NEW CUMBERLAND – A Weirton woman is seeking an injunction regarding a life insurance policy purchased by her late ex-husband.
Toni L. Shetterly filed a complaint Feb. 15 in Hancock Circuit Court against Fidelity Life Association and the estate of Ryan Lee Shetterly seeking declaratory and injunctive relief.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff and Ryan Lee Shetterly were married in 2011 and later divorced. The suit states she was "unaware" that Ryan Lee Shetterly filed for divorce in Potter County, Pennsylvania and that they had never resided there.
The suit states Ryan Lee Shetterly died in March 2017 and that Fidelity Life Association contacted the plaintiff to advise her she was listed of the beneficiary of an insurance policy purchased by Ryan Lee Shetterly.
The plaintiff alleges that after providing Fidelity Life Association with the requested divorce decree, it told her "that pursuant to Pennsylvania law, upon entry of the divorce degree, the designation of plaintiff as beneficiary of the life insurance policy was deemed ineffective."
The plaintiff holds Fidelity Life Association and the estate of Ryan Lee Shetterly responsible because Fidelity Life Association allegedly refused to treat her as the beneficiary of the insurance policy of her late ex-husband due to the fact of the divorce decree was rendered by a court where she nor her late husband had ever resided.
The plaintiff seeks an order declaring that she is the rightful beneficiary of her late husband's insurance policy and for the immediate temporary injunction against defendant until this matter can be heard on its merits and litigation fees and costs. She is represented by Steven M. Recht of Recht Law Offices in Weirton. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Jason A. Cuomo.
Hancock Circuit Court case number 18-C-17
