Yet another handgun transfer question

[Remington788]

I've read a ton of threads and cannot find this exact situation so her goes.

My Brother's Father-in-Law passed away. Brother's wife is the executrix of the will and is undertaking the slow painful process of disposing of his possessions. The Dad has some handguns in his house ( here in PA) . My brother had removed the firing pins from all the guns and packed the guns away.

Brother and Sister-in-Law cannot take the guns, they live east of PA in a land of limited gun rights.

They asked if I would take them. She wants them out of his house, which is vacant. Don't know what they are, other than "free".

Question is, how does my sister-in-law transfer them to me? Is there a special process as the executrix? As a non-PA resident?

[Xringshooter]

Part of this needs a lawyer that knows estate law as to exactly what the executrix can do. However, since she is the one that makes the decision to how the estate is settled, I believe she could give them to you. Now to get them to you, it would probably be easiest for her to have them sent to a FFL in PA. They can't get sent directly to you because the weren't willed to you.

There are others here on the forum that are more well versed in this type matter than me so I'm sure you'll get more indepth answers.

[Remington788]

Oops, need to clarify a bit.
The Father lived in PA and the house is in PA.
She lives out of state.
The guns won't have to cross state lines.

[tl_3237]

I've read a ton of threads and cannot find this exact situation so her goes.

My Brother's Father-in-Law passed away. Brother's wife is the executrix of the will and is undertaking the slow painful process of disposing of his possessions. The Dad has some handguns in his house ( here in PA) . My brother had removed the firing pins from all the guns and packed the guns away.

Brother and Sister-in-Law cannot take the guns, they live east of PA in a land of limited gun rights.

They asked if I would take them. She wants them out of his house, which is vacant. Don't know what they are, other than "free".

Question is, how does my sister-in-law transfer them to me? Is there a special process as the executrix? As a non-PA resident?

If you are referring to NJ then you might want to keep this a secret (it may hurt you chances of getting the guns):

NJ residents CAN inherit firearms (provided they are not 'assault firearms') interstate or intrastate. Assuming they are not prohibited persons under Federal of NJ law, there is no NJ licenses (Purchase permits) needed; simply pickup the firearms and transport to their residence.

NJS 2C:58-3j. Firearms passing to heirs or legatees. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section concerning the transfer, receipt or acquisition of a firearm, a permit to purchase or a firearms purchaser identification card shall not be required for the passing of a firearm upon the death of an owner thereof to his heir or legatee, whether the same be by testamentary bequest or by the laws of intestacy. The person who shall so receive, or acquire said firearm shall, however, be subject to all other provisions of this chapter. If the heir or legatee of such firearm does not qualify to possess or carry it, he may retain ownership of the firearm for the purpose of sale for a period not exceeding 180 days, or for such further limited period as may be approved by the chief law enforcement officer of the municipality in which the heir or legatee resides or the superintendent, provided that such firearm is in the custody of the chief law enforcement officer of the municipality or the superintendent during such period.

As to the executrix's fiduciary duty, if the firearms are estate assets and are not specifically mentioned in the will then they she is empowered to dispose of them in the best interest of the estate she represents. This means either distribution to the heir(s) in a equitable manner or sale FOR REASONABLE VALUE with the proceeds going to the estate and eventually the heirs.

IMO, she can only give them away without recompense if ALL the heirs so agree since she doesn't own them - the estate does and the heir(s) are the beneficial owners of that estate.

[Remington788]

Any idea what kind of paperwork the executrix must bring to the FFL for the transfer?

[tl_3237]

Any idea what kind of paperwork the executrix must bring to the FFL for the transfer?

Take her 'letters testamentary' (her certification of executrix status) from the probate/surrogate court (Registrar of Wills) and normal ID.

Don't know if the FFL would want to see more than the ID but normally she signs documents with the addendum 'for the estate of John Doe'.

[GunLawyer001]

Take her 'letters testamentary' (her certification of executrix status) from the probate/surrogate court (Registrar of Wills) and normal ID.

Don't know if the FFL would want to see more than the ID but normally she signs documents with the addendum 'for the estate of John Doe'.

It certainly wouldn't hurt to bring a death certificate and short cert, but they probably won't be necessary. FFL's really don't care who the transferor is (the info is needed for the bound book, though), the PICS check and ATF's interest is focused on the transferee.

It's good practice for an executor to use an FFL for such transfers, even where not required. There's an immunity provision in the UFA that eliminates all civil and criminal claims against the transferor that way, and because the executor has a fiduciary duty to the estate, that's the way to go.

Shop around, tell the FFL's what you want to do, find a package price on the transfers. There's no need to pay $25 per gun to transfer a batch of estate guns, you can do a lot better. In Montco, I strongly recommend American Arms & Ammo up on Route 309, they're good people and they don't play games.