Transfer upon death?

[Fygg Nuuton]

I live in Nevada and my father passed away recently. What is the law on transferring his handguns into my name? Is there a time limit on such a thing?

[Don H]

Was your father a Nevada resident also?

[Fygg Nuuton]

Yes, he was.

[Aguila Blanca]

Basic question: Were the guns either left to you by his will, or did he die intestate (no will)? The first step is the confirm that the guns legally should be transferred to you, rather than to some other party(ies).

[Fygg Nuuton]

My mother was named executor of his will and he left everything to her. She gave them to me.

[Bill DeShivs]

Go get them.

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by Bill DeShivs

Go get them.

Sorry. This is really, REALLY, REALLY bad advice.

Originally Posted by Fygg Nuuton

My mother was named executor of his will and he left everything to her. She gave them to me.

Fygg, if what you wrote here is strictly accurate, then none of the firearms can come to you by virtue of inheritance. But let's be sure we're on the same page.

Your mother may have been named the executor, but your father could (and likely did) leave some monies or objects or items to someone other than your mother, and IF that is the case, her job as executor is to ensure that anything the will specifically gave to someone else gets to that someone else. So, if your father's will bequeathed some or all of the guns to you, BY NAME, then your mother's role as executor is to transfer (not "give," because they are not hers to give) the guns to you. This article may be useful:

http://www.greystonelaw.com/articles...heritance.html

However, what you wrote is that your father left (i.e. bequeathed) everything (which would include the guns) to your mother, and then she "gave" them to you. If this is what happened, then your MOTHER gets a free pass under the inheritance rules, but her subsequent transfers to you are no different than if a bunch of unrelated people gave or sold you the firearms -- each and every firearm must be transferred from your mother to you just as if you were buying them from an unrelated third party. In other words, your mother inherited the guns -- you did NOT inherit the guns.

If Nevada allows direct face-to-face transfers with no background check and no paperwork, then you can just "go get them." I'm not from Nevada so I won't attempt to cite Nevada law. Just be aware that YOU did not inherit the guns, so you have to proceed as if the transfers are from your mother (NOT from your father's estate) and must adhere to whatever Nevada laws provide for private transfers of firearms.

[blume357]

Just go get them....

Some times it's best not to ask a lawyer... local or internet.

[Frank Ettin]

I'm sorry for your loss.

Bottom line is that no one here can really answer your question.

[1] Does you mother also live in Nevada? If so, at least federal laws relating to interstate transfers aren't involved.

[2] But first, it will be a matter of Nevada law on inheritance.

[3] And second, even if someone here were fully familiar with Nevada law on inheritance, we wouldn't have enough information. Exactly what did the will say? Were there other beneficiaries? Was the will actually submitted to the court for probate? Have all debts of the estate, and claims against the estate, been discharged? Has the property been distributed under court supervision and the probate closed?

[4] If the guns are now lawfully your mother's property, and assuming she is a Nevada resident, transfer to you is a matter of Nevada law.

[5] So maybe it would be entirely legal for you to just go and get them. And maybe it may not be, but probably nothing would happen if you did just go and get them. And maybe if you just went and got them, you and/or your mother could wind up in trouble. I have no idea and no way of knowing without a lot more information and without a bunch of research.

[6] If you really want to know for sure, you need to contact a Nevada lawyer.

[wmeSha]

"Your mother may have been named the executor, but your father could (and likely did) leave some monies or objects or items to someone other than your mother, and IF that is the case, her job as executor is to ensure that anything the will specifically gave to someone else gets to that someone else. "

I wouldn't necessarily expect that he left objects or monies to anyone but his wife. This is possible of course, but many people set up wills that leave everything to a surviving spouse but divvy things up when there is no surviving spouse. In fact most of the wills in my family have looked precisely like that, on both sides.

