A UK pensioner who had died left hundreds of thousands to an unlikely person, and it wasn’t his family.
Ronald Butcher, 75, a lifelong bachelor, died in March 2013, but his body was undiscovered for weeks. Two months before he passed away, he signed a will leaving his $770,000 in savings to a builder, 45-year-old Danny Sharp of Kent.
But the family and Butcher weren’t pleased, saying Sharp’s story was “ludicrous and absurd.” The man “hated sport[s],” and said the builder “knew more about the will than he is letting on.”
A UK high court threw out claims lodged by Butcher’s family, the Telegraph reported.
However, Sharp, a judge found, is “a truthful and straightforward witness.”
She added: “I find that Danny was kind to Mr Butcher, calling on him and doing odd jobs for him without charging.
“Mr Butcher was kind to Danny, indulged his passion for talking and their real shared interest was their mutual chat, banter and human interest stories, such as Archie’s success.”
He changed his will two months before he died, and his family disputed the bequest. Sharp, meanwhile, said that he was stunned with the change and didn’t expect it when Butcher suddenly died.
His only other “family” were swimming teacher, Evelyn Hutchins, 53, of Southgate, east London, and Peter Rogers, 57, the daughter and son of a close school friend.
They regarded Mr Butcher, a lifelong bachelor, as their “uncle Ron” and kept in regular contact with him.
“I was shocked to be given something like that. It’s life-changing. Nobody gives you nothing in life,” he added.