Unusual Lawsuits

Fort Worth's Birchman Baptist sued after father commits suicide and leaves church $100,000

A Fort Worth mega church is at the center of a contentious lawsuit involving a man who committed suicide, his two adult children and a $100,000 life insurance policy. Scarlette Rafferty Elliot and her brother, Sean Paul Rafferty, are suing Birchman Baptist Church for the rights to their father's life insurance policy, which he signed away less than 24 hours before taking his own life.

According to Bankers Life and Casualty Company, the request to change the beneficiary from Mr. Rafferty's children to Birchman Baptist was faxed from the church office on June 24, 2013. Mr. Rafferty died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head on June 25.

The request to change the beneficiary from Mr. Rafferty's children to Birchman Baptist was faxed from the church office on June 24, 2013. He died the next day.

"Birchman did not provide any solace to their obviously distressed congregational member," the lawsuit reads. "Birchman did not reach out to the family of Mr. Rafferty and raise any concern about Mr. Rafferty's state of mind when he was at Birchman seeking its assistance with the proposed change in beneficiary within hours of ending his own life."

The issue only becomes more complicated from there, as Sean and Scarlette were designated as beneficiaries by court order in 2010 when Mr. and Mrs. Rafferty divorced. To further muddle matters, the life insurance company didn't process the change of beneficiary form until June 26, 2013 — a day after Mr. Rafferty had already died.

"The plaintiffs do not believe that the signature on the change in beneficiary is their father’s signature," the lawsuit reads.

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.

Birchman Baptist maintains that it is the rightful beneficiary of the $100,000 policy. The church attempted to claim the funds about a week after Mr. Rafferty's death. In response to the lawsuit, attorney Randall Schmidt penned a letter denigrating Scarlette and Sean's relationship with their father. In the letter, Schmidt purports that Birchman Baptist pastor Dr. Bob Pearle is privy to the family dynamics.

"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."

With the siblings and the church at an impasse, the life insurance company is holding onto the funds until the matter is settled at court. The next hearing in the case is August 8. Both parties are asking for summary judgment.

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family values

Dallas sees Texas' biggest one-year jump in cost of raising kids

Courtesy of SmartAsset/iStock

Raising a child in Dallas will cost parents over $23,000 this year.

Raising a child is not an easy or inexpensive feat, and a new study has determined Dallas parents are saddled with the second-highest costs for childrearing in Texas, with expenses jumping higher than any other metro statewide since 2025.

SmartAsset's latest report, "Cost of Raising a Child in Major U.S. Metros – 2026 Study," calculated year-over-year changes in the annual cost of raising a child (factoring in childcare, additional housing costs, food, transportation, medical costs and other necessities) in the 48 largest U.S. metro areas. MIT's Living Wage Calculator was used to compare the living costs of a household with two working adults and one child to that of a childless household with two working adults.

Childrearing costs in Dallas-Fort Worth have grown 4.5 percent since last year, totaling $23,340 for a family of three in 2026. That's over $1,000 more than what it took to raise a child in 2025, and it's $1,414 higher than what it took in 2024.

This is how SmartAsset broke down the cost for raising a child in Dallas:

Cost of childcare: $10,736
Cost of food: $1,826
Other expenses: $10,778

Though Dallas has the second-steepest costs for raising a child in Texas, the metro is actually much more affordable than most other places in the U.S.: DFW ranked 39th in SmartAsset's national list of cities with the highest childrearing costs in 2026, making it the 10th most affordable U.S. metro for raising a family.

San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont in California topped the list with the highest childrearing costs in the U.S., at $43,171. The cost for raising a child in this California metro soared nearly 11 percent higher since last year.

Memphis, Tennessee ranked dead last as the most affordable U.S. metro for raising a child in 2026. Families will spend less than $20,000 to raise a child in Memphis, only 3.24 percent more than what was needed in 2025.

Raising a child in other Texas metros
It may come as no surprise that Austin is the most expensive place to raise a child in Texas, and it appeared as the 31st most expensive U.S. metro for families. Parents will spend nearly $25,000 to raise a child in the state's capital city, which is $703 higher than it was a year ago.

Meanwhile, San Antonio-New Braunfels is the most affordable metro in the Lone Star State for raising a family, and it's the third-most affordable place for raising a child nationwide. San Antonio parents will spend $21,393, or $448 more than last year, on their childrearing costs.

Houston also ranked among the top 10 most affordable U.S. metros for raising a child, landing in 7th place nationally, with childrearing costs adding up to $22,605 in 2026. That's only $737 more than last year.

The top 10 most affordable U.S. metros for raising a child in 2026 are:

No. 1 – Memphis, Tennessee ($19,922)
No. 2 – Nashville, Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, Tennessee ($21,216)
No. 3 – San Antonio-New Braunfels ($21,393)
No. 4 – Birmingham, Alabama ($21,684)
No. 5 – Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, Virginia ($22,314)
No. 6 – Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Georgia ($22,470)
No. 7 – Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands ($22,605)
No. 8 – Richmond, Virginia ($22,658)
No. 9 – Louisville/Jefferson County, Kentucky ($23,270)
No. 10 – Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington ($23,340)

family dallas fort worth arlington smartasset reports livability