[Frank Ettin]

Originally Posted by wmeSha

...I wouldn't necessarily expect that he left objects or monies to anyone but his wife. This is possible of course, but many people set up wills that leave everything to a surviving spouse but divvy things up when there is no surviving spouse. In fact most of the wills in my family have looked precisely like that, on both sides.

All that may be true. But without complete and precise information, including accurate answers to the questions I raised in my prior post, it is impossible for even someone fully familiar with Nevada law to properly answer the OP's question.

Certainly a competent lawyer would never venture an opinion about someone's real life legal matter without all the actual facts, if he suspected that the person would act in reliance on that opinion. And it sure looks like, from his question, that the OP wants an answer he can rely on.

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by wmeSha

I wouldn't necessarily expect that he left objects or monies to anyone but his wife.

I tried to look at it both ways, in order to try to clarify the situation. If the surviving widow (the OP's mother) immediately gave away the guns, it might well be that the deceased father knew his wife hated firearms and thus left those to his son(s) and the wife/executor was simply carrying out the terms of the will by transferring the guns to her son.

Or ... it could be exactly as the OP wrote, that his father left everything to the surviving wife, and she then gave the guns to her son.

These are not the same situation. If the former, the OP would be receiving the guns directly from his father's estate, as inheritance. If the latter, his mother inherited the guns. His mother is now giving him a bunch of guns and legally that's no different than if a neighbor down the street gave him a bunch of guns.

Fiddletown is correct -- it's a delicate legal question, it depends significantly on the terms of the will, and the Internet is a lousy place to obtain serious legal advice.

[Fygg Nuuton]

He left it all to her, everything is legal: it is all up to her. That being said, two of these pistols are old, they were my grandfathers (Colt Cobra and S&W model 36). These went to my father when my grandfather died, and was understood to be going to me upon his passing.

He lived in Nevada, as do my mother and I. There are no outstanding debts for the estate. As far as I'm aware I just have to go to my local police substation and register them in my name.

[therealdeal]

He left it all to her, everything is legal: it is all up to her. That being said, two of these pistols are old, they were my grandfathers (Colt Cobra and S&W model 36). These went to my father when my grandfather died, and was understood to be going to me upon his passing.

He lived in Nevada, as do my mother and I. There are no outstanding debts for the estate. As far as I'm aware I just have to go to my local police substation and register them in my name.

I am sort of with "blume357" here. Don't complicate things. I received some thousand of dollars a while back when my Grandma passed(may she rest in peace). People were trying to tell me to pay taxes on it, report it, and all of this other nonsense. I never did because I didn't think I had to. It turns out I was right. I had no obligation to pay taxes on it; they had already been paid&the amount was under the cusp. This is a unique situation. If it ever came up, you can cite the situation at hand. Be advised, if there is a lawyer on here he might 'rip me a new one' and have me crying "uncle" before he is thru with me, so this is just my advice. If necessary and because I like to have things "official" myself, you probably might want to buy them legally from your mother for a dollar each and save the bill of sale/receipts with your signatures on it within a lockbox(it will ease your mind too). It might not be necessary because you aren't required to register these weapons. The defacto registartion of your father or actually your grand-dad does exist if by some crazy, odd reason they need to trace these weapons someday. I know w/family vehicles(which must be registered so its different), you CAN give lawfully a vehicle to only an immediate family member as a GIFT(this avoids taxes). Any one not an immediate family member must proceed with the dollar sale for the vehicle and must pay taxes on the blue book value of the vehicle. Since there is no registration needed(unless you reside in Clark County), do the dollar sale for each weapon(but on the same sale and all on same bill of sale) and be descriptive+neat on the bill of sale and both sign it(you can notarize it too if it eases your mind--I only say that because my sister-in-law with a different last name has a private notary license and it comes in handy!!!)!!

///

Are Nevada citizens required to register their firearms? NO (except in Clark County where handguns must be registered. Don’t like it? Let these guys know and seriously consider who you vote for Sheriff next time).

