The astonishing sum Liam Payne’s son Bear could inherit at age 18 when he is entitled to his father’s £24m fortune – and why the taxman WON’T be happy

Liam Payne’s son Bear will inherit as much as £48million when he turns 18 if his money is wisely invested, according to experts.

The young son of the One Direction singer, who died after falling from a balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina last October, is the sole beneficiary of the star’s enormous £24m fortune.

Court documents reveal that Liam, 31, did not leave a will, and had an estate worth £28,594,888 when he died.

After fees and debts were taken into account, the net total left over was £24,279,728. 

Under rules of intestacy, which govern how money is allocated in the event someone dies without leaving a will, a child or children will share in the inheritance if there is no marriage or legally recognised civil partnership. 

This means Bear will inherit the entire fortune when he reaches 18 – giving the estate ten years in which the money can mature. Financial and legal experts say the returns could be huge if it is wisely invested.

A tax expert told MailOnline that Bear is likely to receive the full amount because bereaved minor trusts are exempt from inheritance tax.

This is Money’s Simon Lambert said: ‘This is Money’s long-term saving and investing calculator shows that £24million invested over ten years – until Bear is 18 – with an average 5 per cent annual return could grow to £39.5million.

‘If a higher 7 per cent average annual return was achieved, the £24million could grow to £48million over ten years.’

Cheryl pictured with her son Bear. Friends of the former singer say she ‘will do the right thing’ by their son who is set to inherit his father’s entire £24million fortune

Court documents suggest his girlfriend Kate Cassidy (pictured with the star in 2022) will not see a penny – but friends insist she would not have it any other way

Documents show the court has granted power of administration of his estate to Cheryl Tweedy, his former partner and mother of Bear.

Also named as an administrator is top music lawyer Richard Bray, partner in a London-based legal firm, who counts Ed Sheeran and Snow Patrol’s Johnny McDaid among his clients. 

The pair were appointed by High Court of Justice on an ‘ad colligenda bona’ basis – a short-term measure to ensure Liam’s estate is preserved.

A grant of letters of administration must be issued by the courts that identifies those legally responsible for managing his estate in the long term.

Until he is an adult, Bear will have trustees appointed to manage his father’s estate – including both cash and properties, including a mansion in Buckinghamshire – through a bereaved minor’s trust.

This is Money’s Simon Lambert explained: ‘The £24million fortune that Liam Payne leaves his son Bear will be placed in a trust, where it will be looked after for the eight-year-old until he is an adult.

‘In the simplest terms, a trust involves assets being managed by trustees for the beneficiary, which in this case is Bear.

‘A trust of this size will involve professional investment management, which is likely to aim to protect and grow Bear’s wealth.

‘Typically, the goal will be to grow the assets by more than inflation, so that the money maintains its purchasing power and the pot is worth more in the future.

‘With a long-term time horizon, the £24million is likely to be invested in shares, bonds, cash, property and potentially other assets.

‘The investment industry would consider a reasonable rate of return without taking too much risk to be about 5 per cent on average per year.’

He added that the predicted value would come with an enormous caveat, noting that the maximum value of up to £48million would ‘rely on trustees not making withdrawals from the funds to provide an income for Bear while he is still a child.’

Bear can also look forward to avoiding a knock at the door from the tax man when he takes on the trust – so long as he does so the moment he turns 18.

‘Bereaved minor trusts are exempt from inheritance tax provided the child inherits the assets at 18,’ Heather Rogers, founder of Aston Accountancy and This is Money’s resident tax expert, told MailOnline. 

‘These trusts are designed to protect the inheritance of children who are under the age of 18 and at least one of whose parents has died. 

‘The trust can arise from the will of the parent, or alternatively where there is no will, following the rules of intestacy.

‘A number of conditions must be met in order to qualify, such as the child must become absolutely entitled to the trust property no later than age 18, and while they are under age if any capital is used this is done so for the benefit of the bereaved child.

‘While the beneficiary is under 18, they are entitled to all the income generated by the trust, or if any income is used by the trustees, it is applied for the benefit of the bereaved child.

‘There will be no exit charges or 10-year anniversary charges during the trust period providing the conditions are met. There are however, other taxes such as income tax and capital gains tax that may apply.’

Liam Payne pictured with his ex Cheryl Tweedy, the mother of his eight-year-old son Bear, in Paris in 2018

The pair have been fiercely protective over Bear’s privacy, never showing his face on social media (pictured: Liam with Bear as a baby)

Liam Payne had put his £3.2million five-bedroom Buckinghamshire mansion up for sale in the month before he died

Among his other homes was this £6.5million mansion in Woking in Surrey

The courts have granted Cheryl and Mr Bray permission to act as administrators in the short term.

But Jacob Robinson, a solicitor specialising in wills and probate with law firm Taylor Rose, told MailOnline it was likely to take a ‘great deal of time’ for full administrative control to be approved by the courts.

