Thursday, April 9, 2009 | 11:26 a.m.
A Las Vegas woman whose son was killed during combat in Iraq in 2004 is now suing her ex-husband, charging she was cheated out of her share of her son's $500,000 life insurance policy.
Eleanor Dachtler filed the suit Monday in Clark County District Court against Albert Anderson of Ventura County, Calif.
Their son, Nicholas Anderson, was killed Nov. 12, 2004, at the age of 19 in Al Anbar province when his Humvee rolled. The Defense Department said Anderson was manning the machine gun turret when a car attempted to ram the Humvee. The Humvee rolled and the platoon was attacked by insurgents. A Marine lance corporal, Anderson was a 2003 graduate of Bonanza High School.
Dachtler says in her lawsuit that prior to his deployment to Iraq, her son completed a Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance Election and Certificate designating each of his parents as 50 percent beneficiaries; with his half-brother Jackson Anderson named as a contingent beneficiary in the event of either parent's death.
Twelve days later, on March 22, 2004, a "conflicting form was submitted" designating Albert Anderson as the sole beneficiary, with Dachtler named a contingent beneficiary and Jackson removed from the policy, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit challenges the validity of the second form that was submitted and claims Albert Anderson "falsely made or forged or directed other individuals to make or forge" it.
The second form "was not written in Nicholas Anderson's hand and in any event does not match the handwriting" on the first form, the suit alleges.
Albert Anderson has an unlisted phone number and could not be reached for comment. A Las Vegas attorney who represented him in probate proceedings in 2007 also could not be reached. Monday's lawsuit was filed by attorney Patricia Lee of the firm Hutchison & Steffen.
Court records in Ventura County show that in June 2005, Albert Anderson filed a civil complaint against Dachtler and her husband George Dachtler seeking an order that they stop harassing him, but that his request for a temporary restraining order was denied. The court records indicate neither defendant has been served or has responded to the complaint.
In 2004, shortly after Nicholas Anderson was killed, Dachtler and Albert Anderson were in a high-profile dispute over where their son should be buried. His mother wanted him buried in Southern Nevada, where he lived most of his life, but his father wanted him buried in Ventura County near the ocean he loved.
The father prevailed because of a Defense Department rule giving the older parent the final say. Because of the case of Anderson and a similar case involving a soldier whose parents had divorced, the Defense Department now requires service members to spell out who will make such decisions in the event they die.
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy