Who Said Tax Law is Boring? Not When It Involves Errol Flynn!

Quoting a British court in a 1968 “income tax and death duties” case regarding the issue of where Errol’s official domicile was at the time of his death:

“Errol Flynn was a film actor whose performances gave pleasure to many millions. On 20th June 1909 he was born in Hobart, Tasmania; and on 14th October 1959 he died in Vancouver, Canada. When he was seventeen years old he was expelled from school in Sydney and in the next thirty three years he lived a life which was full, lusty, restless and colourful. In his career, in his three marriages, in his friendships, in his quarrels, and in bed with the many, many women he took there, he lived with zest and irregularity. The lives of film stars are not cast in the ordinary mould; and in some respects Errol Flynn’s was more stellar than most. When he died, he posed the only question that I have to decide. Where was he domiciled at the time of his death? At one time he was undoubtedly domiciled in California. Hollywood has never been deficient in what was then, as always, one of Errol’s great interests in life, namely, a generous pool of available pulchritude. Yet even though as a sexual athlete Errol Flynn may in truth have achieved Olympic standards, time brings changes to all.”
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Quoting an international tax and accounting expert regarding this unique decision:

“Many pages later in the judgment, after much personal and geographical biography, the answer came: when he died, Errol Flynn was domiciled in Jamaica, which was a tax haven for the rich and famous. Who said that tax law is boring?”

— Tim