It has been revealed that the late Sir Terry Wogan’s widow, Lady Helen, has left a £5 million fortune in her estate after her death last year at the age of 88. The astonishing amount in her will is nearly five times more than what her Eurovision presenter husband left behind after his death in 2016 aged 77.

The money will be split between the couple’s three living children, Alan, Katherine and Matt. Lady Helen left tax-free gifts to two of her children – £850,000 to Alan Wogan, who was named as an executor on the estate, and £750,000 to Katherine. A £100,000 trust was also set up for each of her five grandchildren, to be made available to them when they turn 25. The will was signed off by Lady Helen in 2023. The remainder of the money and her possessions were split between her three children, including her son Mark.

Sir Terry, reportedly worth £20 million at the peak of his career, left just £1 million in his estate, an apparent move to spare his family a hefty inheritance tax bill.

The inheritance he left may appear modest for someone of his profile, but the figure does not include any assets he transferred to another family member or put in a trust before his death.

The couple had lived on a 12-acre country estate in Taplow, Buckinghamshire, and had a holiday home in Gascony, in the south-west of France, worth an estimated £1 million.

Sir Terry kept his cancer battle a secret from his closest friends and family. Still, solicitor Elizabeth Young, a partner at law firm Roythorne, told MailOnline that the star may have spent years preparing for his death with clever investments.

“If Sir Terry had amassed significant wealth over many years, you might expect him to have a significant estate. However, he may have taken advice early in his career, when it became clear that his estate would face an inheritance tax liability, and embarked on a range of tax planning steps to ensure his estate fell below the taxable limits.

“This might have included placing assets in Helen’s name, or transferring assets to his children or grandchildren, or placing assets for their benefit in to a range of possible trusts. Knowing what we do of the man you would expect that he took good advice and followed clear legal routes to secure the estate with as little liability to tax to benefit those he loved the most in the world.

“Inheritance tax is, after all, considered to be a voluntary tax and with the right timely advice any estate can be protected in this way. The end result is a very neat non-taxable estate.”