For years, Ricky Gervais has been famously dismissive of marriage, arguing that a wedding served little purpose and once quipping that there was no need to make vows “before the eyes of God” because, in his view, there is no God.
Yet after 44 years with his long-term partner Jane Fallon, the comedian appears to have discovered one force persuasive enough to shift his stance: inheritance tax.
Gervais, 65, has said he now expects to marry the bestselling author, explaining that making their relationship legally official could spare the surviving partner a substantial tax bill after one of them dies.
The Office creator, whose fortune has been estimated at around £141 million, discussed the possible wedding in an interview with Saga Magazine. Fallon, also 65 and a Sunday Times bestselling novelist, was diagnosed with breast cancer in March.
Asked directly whether tax was the reason he would finally marry Jane, who is reported to be worth about £1.3 million, Gervais admitted: “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?…
“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.”
Acknowledging that the couple may have to formalise things before too long, he added with typical dark humour: “It’s horrible isn’t it? ‘I’ve got to get around to marrying, before I die.’”
Ricky Gervais says he plans to marry his partner of 44 years, Jane Fallon, for inheritance tax reasons, despite previously rejecting the idea of marriage (the couple pictured in 2016)
Unlike married couples and civil partners, unmarried couples do not automatically benefit from the spouse exemption, which allows an estate to be passed to a surviving husband, wife or civil partner free of inheritance tax.
Without marriage, tax can generally be charged at 40 per cent on the portion of an estate above the available tax-free threshold, which is a potentially expensive distinction for Gervais, who owns a property portfolio worth millions.
It includes a £14.75million nine-bedroom mansion in Hampstead, north London, two flats in New York and a riverside home in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, where he recently won permission to build a £5million mansion.
The neo-Georgian style newbuild will boast a grand entrance hall, galleried landing, home gym, drawing room, reading area, lift and master bedroom with a terrace overlooking an existing tennis court and pond.
His comments come in the midst of Jane’s breast cancer battle after she received an early diagnosis caught during a routine mammogram.
In April, she gave a positive update as she announced that after having her first surgery to remove the tumour and a margin of healthy tissue, that the surgeons had ‘basically got it all’ before undergoing a successful second operation.
Ricky and Jane met while studying at University College London in 1982 and moved into a flat above what he described as a ‘seedy sauna’ in King’s Cross two years later.
The couple decided neither to marry nor have children, with Ms Fallon saying she had never fantasised about weddings or motherhood.
The comedian, 65, who is worth an estimated £141million, spoke to Saga Magazine about his plans to tie the knot to the Sunday Times best-selling author, also 65 (Ricky pictured in March)
His comments come in the midst of Jane’s breast cancer battle after she received an early diagnosis caught during a routine mammogram
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Speaking on the Second Act podcast with Ateh Jewel earlier this year, Ms Fallon said: ‘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.
‘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.’
Ricky, meanwhile, has long maintained that they were already married ‘for all intents and purposes’, adding that their ‘fake marriage has lasted longer than a real one’.
