British Court Rebuffs Animal Charity on Will Reversal

Britain’s High Court has rejected a bid by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to reinstate a $3.1-million bequest to the charity that was instead awarded to the daughter of the donor, The Guardian and the Yorkshire Post report.

Christine Gill won a court battle last year over her mother’s will, which left the family’s 287-acre farm to the animal-rescue group. Ms. Gill contended her mother, who died in 2006, had been coerced into the bequest by her father before his death seven years earlier.

Ruling Tuesday on the charity’s appeal, a three-judge court affirmed a decision by a lower court.

The Royal Society and several other major British nonprofit groups had raised concerns that upholding the award to Ms. Gill could deter other donors from leaving gifts to charity in their wills.