Peter Sellers had reached a final divorce settlement with his fourth wife that would have deprived her of any claim on his estate — but he died before the document became binding, according to legal papers that have come to light.

The settlement, which was never made public, meant that Lynne Frederick was expecting to walk away from the three-year marriage to one of the world’s best-loved comic actors with £375,000 in a one-off payment and ownership of their Los Angeles home.

In the event, Sellers died at 54 on July 24, 1980, before the divorce became final, and Ms Frederick was able to claim his entire £4.5 million estate. His three children, from previous marriages, were left £750 each.

Ms Frederick died an alcoholic in 1994 and the fortune left by the star of the Goons and Pink Panther films has since been inherited by her daughter by her next-but-one husband after Sellers. Cassie Ungar, 25, who lives in Los Angeles, never met her benefactor.

Rumours that Sellers planned to cut his estranged wife out of his will began circulating after his death but Ms Frederick always denied them. Both parties signed the agreement after they separated but, as the decree absolute was never completed, they were legally still married when he died.

Source: Times Online