The specialist also explained why Mr Bray was named as a second administrator of the singer’s estate.

‘Usually, a surviving guardian of the child would be an appropriate person to apply to administer the estate on the child’s behalf,’ he said.

‘However, there must be two administrators of the intestate’s estate if it is being inherited by a minor. I assume this is why the solicitor is the joint personal administrator on the limited grant.’

Mr Robinson added that trustees would have a wide range of powers at their disposal to manage Bear’s cash – and could use it to, for instance, pay school fees or general maintenance as he grows up.

Friends of Cheryl told the Mail on Wednesday that she ‘will always do the right thing by her beloved son’.  

Liam’s girlfriend Kate Cassidy would only have a claim on his fortune if the pair had been living for at least two years, legal experts have told MailOnline.

The couple first met in October 2022, exactly two years before the former One Direction star’s death aged after falling from a third-floor hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, but they didn’t cohabit until later.

Liam moved in with 25-year-old influencer Kate only weeks before his death. The couple shared a five-bedroom, $9,500-a-month rented mansion in Wellington, South Florida.

But because they were not living together for long, Kate could receive nothing – despite her revealing their plans to marry shortly after his death.

Friends of Kate insisted on Thursday that she was ‘never in it for the money’ and wanted to see the estate go to Bear in its entirety.

Sources close to Liam have told how that some years ago that he made plans for his money to go to his only child in the event of his death.

This was despite the fact that there would often be thousands of miles between them, as the singer spent a lot of time in the US and most of their interactions were via video calls on FaceTime.

Liam reportedly previously paid £357,000 in 2015 for a new home in the West Midlands for his parents Geoff and Karen, while also investing in his own properties. 

A source close to the late singer told the Mail’s Katie Hind last year: ‘Liam had some very sensible people around him for a time and he adored Bear so much. 

‘He always wanted to do the right thing by him financially.

‘It is a small consolation that Bear will never want for anything, that he will at least benefit from that.’

Industry observers were amazed to learn that Liam had no will. Lawyers dealing with estates believe that Liam’s financial advisors would have been pressing him to draw up a will, but for some reason he never did.

But in the young singer’s troubled mind, weighed down by drink and drugs, financial planning was clearly not his main priority.

‘Getting a will is one of the first things financial advisors tell their clients,’ said wills specialist Krystal Ramsammy, of London solicitors Taylor Rose.

‘There are many good reasons to have a will – it’s a way to make sure your wishes are carried out and that whoever you wish to inherit from your estate does so.

‘Some people avoid getting a will because they feel it’s tempting fate, or it’s not something at the forefront of your mind, so maybe he just thought, “I don’t need it right now”’, added Ms Ramsammy, who is Commercial Head of Private Client & Partner.

‘With no will, Liam’s next-of-kin, his son inherits everything, though his partner — if they had been co-habiting for two years — could also make a claim on the estate.’

Liam died on October 16 last year after falling 45ft from a balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in the Argentine capital. His cause of death was given as ‘polytrauma’ – multiple traumatic injuries.

Five people including Rogelio ‘Roger’ Nores, a one-time energy firm CEO and a friend of Liam’s, were initially charged in connection with his death. 

Fans gathered outside the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires in October last year in the days after Liam Payne’s death

Liam Payne once shared a touching photo of himself teaching Bear to play the piano, captioned ‘Twinkle twinkle hand in hand’

Liam Payne’s friend, one-time energy CEO Rogelio ‘Roger’ Nores, is no longer facing manslaughter charges in connection with the singer’s death

Nores has also dropped a defamation lawsuit against Liam’s father Geoff Payne (pictured) after the star’s dad appeared to suggest Nores bore responsibility for his death

Manslaughter charges were later dropped against Mr Nores and two hotel workers, Gilda Martin and Esteban Grassi, who made an emergency call shortly before the singer died.

But two other men accused of selling Liam cocaine remain in prison and still face prosecution. They are waiter Braian Nahuel Paiz and hotel worker Ezequiel David Pereyra.

Mr Nores has previously denied failing in his duty of care towards Liam, and said the singer had been ‘in good spirits’, ‘perfectly balanced’ and ‘playful and happy’ in the hours before he died.

Eyewitnesses, however, had claimed the singer was not ‘coherent’ and appeared to be under the influence. 

Official tests found he was likely to be unconscious, or semi-conscious, when he fell, and that he had traces of alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant in his system at the time of his death. 

Last month, Nores has withdrew a $10million lawsuit against Liam’s father Geoff after the star’s dad suggested Liam had been ‘abandoned’ in the hours before his death and that Nores was acting as a legal-adjacent caretaker.

In a letter to Richard Bray – the lawyer now partly responsible for administrating Liam’s estate – first reported by Rolling Stone, Mr Nores said that Payne ‘doesn’t need to apologise’.