A financial adviser took his own life after being told his home was about to be repossessed, an inquest in Taunton has heard.
Alfred Brennan, a 59-year-old father-of-two, took a massive overdose of paracetamol at his home in Church Close, Stoke St Gregory, over the course of three days, the court heard.
He was rushed to hospital, but his condition continued to deteriorate and he died in Musgrove Park Hospital on 2 February.
In a statement to the coroner, his former wife, Jill Newman, told the court that Mr Brennan had grown up in a pub and had developed alcohol dependency over the years.
Although the couple had parted ways, their relationship remained amicable.
Mr Brennan had worked in the stock exchange in London and New York, before becoming a financial adviser, but had lost his job and had been struggling for money.
He had asked his brother and ex-wife for money to help him pay off debts.
On 9 January, Ms Newman received a letter from Mr Brennan which read "by the time you receive this, if all has gone according to plan, I will be dead."
He explained that he had received a letter regarding a court hearing for the repossession of his home.
His GP said that although Mr Brennan did have some minor health problems, he had no history of depression or suicidal thoughts.
A post mortem revealed "very high" amounts of paracetemol in Mr Brennan's system.
Recording a verdict of suicide, and the cause of death as splenic infarct pancreatitis, the senior coroner for Somerset, Tony Williams said: "The facts are clear – Mr Brennan deliberately overdosed with the intention of taking his own life, as he described that he would do in the note.
"His intent was clear."
