Republic, that we can get extra info from those closer to the scene.
My sense is that, even if it’s a small church, I wouldn’t want any part of this money and the bad publicity attached to it.
More details here:
"Bankers advised Defendant Birchman that even if Mr. Rafferty could have legally changed the beneficiary, the change was invalid under the policy because the change was purportedly signed and forwarded mere hours before Mr. Rafferty committed suicide. Under the policy, changes to the beneficiary must be received, approved and processed prior to the insured’s death. The change in beneficiary form allegedly executed by Mr. Rafferty on June 24, 2013 was not received, approved and processed prior to the insured’s death."
http://www.scribd.com/doc/238351354/2-Nd-Amended-Petition
"Judge Robert Ramirez ruled that even though a court order named the children as beneficiaries after the divorce, Mr. Rafferty had the right to change his life insurance policy after Sean and Scarlette turned 18, which had occurred.... ..."Dr. Pearle had been told by Mr. Rafferty that he had been scorned by Scarlette and Sean and that he had no relationship with them," the October 2013 letter reads. "Dr. Pearle knows Scarlette and Sean as they were active in church activities as children. However, they have not been in contact with the church for quite some time and declined the church's involvement with any funeral arrangements for Mr. Rafferty."
http://dallas.culturemap.com/news/city-life/07-18-14-birchman-baptist-lawsuit-sean-rafferty-suicide-life-insurance/
Comments at the last website supposedly come from various family friends and members of the church.
Call it discernment, but you can tell when a pastor is self-serving. Sorry that there is no hard evidence to back up that awareness.
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