'Lonely' pensioner cut his family and friends out of will - and left entire £500,000 fortune to builder who cleaned his gutters for free

Ronald Butcher, 75, left his entire life savings to builder Daniel Sharp
He cut out his cousin and two family friends who were expecting to inherit
But they are now challenging the will in the High Court saying the pensioner did not know what he was doing

A lonely pensioner left half a million pounds to a builder who once agreed to clean out his gutters for free - but the bequest is now at the centre of a High Court legal battle.

Ronald Butcher, a 'private and quiet man', bequeathed his entire £500,000 fortune to Daniel Sharp after he died in March 2013.

But his relatives and family friends insist that the will, made just two months before his death, is invalid and say that the builder is lying about his friendship with Mr Butcher.

Lucky: Daniel Sharp was given £500,000 by pensioner Ronald Butcher after doing building work for him free

After the pensioner died at home in Enfield, west London aged 75, his body was not discovered for almost two months, the High Court heard.

Judge Leslie Anderson QC was told that Mr Butcher's 'family' consisted his elderly cousin, Joyce Gilkerson, plus Evelyn Hutchins and Peter Rogers, the children of a close school friend, who regarded him as their 'uncle Ron'.

The three were the equal beneficiaries of a will drawn up by Mr Butcher in December 2011, but after his death they discovered that they had been disinherited.

Araba Taylor, for Mrs Hutchins, told the court that the 'odd' nature of Mr Butcher's bequest to Mr Sharp should 'excite suspicion' that he did not fully understand what he was doing.

But Jennifer Seaman, for Mr Sharp, said: 'Mr Butcher was a lonely man who found a friend in Mr Sharp. Mr Butcher knew what he was doing when he made the 2013 will and what its effect would be.

'He found a male friend in Mr Sharp, somebody he could chat to. They had a shared interest in DIY and he liked to hear about Mr Sharp's son. That is an explanation why he wanted to make the 2013 will.'

Cut out: Evelyn Hutchins, left, and Peter Rogers, right, expected to inherit the bulk of Mr Butcher's fortune

Giving evidence, Mr Sharp described the start of his friendship with Mr Butcher six years before his death, saying: 'When I first cleaned out his gutter he offered me a tenner or twenty quid for it, but I said no, I wouldn't take it. It was a nothing job that took seconds.'

Talking of his feelings on learning of his surprise inheritance, he added: 'At the time I was shocked to be given something like that. It's life changing. Nobody gives you nothing in life.

'I didn't think he had people to give it to, or obviously they had had an argument. Something happened and he gave it to me. I can't say the reason why he gave it to me.

'But if I'm the only one who went round to talk to him... I didn't know what's gone on with the others. Obviously there's been a big falling out.'

Asked why he did not attend Mr Butcher's funeral, Mr Sharp said it would 'just cause arguments' with the pensioner's family, and refuted Miss Taylor's clim that the two men were not in fact friends.

Home: Mr Butcher became friends with Mr Sharp after the builder cleared the gutters of his home in Enfield, pictured, six years before his death

He said: 'I class a friend as somebody who talks to people. His friends and family hadn't spoken to him in months. At least I was going round whenever I was in the area.

'I'm still shocked today and I can understand why his family are upset about it. But, at the end of the day, there's a reason why he's given it to me. They know it, but I don't.

'We were not good friends, just friends. I never said I was his best mate or whatever.'

Mrs Hutchins, 53, told the court that her family had been close to her honorary 'uncle' Mr Butcher.

She admitted that she and her brother saw less of him after their mother's death, but denied the suggestion that they had 'slowly lost contact' with him.

She said: 'One or other of us would go and see him every break we had. I had tried to pop in around March and had phoned but there was nothing. We were planning to go on a cruise the next year.

'I've never seen Mr Sharp. I would have expected uncle Ron to talk about him.'

Mr Rogers, 57, claimed Mr Sharp was 'lying' about being friends with Mr Butcher, adding: 'My uncle had lots of friends and still came to family parties.

'He and Mr Sharp had nothing in common. It just doesn't add up. He would tell us about what was going on in his life and Mr Sharp never ever came up.'

The hearing continues.

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Wednesday, 29 April 2015