I'm tax free! John Inman leaves £2.8m to his 'husband' in will

Comedy legend John Inman - who starred in TV sitcom Are You Being Served? - left more than £2.8 million in his will. The 71-year-old actor, who died in March after battling liver problems, left almost his entire estate to his partner of 35 years Ron Lynch.

Inman played camp salesman Mr Humphries in the cult BBC comedy which was watched by up to 22 million viewers in the 1970s.

His shrill-voiced character was famed for his catchphrase: "I'm free" which became one of the most famous in British comedy.

Mr Lynch, 54, will not have to pay inheritance tax on the fortune he inherited because he and Inman underwent a civil partnership ceremony in December 2005 at London's Westminser register office.

If they had not been in a partnership, the taxman would have taken 40 per cent of everything the actor left over the £285,000 inheritance tax limit at the time of his death.

Scroll down for more ...

Inman's estate is believed to be the highest profile will of a gay man in a civil partnership since the ceremonies became legal in 2005 after decades of campaigning.

Before then gay men wishng to leave their estate to their partners would have to pay full inheritance tax while married men or women paid nothing on cash left to their spouses.

The only other legacy in Inman's will drawn up in 2006 was a £5,000 bequest to the Entertainment Artistes Benevolent Fund.

Inman stated in his will that the rest of his estate should be shared between his nieces Jacqueline Field and Deborah Inman, both of Blackpool if he was not survived for 30 days by Mr Lynch.

The actor who suffered from hepatitis A - an inflammation of the liver - died in St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London, on March 8.

It was revealed that he had the disease after it forced him to cancel the opening of a pantomime in London in December 2004 when he was due to play Wanda the Cook in Dick Whittington.

Inman who believed he contracted the highly infectious virus after eating contaminated food never worked again. Earlier he spent three days in intensive care in 2001 at the same hospital after being admitted with breathing difficulties.

Inman was best known for starring alongside Wendy Richard and Molly Sugden in Are You Being Served? which ran on the BBC from 1972 to 1985.

The series depicted the antics of the staff of Grace Brothers, an old-fashioned department store. Mr Humphries, the senior sales assistant in the menswear department, was known for his overt campness.

The actor's portrayal of the pouting character brought him praise and in 1976 he was voted Funniest Man On Television by TV Times readers and declared BBC TV's Personality Of The Year. But he was also attacked by gay groups offended by his stereotypical portrayal of a theatrical homosexual, although he argued that his sexual orientation was never stated.

Inman who lived with Mr Lynch in Maida Vale, west London, went on to become a favourite pantomime dame on stage.

Wendy Richard who became Pauline Fowler in EastEnders paid tribute to him after his death, describing him as one of the "wittiest and most inventive" actors she had ever worked with.

She added: "Of course he never said he was gay, he just said he was a young man who was very good to his mother."