Handgun Inheritence Question (MD to CO Resident)

[NAUIdvr1]

Hey folks,
Got a question - it's for my kid sister who used to be a MD resident and now resides in Colorado. Her Dad recently passed away (2 weeks ago) and she came back to MD to authorize the hospital to pull the plug & take care of his personal possessions from his apartment. There was no will. Upon cleaning out his apartment she found a CZ 9mm Hand gun that was purchased in May of 2013 (pre-Oct 1) that was never fired. Due to time constraints she left the gun at her Mom's house in Maryland for safe storage until she comes back this summer to pick it up (she will be driving - so might allow for easier transport to CO?).

So here is the question - what must she do to legally take possession of it and transfer it to her, as far as it concerns Maryland? She does have a copy of the Death Certificate. I'm aware of how to do a inheritance transfer from a MD resident to a MD resident family member, but not sure how to complete this one.

While she was still here she stopped by an FFL in Parkville and he told her she had to take a 3 day course (pay $), then he would ship the firearm to a Colorado FLL for the nice sum of $130. I do think he was full of sh!t and attempting to make money on her and her situation.

Any assistance you guys & gals could give me to point me in the correct direction would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Pinecone]

BATF says that if the handgun was willed, it can be transferred to her:

2. May I lawfully transfer a firearm to a friend who resides in a different State?
Under Federal law, an unlicensed individual is prohibited from transferring a firearm to an individual who does not reside in the State where the transferee resides. Generally, for a person to lawfully transfer a firearm to an unlicensed person who resides out of State, the firearm must be shipped to a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) within the recipient’s State of residence. He or she may then receive the firearm from the FFL upon completion of an ATF Form 4473 and a NICS background check. More information can be obtained on the ATF website at www.atf.gov and http://www.atf.gov/firearms/faq/unlicensed-persons.html. The GCA provides an exception from this prohibition for temporary loans or rentals of firearms for lawful sporting purposes. Thus, for example, a friend visiting you may borrow a firearm from you to go hunting. Another exception is provided for transfers of firearms to nonresidents to carry out a lawful bequest or acquisition by intestate succession. This exception would authorize the transfer of a firearm to a nonresident who inherits a firearm under the will of a decedent. See 18 U.S.C. 922(a)(5).

But without a will, this may be sticky.

Best would be to contact the BATF and/or a lawyer familiar with firearms law.

But there is no reason she would need an HQL as she is not an MD resident (it seems) and so the handgun can be shipped to a CO FFL and she can pick it up there, following CO law, not MD law.

The above BATF info may allow her to take possession here and take it back with her, but in that case, she might actually need to have an HQL. That would be a question for the MSP.

 

[Benanov]

I was under the impression that you'd need an FFL across state lines period. I looked this up when looking at who inherits Dad's guns. Right now Dad's still kind of using them, but figured I'd do the search before it mattered.

That's interesting that it might not... then again living in MD I'd still want to do the FFL route anyway.

 

[BeltBuckle]

intestate succession = w/o a will. should it not therefore already be considered hers? IANAL but that's how it looks to me.

too late for the SSS approach...

perhaps not entirely unrelated, if she were so unfortunate as to make an honest, good faith mistake what would be the statute of lmiitations?

 

[6-Pack]

She should properly probate the estate before transferring any assets. Until she has Letters of Administration from the court, she doesn't have the legal authority to do any transfers.

IAAL

 

[Biggfoot44]

Background Question #1 - who is the Representive of the Estate (aka executor) ? Is it her ? Another specific know person ? Or ????

I will leave to the legal experts to try to come up with a way for direct transfer w/o a will , but the default solution is for the Representive of the Estate , on behalf of the Estate , to ship it to a CO FFL , and Sis completes the transfer as an individal , following usual CO purchase protocol.

 

[6-Pack]

Background Question #1 - who is the Representive of the Estate (aka executor) ? Is it her ? Another specific know person ? Or ????

I will leave to the legal experts to try to come up with a way for direct transfer w/o a will , but the default solution is for the Representive of the Estate , on behalf of the Estate , to ship it to a CO FFL , and Sis completes the transfer as an individal , following usual CO purchase protocol.

1) It depends if there are other heirs. When I administer intestate estates I require all heirs to agree to one person serve as PR. Normally a will lays out the PR, but for an intestate estate it is a little more tricky.

2) Yes. I would also include a copy of the Letters of Administration and a letter from the PR documenting the inheritance so everything is documented in case it is ever questioned.

 

[NAUIdvr1]

To All,
Thanks for the responses. To answer a question - No there was not a Will. The only heirs are an older brother (that is OK with Sis having the handgun), and her. There is no "estate" and according to her nothing is going to probate. Her Dad just rented a room in a house and really had nothing to his name, except for his possessions (which included a handgun) that were inside of that rented room.

P.S. I'll be calling the MSP & BATF on this situation next week to find out how this transfer should be handled. I know that the handgun needs to ship from a MD FFL to a CO FFL, but it's the paperwork that she needs to have with the gun when it is taken to a MD FFL for shipment that I need to find out about. I was assuming that I would just take the Death Certificate, the handgun, and the original paperwork from when the Dad bought it (we have the 77R & 4473 pink copies) to the MD FFL and give him the address of the CO FFL - but what is the proper paperwork to be filled out for the interstate inheritance is the question.