BELLEVILLE — A woman cliams her minor children were taken off as beneficiaries of her ex-husband's life insurance policy by his fiancee while he was incapacitated.
Elizabeth Smallwood, as mother and next of friend of B.B., a minor, and L.B., a minor, filed a complaint Jan. 22 in the St. Clair County Circuit Court against Sher Rujawitz, Hannah Shores and Sivia Business & Legal Services PC, doing business as Sivia Insurance Company, alleging violation of the Uniform Fraudulent Transfers Act, conspiracy to defraud minors and unjust enrichment.
According to the complaint, Smallwood, the natural mother of the minor plaintiffs, was previously married to their natural father John Blassingame who died on Jan. 14, 2021. She alleges that as part of their divorce agreement, Blassingame was required to maintain life insurance for their minor children and naming them as beneficiaries of the policy. Smallwood claims that while Blassingame was in hospice care and medicated, his "girlfriend and putative second wife" who worked for Sivia, made changes to the life insurance policy worth $500,000 and made herself the beneficiary of the policy. Smallwood further claims Shores refuses to comply with a court order to reverse the policy's changes and return the minor plaintiffs to their "proper status as sole irrevocable beneficiaries."
Smallwood seeks compensation of more than $50,000 and all other proper relief. She is represented by Charles Pierce of The Pierce Law Firm PC in Belleville.
St. Clair County Circuit Court case number 21-L-0061