Guns from deceased roommate in Florida

Ben Cartwright SASS

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My brother's roommate in Tampa Florida is on the verge of passing away. He has a fair sized gun collection. He may sell them before he dies but if he doesn't I am trying to advise my brother on what to do with them.
Many are nice guns which means they are not Mass Compliant.

I know that you don't need a license in Florida except for concealed carry, so I am assuming that if the roommate dies with no will and no survivors or family other than my brother who is his roommate that possession is 99% of the law.

Wouldn't it be that they are suddenly his as he has them and no one else lays a claim to them?
 
Neither of them have any money, in fact his roommate has been talking of selling them to pay medical bills, since in Florida you can buy face to face with only a drivers license and saying you are not a criminal, I wonder if just having him write a bill of sale would suffice. I have friends who buy at gun shows from private people and no 4473 or background checks no paperwork as the sellers are private parties
The "gun show loophole" you can buy from a person who is not a dealer without paperwork, unlike Massachusettstan
 
My brother's roommate in Tampa Florida is on the verge of passing away. He has a fair sized gun collection. He may sell them before he dies but if he doesn't I am trying to advise my brother on what to do with them.
Many are nice guns which means they are not Mass Compliant.

I know that you don't need a license in Florida except for concealed carry, so I am assuming that if the roommate dies with no will and no survivors or family other than my brother who is his roommate that possession is 99% of the law.

Wouldn't it be that they are suddenly his as he has them and no one else lays a claim to them?

Not aware of the legal elements of an estate in FL, but I doubt it is that simple as "I have sole access to it so its mine now." Between medical bills and other end of life expenses there is a lot of money to be spent, and someone is going to have to sort that all out. (Unless the plan is to just leave the body for the state to dispose of, had that happen with an uncle who drank himself into financial hole and burned all his bridges.)

If you start taking possession of things from the estate then it opens up to the possibility that entities that the roommate owed money could come after you to get reimbursed for things incurred that are owed by the estate. Its a question of whether they can prove your brother took stuff without reimbursing the estate at that point. Things can only be passed in the estate after debts have been addressed. (IANAL but best recollection) Also, depending on the state there are specific breakdowns for what happens in the case of someone who dies without a will, so that would dictate who gets what as a percentage.

If I was the roommate I would go and hit an online will software and draw something up just so things could actually be directed as I wish. That has much better standing than "finders keepers" level of estate management.
 
Not aware of the legal elements of an estate in FL, but I doubt it is that simple as "I have sole access to it so its mine now." Between medical bills and other end of life expenses there is a lot of money to be spent, and someone is going to have to sort that all out. (Unless the plan is to just leave the body for the state to dispose of, had that happen with an uncle who drank himself into financial hole and burned all his bridges.)

If you start taking possession of things from the estate then it opens up to the possibility that entities that the roommate owed money could come after you to get reimbursed for things incurred that are owed by the estate. Its a question of whether they can prove your brother took stuff without reimbursing the estate at that point. Things can only be passed in the estate after debts have been addressed. (IANAL but best recollection) Also, depending on the state there are specific breakdowns for what happens in the case of someone who dies without a will, so that would dictate who gets what as a percentage.

If I was the roommate I would go and hit an online will software and draw something up just so things could actually be directed as I wish. That has much better standing than "finders keepers" level of estate management.

He hit it fairly accurately. Your Brother could face theft and other charges by just taking them and "ass-uming" they are now his. Yes, creditors get first dibs on an estate, bills must be paid before remainder can be split up . . . no will means it's done by state law for "intestate passings" and he needs a FL attorney that specializes in probate matters to get the proper advice. A will will certainly help here, especially when someone knows that they are on the way out . . . it needs to be done while the person is still competent so it can't be challenged as "he didn't know what he was doing".
 
get them signed over on a bill of sale or in a will that is witnessed by someone other than your brother.

They are legally the property of his estate otherwise.
 
He is still competent just in a lot of pain and wants to give up.

I will recommend the online will and have him help draw it up and sign it. Also the easiest since my brother is not a gun guy would be to take them all to a dealer and sell them all for cash
 
it is tempting, but maybe your bro tries to sell them quickly for his dying roommate? Karma comes back around.
 
He hit it fairly accurately. Your Brother could face theft and other charges by just taking them and "ass-uming" they are now his. Yes, creditors get first dibs on an estate, bills must be paid before remainder can be split up . . . no will means it's done by state law for "intestate passings" and he needs a FL attorney that specializes in probate matters to get the proper advice. A will will certainly help here, especially when someone knows that they are on the way out . . . it needs to be done while the person is still competent so it can't be challenged as "he didn't know what he was doing".

I would also add that if there is a will there will also need to be an executor. In that situation I would say X person gets everything that is left and will serve as executor (with the agreement of X person). Depending on the the balance of the estate it is very possible there is nothing left at the end so it would be done almost as a caring act of a friend rather than for any financial benefit. He could likely get fair market value evaluations of the guns and then get first dibs on buying it instead of selling to a dealer however he has to be very careful about reimbursing the estate for any thing he takes. (I am not aware of the mechanics of how an executor can take expenses for them-self but I know it can be done, however I would probably spend more on a lawyer making sure what I did was on the up and up than I would ever get in expenses)

General rules "people will dispute any document they don't like" and "people will fight to get as much as they can from an estate". So its always best to cover all bases and not skip a step. Having seen houses assessed well over market value by greedy kid, autos rust in a driveway waiting for estate settlement, and nursing homes try to throw out living wills on grounds of mental capacity (document was signed years before while person was living by themself!). This is also why sometimes families choose to just walk away from a deceased person's intestate estate, it may just invite collections calls with no monetary gain. A $100K abandoned bank account sounds great .... untill you consider the person owed more than that to the government in taxes!
 
I recommended to him that he have his buddy sell all the guns to a dealer. He cannot buy them as he is living on Social Security and no money in the bank and $100 in his pocket as his entire life savings.
If he takes his friend to the dealer they can do a cash deal. Neither of them have health insurance or any money, a couple country rubes.

Oh well not my problem, thank God.
 
The thing is, they only become part of the estate once his roommate dies. The creditors have no real claim on his personal property - until it becomes an estate. He should divest himself of them while he is still here so they go to a good home. My 2c.
 
I think the title was misleading, he isn't dead yet, going through hospice. so my brother still have time to get him to write a BOS or take him and the guns to a gunstore to sell.
 
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