inheritance and transfer

Joined
Oct 4, 2006
Messages
835
Likes
9
Location
North of Woosta, 16 mi. south of Freedom
Feedback: 0 / 0 / 0
My step father passed away recently and my mother inherited his firearms. She is not licensed to to have them and from reading some of the MA laws I believe she has 180 days to either become licensed (which she has no intension of doing) or get rid of them.

I have an LTC-A and will be taking the guns off of her hands. There are exactly 4 guns (all rifles) so the 4 a year limit wouldn't be a problem. Do I need to do a Transfer or a Registration? If a transfer what do I put for the Seller FID/LTC Number since my mom doesn't have one? Will it raise a red flag if the "seller" is unlicensed or are they just happy to see that it's going to a licensed person?

The newest rifle is about 30ish years old if age of the firearm matters.

Thanks,

Dan
 
I have an LTC-A and will be taking the guns off of her hands. There are exactly 4 guns (all rifles) so the 4 a year limit wouldn't be a problem. Do I need to do a Transfer or a Registration? If a transfer what do I put for the Seller FID/LTC Number since my mom doesn't have one? Will it raise a red flag if the "seller" is unlicensed or are they just happy to see that it's going to a licensed person?

This has been covered QUITE extensively and recently. Do a search.

The 4/year limit is on SELLING; not buying. It also applies to transfers between LICENSED gun owners, which your mother is not.

Short answer: You need an FFL to handle the transfer.
 
csharpdev,

Welcome to Northeastshooters.com. Hopefully you will stay and participate, lots of good people here and plenty of good information and discussions on many levels and subjects.

Despite scrivener's "welcome" he does give good advice. But if you have any questions on how to search for specific topics please don't hesitate to ask. There are hints and guides we can point you to and help you find the information you need and resolve your situation.

Again, welcome.
 
Last edited:
Hi Dan,

Welcome to NES, and please accept my condolences for your loss.

Like Scrivener said, this will need to be handled through an FFL. Also, he was correct in mentioning that by utilizing the Advanced Search function of the forum, you will find a plethora of valuable information, including much that has been covered many times over.

Hopefully you will stay here and share your experiences/opinions with us.

Regards,
Dave
 
Thanks for the info and welcoming. I guess I jumped the gun (no pun intended) on the post and should have read more of the forum. The few posts I had read had to do with the person actually inheriting them. I was hoping to not need to go through an FFL as it's a expense I'd rather not incurr at the moment. The law gives 180 days to transfer them, so perhaps I can simply store them in my safe (my mom wants them gone ASAP) and go visit an FFL on day 179? Can I simply take possesion of them and not transfer ownership? I don't think there is any record of her owning them or even my step father owning them since there are no records from 30+ years ago.
 
I'll defer to Scrivener here as he's the lawyer and I'm not, but I'll take the opportunity of a dialog on some very important semantics here.

If your Mother is the Executor of the Estate, she should (I defer to counsel) be able to dispose of them in that capacity in the manner that Scrivener mentioned in an earlier post (last week) to you (a transfer). Right Scrivener? If this is true, No FFL is needed, just 4 FA-10s properly filled out.

If she has "inherited" them as you wrote above, then indeed Scrivener is right and you must go thru an FFL with the attendant expense (and if they were handguns, you'd lose them outright in most cases).

Not registering transfers is a crime under MGL. Recommending same is a violation of the Forum Rules as well as a dumb thing to do. [Sorry I can't think of a more polite way to say this and still get the meaning across, nothing personal.]
 
I'm not sure who the Executor of the Estate is/was (or what it means to be the Executor of an Estate) I wasn't involved in any of that stuff. I want to transfer them in accordance with Mass Law I'm just trying to figure out what I need to do, it seems everywhere I look/ask I get a different answer.

-A friend of mine sent me a link to another forum (I've don't remember where) and someone had a very similar situation and the answer was just fill out an FA10 and do the transfer because it doesn't ask for the LIC # of the seller just the buyer... once I got the 4 FA10 forms I discovered that's not true.

-A MA LEO friend of my mom said she just has to give them to someone with a license, that's it, just give them to someone who can leagally have them. As long as she doesn't move or transport them herself she's fine. Before I even started searching for the right answer I knew she probably couldn't just give them to me and call it a day. (not in MA anyway)

The only thing I'm sure of (saw it in MGL) is that my mom has 180 days to get rid of them and it's been around 60 so I have some time to figure it out.
 
A MA LEO friend of my mom said she just has to give them to someone with a license, that's it, just give them to someone who can leagally [sic] have them. As long as she doesn't move or transport them herself she's fine.

The blind leading the blind........

One must usually consult a dispatcher to get advice of that quality. [wink]
 
Depending on what your FFL (really a dealer licensed by the state, rather than just an FFL) will charge for the transfers, your mither might be better off just getting an FID for the transfer. (She'd only need an LTC if one or more if the rilfes were large capacity.) Of course that might run the risk that she'd catch the bug and decide to keep them for her own enjoyment. [wink]

Ken
 
Ken, the course, paperwork hassle and $100 for the FID along with having to meet essentially the same requirements as a LTC doesn't make it worthwhile for someone who has no intent of keeping or owning firearms. That will work out to ~$40/gun on the cheap side to do the transfer. Cheaper to pay a dealer.