Fygg, I thought the same thing from your original post(referring to the 1st line of your latest post), but I can understand the cunfusion and unknowns/questions created. See below, you do NOT need to register your guns.

http://www.lvmpd.com/permits/firearms_registration.html

http://www.nvsca.com/board_of_directors.html

Also note that as for "registration," when a firearm is purchased FROM A FEDERALLY LICENSED DEALER, there is a de facto registration thanks to the "background check" and the Nevada POC or ‘Baby Brady.’ Don’t like it? Yep same group. See above.

http://www.nvsca.com/index.html

Please note that defacto registration does NOT apply to firearms obtained through legal transfers from private parties.

PLEASE ALSO VISIT http://www.gonv.org/faqs.htm

[therealdeal]

PLEASE ALSO VISIT http://www.gonv.org/faqs.htm

the above quote and/or link is at the Very Bottom of the lengthy post I just left. This is the link with the Nevada info/law that does NOT require you to register these weapons. Trust me, I'm from Massachusetts originally&I thought it was a given that firearms in every state had to be registered(this is a myth and far from the truth).

[blume357]

I can't imagine that you need to register the guns in Nevada.... there are only a few states where this is required and hopefully will be declared unconstitutional soon.

I think you may be confusing the concealed carry law of Nevada where a resident has to register or at least qualify with a certain hand gun.

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by Fygg Nuuton

He left it all to her, everything is legal: it is all up to her. That being said, two of these pistols are old, they were my grandfathers (Colt Cobra and S&W model 36). These went to my father when my grandfather died, and was understood to be going to me upon his passing.

Okay. Then your father's death does not enter into it. Your mother is alive. They are her firearms. She is giving them to you. All that must be considered is what laws apply to direct transfers within the state of Nevada. Unless required by Nevada state law, I don't believe an FFL is required, and if an FFL is not required you do not need to fill out 4473s for any of the transfers.

Nobody was suggesting that anything was not "legal." The point was that the way the will was worded, and to whom the will bequeathed the guns, had implications regarding how the law applies.

[EDIT]The following are from the BATFE FAQ on their web site, and apply to transfers within a state (even though it says "sales," a gift would be subject to the same rules):

Originally Posted by BATFE FAQ

Q: To whom may an unlicensed person transfer firearms under the GCA?

A person may sell a firearm to an unlicensed resident of his State, if he does not know or have reasonable cause to believe the person is prohibited from receiving or possessing firearms under Federal law. A person may loan or rent a firearm to a resident of any State for temporary use for lawful sporting purposes, if he does not know or have reasonable cause to believe the person is prohibited from receiving or possessing firearms under Federal law. A person may sell or transfer a firearm to a licensee in any State. However, a firearm other than a curio or relic may not be transferred interstate to a licensed collector.

[18 U.S.C. 922(a)(3) and (5), 922(d), 27 CFR 478.29 and 478.30]

Q: From whom may an unlicensed person acquire a firearm under the GCA?

A person may only acquire a firearm within the person’s own State, except that he or she may purchase or otherwise acquire a rifle or shotgun, in person, at a licensee’s premises in any State, provided the sale complies with State laws applicable in the State of sale and the State where the purchaser resides. A person may borrow or rent a firearm in any State for temporary use for lawful sporting purposes.

[18 U.S.C. 922(a)(3) and (5), 922(b)(3), 27 CFR 478.29 and 478.30]

Originally Posted by Fygg Nuuton

He lived in Nevada, as do my mother and I. There are no outstanding debts for the estate. As far as I'm aware I just have to go to my local police substation and register them in my name.

Red herring. This has nothing to do with your father's estate. Any debts owed by the estate are irrelevent to the transfer of the guns from your mother to you. He left the guns to your mother. Your mother is now transferring them to you. These are two completely separate matters.

As was asked and apparently answered above: WHAT registration? Where did you get the idea that firearms in Nevada have to be "registered" with the police?

[therealdeal]

Fygg put some pix up if you get a chance. they seem like great firearms/family heirlooms. You get them yet?