David Cameron's father 'left offshore assets'

David Cameron’s father left assets offshore in the tax haven of Jersey when he died more than four years ago, it was reported on Thursday night.

The move emerged after Channel 4 News obtained a “grant of probate” filed in Jersey which was attached to Ian Cameron’s English will. Lawyers said the document would only have been filed if his assets in Jersey were worth more than £10,000.

The stockbroker, who died of a stroke in 2010 at the age of 77, had helped to run a multi-million pound investment fund on the island until 2009. He left £2.7m in his will, of which his son received £300,000.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister said he knew nothing about the writing of the will and full inheritance tax was paid on his late father’s estate.

The grant of probate was filed with Jersey’s Royal Court in March 2011, six months after Mr Cameron died. It names his widow Mary, his son Alex and his daughter Tania as executors.

Mark Renouf, a partner in the Jersey law firm Hanson Renouf Advocates, told Channel 4 News: “The only reason to have that document is because there are some assets situated in Jersey."

We can’t tell from the documentation, which is very normal, how much those assets were worth, except to say that there is no point in doing this if they were valued at less than £10,000, because you don’t need to have a grant of probate under that value.

Mr Renouf said the structure of the will meant any Jersey assets would go to Mary Cameron. There is no suggestion of any illegality or wrongdoing by Ian Cameron or his family.

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