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Animal charities win inheritance case Animal charities win inheritance case
(35 minutes later)
Three animal charities have won a case at the Supreme Court against a woman cut out of her mother's will.Three animal charities have won a case at the Supreme Court against a woman cut out of her mother's will.
Heather Ilott was awarded more than £160,000 by the Court of Appeal after her mother Melita Jackson left most of her £486,000 estate to charities.Heather Ilott was awarded more than £160,000 by the Court of Appeal after her mother Melita Jackson left most of her £486,000 estate to charities.
Mrs Ilott, from Hertfordshire, was originally awarded £50,000 by a court, which was later tripled. Mrs Ilott, from Hertfordshire, was originally awarded £50,000, which was later tripled.
Animal charities challenged the ruling and it has been agreed she should only receive the original £50,000. Animal charities challenged the ruling and it has been agreed she should receive only the original £50,000.
More follows. Mother-of-five Mrs Ilott, from Great Munden, has no pension and was living on state benefits when she was awarded £50,000 by a district judge in 2007.
The sum was increased to £160,000 by the appeal court in 2015.
More on this and other news from Hertfordshire
The Blue Cross, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals argued that the appeal judges "fell into error" when deciding to increase the maintenance payout, which included £143,000 for Mrs Ilott to buy her housing association home.
The court has heard that Mrs Ilott, who was an only child, was rejected by her mother at the age of 17 after she left home in 1978 to live with her boyfriend, Nicholas Ilott, whom she later married.
She and her mother never reconciled their differences, and when 70-year-old Mrs Jackson died in 2004, her will made no provision for her daughter.
Mrs Ilott, who is in her 50s, made her initial appeal under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 for "reasonable financial provision" from her mother's estate.
The Act gives the child of a deceased parent the right to apply for an order if a will does not make reasonable provision for them.