Lou Reed leaves £17.5 million inheritance to his family

The size of Lou Reed's huge inheritance has been revealed, a fortune that he has left to his closest family.

The late Reed amassed a $30 million fortune (£17.5 million), which he has left to his family along with $20.4 million (£12 million) in posthumous royalties. This huge amount will be split between his mother Toby, his younger sister Margaret and his wife, artist Laurie Anderson. 

$500,000 (£293,000) is to help care for elderly mother Toby and $5 million (£2.9 million), is for sister Margaret. $15million (£8.8million) has been left to Laurie Anderson, along with his personal property and their two New York homes, which are worth £5 million. 

Reed passed away in October 2013 after a failed liver transplant, Laurie Anderson who was by his side wrote a letter in a Rolling Stone article describing the experience. 

"I have never seen an expression as full of wonder as Lou’s as he died," she wrote. "His hands were doing the water-flowing 21-form of tai chi. His eyes were wide open. I was holding in my arms the person I loved the most in the world, and talking to him as he died. His heart stopped. He wasn’t afraid. I had gotten to walk with him to the end of the world. Life – so beautiful, painful and dazzling – does not get better than that. And death? I believe that the purpose of death is the release of love."