To OP: Generally speaking the surviving spouse is the Executor/Executrix of an estate and in that capacity can do the transfer without being licensed. Find Scrivener's post after talking with Caroline Sawyer about the procedure for this.

NEVER ask a PO for legal advice. Contrary to Scrivener's sarcasm above, I've had a few LEOs (now retired) tell me that I'm a fool for having guns "on the books", seriously implying that they obtained firearms with no paperwork (and in some cases no LTC either) over the years. I try hard to abide by our laws, so I let that drivel go in one ear and out the other. It's not worth the risk of getting caught and going to jail over it.
 
And if she is over 70 she can get the FID card FREE[grin] [cheers] [cheers] [cheers] [slap]


Sorry, NOT TRUE!

RENEWALS only >70 are free. Initial issue still costs $100. And even with the law, many PDs are still charging folks who are turning 70, telling them that they have to be >70 (ergo at least 71) to qualify. Another example of blatant abuse and POs not knowing the laws (or not wanting to know them unless it benefits THEM!).
 
OOPs my error my mother wanted a permit for OC was told by PD no charge > 70 assumeing permit for OC and FID are the same My appoligies for erroneous info
 
After reading the posts here, I find that several key bits of info are missing. First, was the deceased a MA resident? Second, is Mother a MA resident? Third, I see no answer to the question put by Len S as to whether Mother is the Executrix of the deceased will.

With advanced apologies to Scrivener, one scenario could be:

If both were MA residents, it is >possible< that just making out four FA10s will suffice as Mother knows that these guns were intended for Sonny. Precisely legal, probably not, but the state is just looking for the paper registration.
 
I am a MA Resident, my mom and the deceased are all MA residents. The deceased was a MA resident 30+ years ago when the firearms were last "transfered". I'm not sure if my mother is the Executrix or not (I'm hoping to find out soon), I know he did not have a will.

This all seams so retarded... from reading different threads it sounds as though it would be perfectly leagal for me to transport the firearms (2 rifles, 2 shot guns) to say VT or NH my mom gives them to a VT or NH resident, no paperwork needed? and then that person gives them to me, I fill out a FA10 registration? I can purchase long guns out of state and transport them myself and just fill out an FA10 to file it, and I can legally transport the firearms because I can have them in my possesion with them not being mine. It doesn't seem like this is the right way to do it and I'm much rather do it the "right" way. Hopefully my mom is the Executrix of the estate and can just xfer them to me.
 
I don't think that would work. I haven't got my reference right here at the moment, but I believe that interstate sales/transfers of rifles and shotguns need to have a licensed dealer involved. That is, your can buy from or sell to a licensed dealer in a state other than the one in which you reside, but not to or from unlicensed individuals. I'll check and correct myself later if I'm wrong, and someone else doesn't beat me to it.

Ken
 
Ken is right. What you propose is a Federal Felony x4!!

If your Step-Father died Intestate (no will), usually the surviving spouse becomes executrix in this case. As executrix, she can dispose of his assets in that capacity so that you get the guns direct from her, do the FA-10s with her signing as "Executrix for the Estate of xxxxx" per Scrivener's prior post and you are done.

Do a search here, use Advanced Search on inheritance over the past month in Gun Laws. Set your User CP to show ALL THREADS and you'll find a wealth of info.

No offense meant but you need to spend some serious time trying to understand our gun laws (including Fed), as you have posted a lot of info and ideas that if practiced would send you to jail for the rest of your natural life and then some!
 
Ken is right. What you propose is a Federal Felony x4!!
As I said it didn't seem like the right way to do it, and I wouldn't have done it that way unless someone with knowledge confirmed it was leagal, and even then I probably would have driven to my local FFL to save the time and hassel anyway.
No offense meant but you need to spend some serious time trying to understand our gun laws (including Fed), as you have posted a lot of info and ideas that if practiced would send you to jail for the rest of your natural life and then some!
No offense taken... that's why I'm here, I've already learned alot in the time I've been here. Google hadn't helped me much until it brought me here.

Thank you everyone for all your help. I hope someday I will be knowledgable enough to help the next generation of newbies.
 
If your Step-Father died Intestate (no will), usually the surviving spouse becomes executrix in this case.

Not quite.

NO will; no executor/trix. Period. Those foolish or irresponsible enough to die intestate leave their mess for their survivors to clean up, starting with having an administrator/trix appointed. If the estate is small enough, the process is expedited.

No offense meant but you need to spend some serious time trying to understand our gun laws (including Fed), as you have posted a lot of info and ideas that if practiced would send you to jail for the rest of your natural life and then some!

Very true.
 
Unlike handgun transfers in this state, long guns are trivially
easy. Start calling FFLs and see if you can get one thatll give you a
cheap price on 4 long gun transfers. Then go pick up mom and the
guns and go to dealer, do paperwork, pay the cash, and the fries will be
done, all with zero peril to you.

-Mike
 
Ouch (reaction to Scrivener's comment about no will = no exexutor/trix)!

Given the facts, Mike has the best suggestion. Just do it and be done with it.
 
Unlike handgun transfers in this state, long guns are trivially
easy. Start calling FFLs and see if you can get one thatll give you a
cheap price on 4 long gun transfers. Then go pick up mom and the
guns and go to dealer, do paperwork, pay the cash, and the fries will be
done, all with zero peril to you.

If you're a GOAL member, Jon Green will do transfers for short cash. If you're not a member, you have a perfect reason to join.
 
Back
Top Bottom