A lottery winner who decided not to 'spend,spend,spend' after scooping £11 million has ended up giving a huge slice of his fortune to the taxman - while loved ones miss out.
Former double-glazing salesman Paul Maddison was living alone in a modest £165,000 flat when he died last November aged 73.
Newly released documents show the four times married father left his remaining £3.8 million fortune - to his sister-in-law.
However all but the first £325,000 of the legacy is subject to inheritance tax of £1.4 million,meaning the total value of the estate is just over £2.45 million.
Maddison and former business partner Mark Gardiner shared a £22.6 million jackpot in 1995 - which for many years stood as Britain's lottery win.
While Gardiner enjoyed a lavish lifestyle,Maddison moved more than 500 miles from Hastings in Sussex to Scotland where he became increasingly reclusive.
Mr Maddison and his wife never settled in their castle and the reclusive millionaire eventually sold it and downsized to live in a five bedroom property. When he died,Mr Maddison owned four properties including this modest four bedroom detached bungalow in Perth worth £400k
'He was never first to the bar buying a round of drinks. If that happened he'd be gone. He was very,very careful with what he spent.
'And he barely went out. You wouldn't see him for weeks at a time. And when you did he wouldn't catch your eye.'
Meanwhile Gardiner said of his former friend and business partner: 'A dozen years or so ago I called him.
'I spoke to his wife who told me they had found happiness with God and she told me that I should move up to Scotland and find happiness as well.
'I suppose it's possible he may have given the church a huge sum of money but it doesn't seem like Paul to me.
'The Paul I knew was very careful with his money and watched it like a hawk. I can't believe he'd hand everything over to the church. It just doesn't seem like something he'd do.'
Mr Gardiner,who lives in St Leonards on Sea,said: 'If you ask me I think it's far more likely he was living very frugally - because that's the type of man he was - and they'll find millions stashed away in the bank.
'I hope that's the case because he has two daughters and a son who could benefit from that money.'
Yet his neighbours of his closest family members were stunned to learn they were related to one of the UK's biggest lottery winners.
Elder daughter Stacey lives with her partner and teenage son in the residential area of Woodingdean in a two bedroom bungalow bought for £214,000.
Neighbours say the family are 'hard workers' and 'really nice,down to earth people'. Stacey is understood to work as a carer at a home.
One said: 'They're not rich,no-one's rich these days are they? But I wouldn't say they had a huge amount of money.
They're just average like the rest of us round here'. Her sister,Sasha is a police officer with Sussex Police and lives with a fellow officer,Vicki Webb.
They share a £382,000 three-bedroom bungalow in Ovingdean,four miles outside Brighton.
Meanwhile a neighbour of Maddison's sister Annie said: 'I would hope if my brother won several million he would help me out.'
© OfficialAffairs
