The RSPCA has been ordered to pay the majority of a £1.3m legal bill after losing a battle over a £2m estate left to it in a will.
The charity faces costs of up to £1m after Dr Christine Gill from Northallerton, North Yorkshire, overturned her parents' will.
Dr Gill won the case after a court found her father had coerced her mother into making the document.
The will had left the couple's 287-acre farm to the RSPCA.
A judge has now ordered that the RSPCA should pay the majority of legal costs. A written judgment specifying how much is expected to be released next week.
Leeds Combined Court heard on Friday that Dr Gill's legal costs were more than £900,000 while the RSPCA's legal bill came to £400,000.
Mediation attempts
Dr Gill's legal team have argued that that the animal charity should pay about 85 to 90% of her costs.
The court had earlier heard Dr Gill's parents left Potto Carr Farm, near Northallerton, to the RSPCA, despite Joyce Gill's "avowed dislike" of the charity.
But the two parties failed to agree on who should pay for the £1.3m legal bill, with much of the debate centred on what opportunities were available to settle before the lengthy and costly trial.
A judgment by Judge James Allan QC found the charity had failed to resolve the dispute in an alternative way despite repeated attempts at mediation by Dr Gill, a university lecturer.
'Unreasonable' attitude
He described the RSPCA's attitude towards mediation of the case as "unreasonable".
Speaking after the hearing, Dr Gill said: "The judgment reflects the attitude the RSPCA have taken right through this, they wouldn't even talk to me, ever."
The RSPCA, which the judgment stated would be able to recover some of its costs from the estate, said it had acted in accordance with the wishes of Mrs Gill.
In a statement a spokeswoman said because no specific sums had been calculated it was too early too comment on the costs.
She added: "However, we are happy that the judge has ordered that some of our costs are to come out of the estate and that we are not paying the whole of Dr Gill's legal costs."
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