LAST GIFT
Never Mind the Buzzcocks star Sean Hughes’ £4m fortune handed to charity after 10 year court battle over home-made will
NEVER Mind the Buzzcocks star Sean Hughes’ £4million fortune has been given to charity after a 10 year court battle over his home-made will.
Beloved Irish comic Sean died in 2017, aged 51, after suffering from cirrhosis of the liver.
Having never married, Sean’s final will left his £1.8m north London home and two other properties worth £2.15m to the homelessness charity Shelter.
But a complication arose due to some imprecise wording, which saw the will end up in London’s High Court.
Nearly a decade later, a judge has now ordered that the properties should do to Shelter.
It means Sean’s former home in Glasslyn Road, Crouch End, and two more in nearby Edison Avenue and Elder Avenue, worth £1.5m and £650,000, will go to the charity.
Sean rose to fame in the 1980s, after he became the youngest ever winner of the prestigious Perrier Comedy Award at 2.
He went on to front his own cult hit C4 show and then joined as a member of BBC music quiz Never Mind the Buzzcocks.
He starred as a captain opposite Phill Jupitus from 1996 to 2002, appearing in 91 episodes across ten series of the Mark Lamarr-presented show.
As well as comedy, he wrote novels and collections of poetry, and from 2002 presented the Sunday morning programme on the then newly founded BBC 6 Music.
He appeared in the ITV series The Last Detective, and played Pat, a love interest of Eileen Grimshaw, in Coronation Street.
He also had a small role in the 1991 film The Commitments.
Sean opened up about drinking heavily throughout his career and quit the booze in 2012.
But the comedian began drinking again and suffered a cardiac arrest in October 2017.
It was later discovered he was struggling with late stage liver disease.
Sean’s funeral was held at Islington and Camden Cemetery in London with familiar faces such as David Baddiel, Omid Djalili, Phill Jupitus and Johnny Vegas among the mourners.
However, complications arose regarding the comedian’s will, which had been written using an online platform without legal assistance.
It was taken to the High Court over vague wording, with the main problem centred around his properties.
He wished to leave “my three houses to Shelter” but he only owned one home.
The two others were actually in the name of a company of which he was the only shareholder.
Sean’s family had agreed the shares in the company – and therefore the properties – should go to Shelter, but the case still had to be referred to a judge to make the decision.
Master Iain Pester concluded the “correct construction of the will” was that the shares pass to Shelter.
Had the judge declared otherwise, the two properties would have been held on trust for his wider family.
Barrister Aidan Briggs, for the executor of Sean’s will, and Alexander Learmonth KC, for Shelter, said his family and the charity both agreed that Shelter was the correct beneficiary.
Speaking afterwards, Andy Harris, the charity’s director of income generation, said: “Sean Hughes was a passionate supporter of Shelter’s work, and we are enormously grateful for the generous gift left in his will. We have worked closely with Sean’s family to ensure his wishes are honoured.
“Gifts left in wills are a vital source of income for Shelter. This donation will enable us to continue to deliver expert support and advice to people impacted by the housing emergency and to campaign for everyone’s right to a safe and secure home.”
Sean began appearing at the Comedy Store venue in 1987, before winning the Perrier Comedy Award in 1990 for his show, A One-Night Stand with Sean Hughes.
His former promoter Richard Bucknall described him as “a pioneering, groundbreaking comedian who changed comedy with that live show”.
Tributes poured in for the comedian after his tragic death.
Jason Manford wrote: “Very sad to hear about Sean Hughes. A brilliant comic and a lovely bloke. RIP.”
And Al Murray posted: “Terribly sad news about Sean Hughes.”
Jarlath Regan wrote: “Seàn Hughes has died and I’m fucking heartbroken. So funny on stage, so infuriating to know and so sad he’s gone. #RIPSeanHughes”
David Schneider tweeted: “So sad about Sean Hughes. Such an engagingly funny man.”
And Richard Herring simply shared: “Sean Hughes. What a punch in the soul that is.”
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Source: https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/38550395/sean-hughes-fortune-charity-will-shelter/
