Following his sad and surprising death this week, it’s been reported that Ronnie Corbett sold his £1.3million family home so his children could avoid paying a six figure inheritance tax bill.
The 85-year-old legendary comic sold the seven-bedroom home in South London in 2003 after 33 years of living there.
He and wife Anne instead moved into a £250,000 bungalow but were “very sad” to leave the house they had called home.
Businessman Roy Griffiths - who bought the property - told the Telegraph: "I think selling the house allowed him to rent a house and give the money to his daughters, to avoid inheritance tax.
"I think he was very sad to sell it. It was clear. I invited him and Anne up to the house for dinner afterwards, and they wouldn't come. They said it's got too many memories."
The home bordered Ronnie's beloved Addington Golf Course where he was a regular visitor up until his death.
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Ronnie’s wife of over 50 years, Anne, has previously blasted inheritance tax, saying in 2013: "I wanted to make it clear that inheritance tax is like the Sheriff of Nottingham. It steals the savings of hardworking people.
"Everyone assumes because Ronnie has earned large sums during his career, that we must be rolling in money. But that isn’t the case."
“We’re like everyone else. We’ve had to support our children and our four grandchildren who are the love of our lives and, God knows, what little money we have salvaged in savings, we want to leave to them."
It was revealed on Friday that Ronnie had been struggling with motor neurone disease and needed round-the-clock care in his final days.