Ricky Gervais is planning to marry his partner of 44 years to protect his property portfolio from a hefty tax bill.
The 65-year-old star admitted financial reality had forced him to tie the knot with best-selling novelist Jane Fallon to avoid a 40 per cent inheritance tax hit when one of them dies.
Unmarried couples in the UK do not benefit from partner tax exemptions, leaving the comedian’s real estate collection exposed.
The funnyman, who is worth an estimated $275m (£141m), owns a $28.8m (£14.75m) nine-bedroom mansion in Hampstead, two New York flats, and a riverside estate in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, where he recently won approval to build a $9.75m (£5m) mansion.
The proposed new residence will feature a grand entrance hall, home gym, drawing room, reading area, lift and master bedroom with a terrace overlooking a tennis court and pond.
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Ricky Gervais and Jane Fallon pictured in 2020. Picture: Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images
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Ricky Gervais’ current Marlow House. Picture: RBWM Council
The Office star revealed in Saga Magazine that the taxman is the only reason he is abandoning his decades-long stance that marriage is pointless.
The entertainer previously declared there was no reason to wed “before the eyes of God as there is no God”.
Asked directly if tax was the sole driver behind tying the knot with best-selling novelist Jane Fallon, also 65, Gervais agreed.
“It is [the reason]. And that will be the reason I marry. We haven’t done it yet. But if it wasn’t for [tax] … why?” Gervais said.
“It’s mad. How more married can you be? We share all our money, we’ve been living together for 40 years. Some marriages don’t last a year.”
Conceding that time was no longer on their side, Gervais admitted the situation was grimly pragmatic.
“It’s horrible isn’t it? ‘I’ve got to get around to marrying, before I die’,” he said.
The Office star revealed that the taxman is the only reason he is abandoning his decades-long stance that marriage is pointless. Picture: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images
The couple met while studying at University College London in 1982 and moved into a flat above a King’s Cross sauna two years later.
They previously decided against both marriage and children, with Ms Fallon noting on the Second Act podcast earlier this year that she had “never fantasised about weddings or motherhood”.
“When I was little, you know the cliche of a little girl is they imagine their wedding day and their wedding dress … it was none of that, ever,” Ms Fallon said.
“I would think about getting a dog or something. It was always about work and my life.”
Gervais previously maintained that their “fake marriage has lasted longer than a real one”, but conceded financial reality had finally caught up with his principles.
The decision comes amidst a challenging year for the couple following Ms Fallon’s breast cancer diagnosis in March.
Speaking in April after two surgeries, Ms Fallon confirmed doctors had caught the early-stage tumour during a routine mammogram and “basically got it all”.
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