The Supreme Court has granted Blue Cross, RSPCA and RSPB the right to appeal against a Court of Appeal decision which saw the three organisations lose out on being the sole beneficiaries of a woman’s £500,000 will.

The Supreme Court issued a ruling on Monday which granted Blue Cross, the RSPCA and the RSPB the right to appeal against a decision made in July 2015, which saw £164,000 awarded to Heather Ilott, the estranged daughter of Melita Jackson, who left all of her assets to the three charities in 2004.

Mrs Ilott and the three charities have been involved in an ongoing legal dispute for the best part of a decade. In 2007 Ilott was awarded £50,000 by the county court on the grounds that her mother had been “unreasonable, capricious and harsh” towards her daughter.

In 2011 a court of appeal ruled the sum insufficient, but in 2013, charities won a ruling that Ilott should receive nothing. In 2015 a Court of Appeal decision said she should receive £164,000.

The Supreme Court has granted the charities the right to appeal the decision, as Jackson’s will “made no provision for the deceased’s only child, Mrs Ilott, after the mother and daughter had become estranged many years before and their attempts at reconciliation had failed” and questioned whether the Court of Appeal was “wrong to set aside the award” made in 2007.

In a joint statement, the three charities said: "We are delighted to have been given permission to bring these issues before the Supreme Court and look forward to the resulting clarity this should bring for the charity sector as a whole, as well as the renewed confidence a clear decision at the highest level will give those making their wills, that their wishes will be respected.”