Dame Maggie Smith left huge £16million estate to her two actor sons as probate records reveal the fate of her beloved West Sussex farmhouse
Dame Maggie Smith, the acclaimed actress who died in September 2024 aged 89, left an estate worth £16 million, according to probate records seen by the Daily Mail. The fortune, built up over a 70-year stage and screen career, passed almost entirely to her two actor sons, Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens, including her farmhouse home in the Sussex countryside on the South Downs. The disclosure sheds light on the financial legacy of one of Britain's most celebrated performers, best known to modern audiences for Downton Abbey and Harry Potter.
Smith, who was born in Ilford, Essex, in 1934, won two Academy Awards from six nominations, for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and California Suite, and earned numerous Bafta nominations across her career. She became a household name playing the Dowager Countess of Grantham in Downton Abbey and Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter films, alongside major stage and screen roles opposite peers such as Sir Michael Caine, Sir Ian McKellen and Dame Judi Dench. She died at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital after a prolonged illness, survived by her two sons and five grandchildren, and was later remembered at a service at Mortlake Crematorium in south-west London.
- Dame Maggie Smith left a £16 million estate after her death in 2024.
- Her fortune passed mainly to sons Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens.
- Estate includes her West Sussex farmhouse on the South Downs.
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Dame Maggie Smith was one of Britain's best-known actresses, with a career spanning seven decades on stage and screen. She won two Oscars and was widely recognised by younger audiences for playing the Dowager Countess in Downton Abbey and Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter films. She died in September 2024 at the age of 89, leaving behind two sons, Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens, both of whom are also actors.
When a well-known public figure dies, their will and the value of their estate often become public through probate records, a legal process that confirms how someone's property and money are to be distributed after death. This process can take many months, which is why financial details are only now emerging almost two years after Smith's death. Such records typically show the total value of a person's assets and who inherits them, offering a rare glimpse into the private finances of someone who spent their life in the public eye.