Sir Bruce Forsyth left the majority of his incredible £11.5million fortune to his wife, Wilnelia, and didn't leave a penny to his six children, it has been reported. According to the Mail on Sunday, the Strictly Come Dancing host also left £100,000 in a trust to be shared equally among his nine grandchildren, and another £40,000 to his will executors. It is thought that Bruce left his vast fortune entirely to his wife to avoid inheritance tax, which he previously described as 'a bit over the top'.
© Photo: Getty ImagesBruce left his fortune to Wilnelia
The late entertainment, who sadly passed away in 2017, previously told Radio Times: "I think your inheritance should go to your children more than back to the country that you've lived in. I'm not saying you don't owe the country something, of course you owe your country a lot for living there all those years. But I think it can be a bit over the top." A spokesperson for his estate declined to comment on the story, but said: "All I would say is that I think 99.9% of married people would do this."
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Should Bruce have left money to his six children, Debbie, Laura and Julie from his first marriage to Penny Calvert, Louisa and Charlotte from his marriage to Anthea Redfern and his son with Wilnelia, Jonathan, they would have had to pay thousands in tax. After Wilnelia is given the fortune, she will be able to gift £650,000 without paying extra in tax. Debbie previously opened up about spending her first Father's Day without her dad, telling Lorraine Kelly that she and her siblings "miss him like dad". Wilnelia has previously revealed that she is close to her stepdaughters. Speaking about her Christmas on This Morning, she said: "It was very special and on this occasion I was able to have Bruce's daughters, my stepdaughters, I call them my five angels… I don't know what I was going to do the last year - it's been very difficult - without them. We had a kind of religious service there - it was very, very special."
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