U.K. court overturns will of mother who had disinherited child

LONDON -- Britain's Court of Appeal has overturned the will of a mother who had chosen to give her estate to animal charities rather than her only child.

The mother, Melita Jackson, should have given a reasonable provision to her daughter, Heather Ilott, who is living on benefits and has no pension, Judge Mary Arden said Monday. In its ruling, the court also said Jackson had no connection with the charities named in the will.

The pair had been estranged for 26 years, after Ilott left home at 17 to live with her soon-to-be husband. Several efforts at reconciliation failed.

Jackson died in June 2004, leaving almost all her 486,000 pounds or $758,000 estate to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Blue Cross, a charity for abandoned animals.

The court awarded 143,000 pounds, the equivalent of $223,000, to Ilott, who lives north of London in Hertfordshire county, so she could buy her rented home from a housing association and a further 20,000 pounds in cash as "additional income."

The charities said in a statement that the ruling could have serious ramifications for nonprofit groups that receive income from bequests, and "raises serious questions about whether people generally have the freedom to choose who they want to leave money to in their will."

They said they would consider whether to appeal to the Supreme Court.