Hertfordshire woman rejected by mother fights for inheritance

A mother of five from Hertfordshire has lost her latest battle to get a larger share of a £486,000 inheritance.

Heather Ilott, 52, from Great Munden, was rejected aged 17 by her mother and left out of her will.

She won £50,000 after a district judge concluded she had been "unreasonably" excluded by mother Melita Jackson, who left her estate to animal charities.

She then appealed to get more money but Mrs Justice Parker dismissed this at the High Court in London.

The judge said that only child Mrs Ilott had been rejected after leaving home and marrying.

After her mother died in 2004 she had challenged the will.

District Judge Clive Million said Mrs Ilott's financial circumstances were "constrained and needy" and concluded her exclusion from the will had been unfair.

He decided that "appropriate provision" was £50,000.

Mrs Justice Parker ruled that his decision could not "be said to be wrong".