Ilott v Mitson: Charities’ appeal allowed

The Supreme Court has allowed the charities’ appeal in the the case of Ilott v Mitson.

Following a lengthy legal battle, the appeal from the charities in Ilott v Mitson has been allowed to go ahead in a Supreme Court ruling today (15/03/17).

The ongoing case involved a daughter (Ilott) who was written out of her mother’s will, with the estate being left to charity.

She subsequently appealed the will and received around £50,000 after arguing that the reasonable financial provision made for children under the 1975 Inheritance Act should also apply to adult children.

Mrs Ilott then went to the Court of Appeal in a bid to receive a greater share of the estate.

However, the charities subsequently took the case to the Supreme Court, looking to overturn the decision of the Appeal Court – Mrs Ilott was here awarded a further £163,000.

The Supreme Court Judges unanimously allowed their appeal. The judgement was given by Lord Hughes, which the rest of the Court agreed with.

A supplementary judgement was given by Lady Hale with which Lord Wilson and Lord Kerr agreed.

The full judgement can be accessed here.

 

Read more stories

Join nearly 5,000 other practitioners – sign up to our free newsletter

You’ll receive the latest updates, analysis, and best practice straight to your inbox.

Features