92-Year-Old Veteran Says He Was Defrauded Of Wife’s Life Insurance

May 12--A jury trial date has been set in the case of a 92-year-old Hunt resident who claims his terminally ill, now-deceased wife was tricked by her coworkers into removing him from her life insurance policy so they could collect the money.

Curtis McCubbin, a retired chiropractor and World War II veteran, is set to appear before 216th District Judge Keith Williams on Nov. 15, along with the woman he has sued, Mary E. Arhelger.

Arhelger, a 60-year-old Harper resident and co-worker of the deceased woman, has denied McCubbin's allegations and claims she is the sole, rightful beneficiary of the life insurance policy, and therefore entitled to the full $262,000 that would have gone to McCubbin had his name not been removed from the policy shortly before his wife's death.

In 2014, Shirley was diagnosed with breast cancer, which had already spread throughout her body. It is undisputed that in on Sept. 1, 2015, four days before her death, Shirley was at home when Arhelger and a coworker, Betty Drawe, arrived with a change of beneficiary form, which McCubbin's complaint states was then either signed by Shirley or forged.

At the time the women visited Shirley, McCubbin was in the hospital recovering from a broken hip he'd sustained the previous day.

Arhelger, in court records, said that she, Drawe, two of Shirley's sisters, and her brother-in-law were present during the visit. Shirley's sisters provided their signatures as witnesses to the change of beneficiary.

"Shirley was legally blind, breathing through oxygen tubes and unable to even hold her head up. Arhelger and Drawe sat on either side of her at the kitchen table to obtain her signature on the change form," states McCubbin's complaint. "Shirley was mentally and physically incompetent to make business decisions and lacked the capacity to change the beneficiary."

In his deposition, McCubbin said the signature on the change of beneficiary form that purports to be his wife's "is not her regular signature." He said his wife's mental state in her final days was "very poor."

"The signature alone tells me that, mentally, she didn't know what she was doing," McCubbin said in the deposition.

McCubbin's complaint claims the Arhelger and Drawe schemed to get the beneficiary list changed in order to split the money between them, but the women have denied this. Arhelger said in her deposition that she intends to share some of the money with Drawe at Shirley's request.

Arhelger, in a deposition, corroborated Shirley's oxygen treatment, weakness and visual deficiency, although she said the woman could read with a magnifying glass. In an affidavit, dhe said Shirley "was very sharp mentally and had no mental disabilities that I observed."

"Shirley informed everyone present (on Sept. 1) that she wanted to change the beneficiary of her life insurance policy," Arhelger said in an affidavit. "Shirley stated that she wanted to change the policy because I had been with her the entire time, and Curtis McCubbin did not need the money."

In a deposition, Arhelger said she and Drawe went to visit Shirley "many times," as the three women were friends and worked together at Hill Country Telephone Cooperative in Ingram. Arhelger said she became friends with Shirley when the latter came to work for the company in 2008. Arhelger was a customer service representative and Drawe worked as the coordinator of the company's insurance/benefits department.

Drawe, in a recent deposition, said she only suggested that Shirley should change the secondary beneficiary to delete McCubbin's son, but when she got to Shirley's house, the dying woman said she wanted to take Curtis off and put Arhelger on as beneficiary.

McCubbin said he only learned of the change after submitting a claim to the insurance company to get the money.

Arhelger admitted no one told him beforehand.

Even as Drawe was processing the insurance paperwork, she chose not to tell McCubbin, according to court records.

In his deposition, McCubbin said he needed insurance money to pay for Shirley's medical expenses, his own medical expenses, travel expenses incurred while she was ill, funeral expenses and a headstone for her grave.

McCubbin has said Arhelger conned his wife into buying several thousand dollars in herbs that were mostly useless for treatment or pain relief. Arhelger, in her deposition, however, said Shirley asked for the "dietary supplements." She claimed she also helped the McCubbins with numerous errands -- including cooking dinner and helping Shirley in and out of the shower.

McCubbin, in his deposition, denied Arhelger helped out.

In her deposition, Arhelger said Shirley was "very bitter" toward her husband in her final days, although she wasn't exactly sure why. She said McCubbin yelled at his wife a lot, but she couldn't recall why or how many times. Arhelger also claimed he would leave Shirley alone at home, and he would bring back fast food, much of which was not agreeable to her.

McCubbin, whose attorney is Richard Ellison, has asked the court to nullify the change of beneficiary to Arhelger, award the life insurance proceeds to McCubbin; and assess damages against Arhelger of no more than $250,000 for emotional distress, $250,000 in exemplary damages, $250,000, court costs and prejudgment and post-judgment interest.

Arhelger, whose attorney is C. Dixon Mosty, has asked the court to side with her and order McCubbin to pay her court costs, attorney fees and related expenses.