Jill Dando (1961-1999)

When television presenter Jill Dando was murdered outside her west London home, she left behind a fiancé, a mortgage, a brother and elderly father, and no will.

Her estate after liabilities (including a mortgage) was c.£850,000.

As she died intestate, her father could have administered her estate but he passed on the responsibility to his son.

Dando was murdered a few months before she and Alan Farthing, a doctor, were to be married. If they had been married, he would have inherited up to £200,000 and her personal possessions. The remainder of her estate would have been divided equally between her husband and her father.

As she and Farthing had not wed and she had no will, he was entitled to nothing.

Inheritance tax came to about £276,000, although some reports suggested that posthumous donations to charity would reduce the total tax due. If Dando had been married, tax would have amounted to less than £50,000.

Barry George was found guilty of her murder and jailed. In August 2008 he was freed after a successful appeal and retrial.