Ricky Gervais Says He’ll Finally Marry Jane Fallon After 40 Years, but Only for Tax Reasons
Ricky Gervais has built a career out of poking fun at sentimentality, so it’s fitting that his long-awaited decision to finally get married comes with zero romance attached. The comedian has spent decades insisting that a wedding ring wouldn’t change anything about his relationship with longtime partner Jane Fallon.
The two met as 21-year-olds at University College London back in 1982 and have been inseparable ever since, building a life together without ever feeling the need to formalize it legally. Gervais has often pointed to the strength of their bond as proof that marriage was simply unnecessary paperwork.
That stance has now shifted, though not for sentimental reasons. Speaking to Saga Magazine, Gervais confirmed he plans to marry Fallon, explaining bluntly that avoiding inheritance tax is what’s finally pushing him toward the altar after more than four decades together.
“And that will be the reason I marry,” Gervais told Saga Magazine. “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. It’s horrible isn’t it? I’ve got to get around to marrying, before I die.”
The financial logic behind the move is fairly straightforward. In the UK, assets left to a spouse or civil partner are exempt from inheritance tax, while unmarried couples receive no such protection, with estates typically taxed at 40% above the available threshold.
For Gervais, who is reportedly worth an estimated £141 million and owns a substantial property portfolio, including a £14.75 million mansion in Hampstead and additional properties in New York and Buckinghamshire, that distinction carries real financial weight. Fallon, whose net worth is estimated at around £1.3 million, would also benefit from the same spousal exemption once they’re officially married.
Gervais didn’t shy away from acknowledging just how transactional the decision sounds, admitting there’s no other real motivation behind it after everything the couple has already built together. Their relationship, he suggested, has functioned like a marriage in every meaningful sense for years, minus the legal paperwork and the tax benefits that come with it.
Fallon, now a bestselling novelist after leaving behind a career as a television producer, has previously spoken openly about the couple’s decision not to marry or have children, telling interviewers she never felt drawn to traditional milestones like weddings or motherhood. The pair have instead built a life defined by close daily routines, with Gervais describing simple shared rituals like walking, eating meals together, and watching television side by side as central to how they operate as a couple.
That closeness has taken on added significance this year following news that Fallon was diagnosed with breast cancer after a routine mammogram. She underwent two surgeries that were both reported to have gone well, and she has since expressed hope about returning to a normal routine.
Gervais has previously drawn direct parallels between his own fears of losing Fallon and the emotional core of his Netflix series ‘After Life,’ which follows a grieving widower struggling in the aftermath of his wife’s death. The comedian has said in the past that losing Fallon would be devastating, framing her as central to his sense of stability and happiness.
For two people who built an entire relationship on skipping convention, the eventual wedding will still likely come without much fanfare, at least by Gervais’s own account. Practical concerns, not romantic ones, appear to be what’s finally closing the gap between four decades of partnership and an actual marriage certificate.
Whether the couple sets an actual date remains to be seen, but Gervais has made clear he doesn’t intend to wait much longer.
Would you marry after 40 years together mainly for tax benefits?
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