Comedian Ricky Gervais has declared he will marry his partner of 44 years Jane Fallon solely to avoid paying UK inheritance tax on their estate.
The 65-year-old creator of The Office, who shares an estimated £142 million fortune with Fallon, admitted in an interview with Saga Magazine that tax rules are his only motivation for tying the knot.
When asked if tax was the reason for marrying Fallon, also 65, Gervais agreed that financial planning was driving the decision.
"It is [the reason]. And that will be the reason I marry," Gervais said. "We haven't done it yet. But if it wasn't for [tax]... why?"
"It's mad," Gervais added. "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 he needs to make their status official, he said: "It's horrible isn't it? 'I've got to get around to marrying, before I die.'"
Inheritance Tax Rules and UK Property Portfolio
Under UK tax laws, unmarried couples do not automatically benefit from the spouse exemption, which allows an estate to pass to a surviving husband, wife, or civil partner free of inheritance tax.
Without a legal marriage, inheritance tax is generally charged at 40 per cent on the portion of an estate above the available tax-free threshold. Inheritance tax in the UK is a tax levied on the estate of a person who has died.
The tax distinction represents a potentially expensive issue for Gervais, who holds a net worth estimated at £141 million alongside Fallon's net worth of £1.3 million.
Gervais owns a property portfolio worth millions of pounds, including a £14.75 million nine-bedroom mansion in Hampstead, an affluent residential area in north London.
His real estate holdings also include two apartments in New York City and a riverside home in Marlow, a town situated on the River Thames in Buckinghamshire.
Gervais recently secured planning permission to construct a new £5 million mansion on the Marlow property.
The planned neo-Georgian style newbuild will feature a grand entrance hall, a galleried landing, a home gym, a drawing room, a reading area, a lift, and a master bedroom with a terrace overlooking an existing tennis court and pond.
Jane Fallon Breast Cancer Diagnosis
The comedian's comments come in the midst of Fallon's battle with breast cancer following an early diagnosis caught during a routine mammogram screening. Mammograms are medical imaging procedures used to detect early signs of breast cancer.
In April, Fallon, a Sunday Times best-selling author known for her contemporary fiction books, shared a positive health update with readers.
Following her first surgery to remove the tumour and a margin of healthy tissue, Fallon announced that surgeons had "basically got it all" before she underwent a successful second operation.
Decades Together Without Marriage
Gervais and Fallon first met while studying at University College London in 1982. Two years later, in 1984, they moved into a flat above what Gervais described as a "seedy sauna" in King's Cross, a district in central London.
The couple previously decided neither to marry nor to have children, with Fallon noting that she had never fantasised about weddings or motherhood.
Speaking earlier this year on the Second Act podcast hosted by Ateh Jewel, Fallon reflected on her childhood expectations.
"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," Fallon said.
"I would think about getting a dog or something. It was always about work and my life. I would think about the flat that I would live in and stuff like that. But I was never into that kind of romance stuff," she added.
Gervais has long maintained that the couple were already married "for all intents and purposes," having previously stated that their "fake marriage has lasted longer than a real one."
