Ronald Butcher, aged 75, left his $770,000 fortune to a non-family member, Daniel Sharp, who had helped him by cleaning his gutters for free. Two months before his death, Butcher changed his will, but his family contested it, claiming it wasn’t his true last wish.

Butcher’s cousins and children of a close friend requested the court to invalidate the will and make them beneficiaries. Before the change, they were equal beneficiaries in the will.

Sharp, who had been friends with Butcher for six years, denied any involvement in the will change. Butcher’s lawyer argued that Butcher recognized the implications of the 2013 will and made the change due to their friendship.

The court heard differing accounts of how often Butcher saw his family, but Sharp expressed gratitude for the unexpected inheritance, citing their friendship as the reason Butcher chose to include him in the will.