Sir Bruce Forsyth’s widow is to inherit £5.4million windfall after closing down her husband’s business
- Sir Bruce Forysth left almost £11.5m to his wife, former Miss World Lady Wilnelia
- 61-year-old has now put her late husband’s company into voluntary liquidation
- Strictly Come Dancing host left nothing in his will to his son and five daughters
The widow of Sir Bruce Forsyth is set to inherit another £5.4million from her late husband – on top of the £11.5million he bequeathed her in his will.
Lady Wilnelia Forsyth has this week put Bruce Forsyth Enterprises Ltd – the late entertainer’s company – into liquidation.
It has some £5,387,592 in its coffers, topping up the £11,718,242 which went to 61-year-old Lady Wilnelia, the former Miss World he married in 1983.
Lady Wilnelia Forsyth is set to land a £5.4m windfall after putting her late husband’s company into liquidation. The couple, who met in 1980, are pictured here in June 2010
Lady Wilnelia was made secretary of the company in 1995 – taking over the role from Sir Bruce’s sister – and owns 75 per cent of shares in it.
When Sir Bruce died aged 89 in 2017, he left the entirety of his estate to his wife, leaving nothing to his son and five daughters in a bid to trump the taxman.
In a showbiz career spanning more than 75 years, he rose to become Britain’s highest-paid TV star.
In a showbiz career spanning more than 75 years, Sir Bruce (pictured in 1981) rose to become Britain’s highest-paid TV star
The Strictly Come Dancing host had been outspoken about inheritance tax, once claiming in an interview: ‘I think your inheritance should go to your children more than back to the country you’ve lived in.’
Probate records showed Sir Bruce left £100,000 in trust to be split between his nine grandchildren when they reached the age of 21, and £20,000 each to two executors of his estate.
Everything else in his £11,718,242 estate, after funeral and legal expenses, went to Lady Wilnelia.
Sir Bruce failed to leave anything to daughters Debbie, Julie and Laura from his 20-year marriage to first wife Penny Calvert, and daughters Charlotte and Louisa from his second marriage to his Generation Game assistant Anthea Redfern.
Jonathan Joseph ‘JJ’ Forsyth-Johnson, his son from his third marriage, also did not directly inherit anything in the will which was drawn up in 2005.
After Sir Bruce’s death at the age of 89 in August 2017, his agent said that ‘all his children’ were with him when he passed away peacefully at his £4 million home in Virginia Water, Surrey.
By leaving almost his entire estate to his Puerto Rican-born wife, Sir Bruce avoided paying any inheritance tax.
A 40 per cent levy would have been due on anything over £325,000 which he did not leave to his spouse or charity.
Sir Bruce met Wilnelia Merced when she was a fellow judge for the 1980 Miss World contest
Sir Bruce pictured in 1995 promoting ‘Bruce’s Price Is Right’ with three of his assistants, Kimberley Cowell (left) Emma Noble (right) and Emma Steadman
Sir Bruce’s estate would not have included any property owned jointly with his wife. This would likely have passed directly to her on his death, depending on how the deeds were drawn up.
The entertainer, who left school in Edmonton, North London, with no qualifications, made his BBC television debut on a talent show in 1939 when he was just 11.
He married first wife Penny, a dancer at London’s notorious Windmill Club, where Sir Bruce worked, in 1953.
They divorced in 1973 after he had a string of affairs, and he married Anthea Redfern the same year when she was aged 25. The couple divorced in 1979.
Sir Bruce met Wilnelia Merced when she was a fellow judge for the 1980 Miss World contest.
MailOnline has contacted a spokesman for Bruce Forsyth Enterprises Ltd for comment.
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