For all the NJ gun law gurus -

[uniballin]

Friend has a question. I couldn't answer it and I thought maybe someone on here could.

His father died in 03 and owned a couple of long guns. The father did not want them in the house while the kids were growing up so he kept them at his brother's house (my friend's uncle). My friend now wants to take possession of the firearms. Since the firearms weren't explicitly willed to him, what does he need to do to get the firearms legally in his possession? His father wished for his son to inherit the firearms, but there is no documentation.

[jerryg]

Where does your friend live ?

Is there an executor for the estate ?

If it were me I would call Heritage in Easton, as they have stores in both states. They should know how to handle it.

[Statkowski]

In order to keep everything legal, and ethical, your friend has to contact an estate attorney and whoever was the estate's executor. The guns in question belong to the estate. As such, they may indeed belong to the son, whether stated in writing or not.

[uniballin]

He lives in NJ. Sorry, I forgot to make that clear.

[tl_3237]

You pose a multi-faceted scenario.

If the uncle was keeping them for the deceased (the legality of that transfer would be doubtful on several levels) then they became estate assets at the time of death and control should have been turned over to the executor. Assuming all debts of the estate had been satisfied and the firearms remain then they are distributed as best as possible according to the will or intestate succession if no will. Assuming the son is an estate beneficiary, and with the approval of all the other beneficiaries, he can ask specifically for the firearms with their value applied to his estate share. The executor can then transfer physical possession to the son (assuming he is not otherwise prohibited) with no NJFID or FFL required. This would be true even if the transfer is interstate.

I'm presuming that the father/son were NJ residents.