Was this Doddy’s last laugh at the taxman?
He married 2 days before death – so wife won’t pay inheritance tax
DURING Sir ken Dodd’s trial on tax fraud charges, his barrister George Carman QC memorably quipped: ‘Some accountants are comedians, but comedians are never accountants.’
yesterday, however, it appeared that Sir ken had displayed great financial acumen by marrying his long-term partner Anne Jones 48 hours before he died aged 90.
It means there will be no inheritance tax on any assets passing to her from his estate – a move some will see as Sir ken having the last laugh over his tax affairs.
Married couples and civil partners can inherit each other’s estate without paying a penny in tax. Unmarried couples are charged inheritance tax at 40 per cent on any assets over £325,000.
One estimate has reportedly placed Sir ken’s fortune at £7million – meaning Lady Dodd, 76, would have had to pay as much as £2.7million in tax if she was the sole beneficiary and they had not married.
yesterday it was revealed the couple married on Friday, two weeks after the comedian was discharged from Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, where he had six weeks of treatment for a severe chest infection.
Sir ken’s publicist robert Holmes said: ‘He died two days later on Mother’s Day. Anne is obviously very upset. They had been together for 40 years. It’s a love story to beat them all.’
The ceremony took place at the house in knotty Ash, Liverpool, where Sir ken lived all his life. Average property prices in the area are estimated at £389,000.
Mr Holmes declined to answer questions about whether the comedian had made a will or to discuss his financial affairs ‘at such a sad time’.
Andrew kidd, a wills, tax and trusts lawyer at Clintons in London, said: ‘ Deathbed marriages and civil partnerships between people who have been together a long time are not that uncommon. It is very sound and sensible estate planning.
‘Getting married revokes a will and therefore to avoid an intestacy – or dying without a will – Sir ken would have had to have signed a will either “in contemplation” of the marriage, shortly before the marriage, stating that the will was not to be revoked, or immediately after the marriage.
‘Any assets passing to his wife would be 100 per cent spouse exempt from inheritance tax (IHT). The length of the marriage is irrelevant.’
Mr kidd added: ‘By getting married, and on the basis that his wife is the sole or principal beneficiary, he has potentially saved his estate a considerable amount of IHT.’
In 1989 the comedian stood trial at Liverpool Crown Court on eight charges of tax fraud spanning 15 years. He had claimed to live on £3,500 a year, while his personal wealth ran into millions, and said he did not take a holiday until he was 51. The court heard he had £336,000 in notes scattered in wardrobes, cupboards and under the stairs at homes he owned in knotty Ash. He allegedly told investigators he stashed the money away because he ‘liked having a lot of cash’ and was worried about the economy. The court was also told he had secretly accumulated £777,000 in six bank accounts in Jersey and the Isle of Man. He was acquitted after a 23-day trial but he faced an estimated bill of £2million, made up of legal fees and around £825,000 in tax he promised to pay back whatever the outcome of the case. He then went back on the road and added jokes about the taxman to his repertoire, including: ‘I told the Inland revenue I didn’t owe them a penny – because I lived near the seaside.’ His first fiance, Anita Boutin, died of a brain tumour in 1977 aged 45, after they had been together for 24 years. He then found love with Anne, a former BA personnel officer and Bluebell dancer. They never had children.