Without recognition of the claim, Alberts and his wife would be out of court. With it, they had a fighting chance. Court of Appeals judges saw that the dispute was of public importance and sent it on to the State Supreme Court. The justices, one way or another, had to decide Alberts' issues. This sort of thing happens frequently in the judicial system.
Judges confront a case without instate precedent or legislative guidance.
When that happens, courts make law, and many people, often those of conservative persuasion, don't like this. The Legislature, they believe, should make all the laws, and courts should confine themselves to applying them. That's certainly consistent with the separation of powers, built into American government at the very beginning. Nevertheless, it isn't consistent with what really happens. If the Supreme Court justices ruled against recognizing lost chance, Alberts would lose his case.