Top News

Comedy legend Frank Carson died without a penny to his name in the UK, despite being famous enough to meet the Pope before his death at the age of 85. Famed for his iconic catchphrases like "It's a cracker!" and "It's the way I tell 'em!", the star was working right up until a few months before his death in 2013 from stomach cancer.

Probate records revealed he had just £8,013 worth of assets and property at the time of his death, before liabilities and debts were taken into account. When they were deducted, "the net value of such estate is nil", documents showed.

But there's a twist - because the property Frank owned was not all in the UK, meaning those records weren't taken into account.

The star owned a holiday home in Spain and interests in two houses in Dublin while living in Blackpool - and the UK will did not deal with his Spain house, which was detailed in a second will. Carson stated in his will: "This does not apply to my property in Spain which is dealt with under the terms of a will made in accordance with the laws of that country."

His two Ireland houses would not necessarily have been included in the UK will due to them being overseas, but the Mail reported that he was not able to leave them to his children as he wished to.

The will stated that the entirety of his estate would be left in trust for his wife Ruth, along with his two sons Tony and Aidan and his daughter Majella. Ruth sadly died in 2015, with her son suggesting it was "from a broken heart" and dementia complications.

Tony would later claim his father left "a fortune of millions" behind, telling the Belfast Telegraph: "The £8,000 dad had in his bank was the exact amount needed to pay the solicitors for dealing with his estate. It was all left in trust before he died to my mother, who paid £1m in tax on it.

"Dad had property in Spain, the south of Ireland and the UK and all sorts of investments. He was pretty wealthy by anybody's standards. He bequeathed £50,000 to the integrated education fund bursary and left money to a number of other charities, so he was still giving from beyond the grave."

He added that Frank had made a "lifetime will" and put everything in trust for Ruth, meaning "when he died it looked like he had nothing, when in fact he had several million. So, he died deliberately penniless".

Growing up, Frank was the son of a bin-man and worked as a plasterer and electrician before joining the military's Parachute Regiment. He started his comedy career in pubs and clubs, and eventually shot to fame after winning ITV talent show Opportunity Knocks.