Power of Attorney/Transfer for family member with Alzeimer's

Neot · Jul 3, 2019

Finding myself in a situation where my uncle has the early stages of Alzheimer's. It started with struggling to find words and then started with losing concepts of time. My mom, aunt and myself are listed as power of attorney over him (I'm an alternate since I'm out of state). We have started discussing what is going to happen when we have to remove the firearms from him or he has to go to a facility because he can't live alone anymore. They all live in Pennsylvania and I know Maryland has rules as far as what guns can be transferred into the state if they were inherited by a resident, especially after 2013.

Does anyone know the process for someone in my situation (power of attorney)? Can I transfer them now or do I have to literally wait until he passes to take them?

The guns are all left for me in his will but I don't know if my aunt and mom want them sitting around up there at their homes for years. We are talking everything from Lugers to LaRue. It's going to be a huge task to deal with since he has around 60 handguns and 80 rifles and I'd rather start doing it incrementally rather than deal with it all at once.

Has anyone encountered a similar situation?

rseymorejr · Jul 3, 2019

I may have heard of a case somewhere that when the person got to where he shouldn't be around guns due to his declining mental state so one of his sons took temporary custody of the guns. There was no will and after the person died the son distributed the guns between the other son and the Grandchildren and himself. As far as I know the government was never involved in any of this.
I think this is how it all played out.

Rab1515 · Jul 3, 2019

There is nothing preventing your uncle from storing his guns at your house in MD, provided he can possess the guns in MD. Assuming nothing was bought post 2013, you should be able to store everything in MD.

newmuzzleloader · Jul 3, 2019

Rab1515 said:
There is nothing preventing your uncle from storing his guns at your house in MD, provided he can possess the guns in MD. Assuming nothing was bought post 2013, you should be able to store everything in MD.

His uncle lives in Pa. Is a relative in Md allowed to store guns for a relative who lives out of state?

Insert blue willow dishes in place of guns and nobody blinks an eye. Friggin grabbers and convoluted laws

Clovis · Jul 3, 2019

Have you talked with the lawyer that wrote the POA? They may be able to give some guidance.

Biggfoot44 · Jul 3, 2019

The special rules for inheritance , someone has to actually decease .

But for other than grandfathered Banned items , it's at the discression of the ( POA holders ) to make suitable disposition , following the usual protocols .

Neot · Jul 3, 2019

Rab1515 said:
There is nothing preventing your uncle from storing his guns at your house in MD, provided he can possess the guns in MD. Assuming nothing was bought post 2013, you should be able to store everything in MD.

There's quite a few things purchased since 2013 from what I know. A few AR15's, handguns, etc. The one saving grace is most every one of his AR's are heavy barreled because he did a ton of benchrest shooting. I guess for ones that were purchased afterwards I could always separate the upper from lower. I have plenty of pre-2013 lowers that I could use those uppers on. The Alzheimer's has really started showing in the past year and a half. He was still shooting and reloading up until then. I guess I could always just go to an FFL up there and have him transfer all the guns into my name with the exception of the handguns or anything post 2013.

Neot · Jul 3, 2019

Clovis said:
Have you talked with the lawyer that wrote the POA? They may be able to give some guidance.

I haven't but I'm not sure she is up on Maryland gun laws. Hell I've lived here for 15 years and there's so many convoluted laws that even I'm confused at times. I may just give a call over to the MSP Licensing Division but even there you can talk to two different people and get two entirely different answers.

Neot · Jul 3, 2019

Biggfoot44 said:
The special rules for inheritance , someone has to actually decease .

But for other than grandfathered Banned items , it's at the discression of the ( POA holders ) to make suitable disposition , following the usual protocols .

Most of it isn't a big deal because he has a lot of bolt action guns and heavy barreled AR's for bench rest but I know there are some other guns that may be banned in MD now. Might just have to sell them up there if I can't bring them here.

engineerbrian · Jul 3, 2019

Neot said:
Most of it isn't a big deal because he has a lot of bolt action guns and heavy barreled AR's for bench rest but I know there are some other guns that may be banned in MD now. Might just have to sell them up there if I can't bring them here.

If you sell them up there, Hog Sniper (former IP) can help you. He buys collections.

Let me know if you need his cell number

Neot · Jul 3, 2019

engineerbrian said:
If you sell them up there, Hog Sniper (former IP) can help you. He buys collections.

Let me know if you need his cell number

Thanks! I've got some time but rather not have to wait until the last minute ya know? One thing about my uncle, he didn't by cheap crap. His scopes are NightForce, handguns were things like S&W Performance Center, Colt Pythons, etc. Definitely won't be hard to move the stuff I don't want.

Bob A · Jul 3, 2019

If your uncle is declared incompetent, I'd suspect that those with POA could move the collection to a place where they'd be safely stored. Once he passed, distribution under the various state laws could be officially completed.

Pinecone · Jul 5, 2019

And the banned in MD ones, cannot be transferred to you, resident of MD, until he actually dies.

Anything not banned, can be transferred to you now.

Abulg1972 · Jul 8, 2019

Neot said:
Thanks! I've got some time but rather not have to wait until the last minute ya know? One thing about my uncle, he didn't by cheap crap. His scopes are NightForce, handguns were things like S&W Performance Center, Colt Pythons, etc. Definitely won't be hard to move the stuff I don't want.

You'll take a 35% to 55% haircut on value if you sell to a dealer. I know it's a pain, but you'll maximize value by selling them individually after taking good pictures.

Abulg1972 · Jul 8, 2019

Rab1515 said:
There is nothing preventing your uncle from storing his guns at your house in MD, provided he can possess the guns in MD. Assuming nothing was bought post 2013, you should be able to store everything in MD.

This is terrible advice. First, Section 4-303(a) of the Criminal Law Article makes it unlawful for a person to (1) transport an assault weapon into Maryland or (2) possess or receive an assault weapon. There is an exception for transfers/possession pursuant to inheritance, and for someone who possessed the assault weapon prior to October 1, 2013. The owner might be able to transport it into Maryland. However, second, assuming that the firearm is simply a "regulated firearm" and not a prohibited assault weapon, I don't think it would be a stretch to conclude that a person who is of feeble mind does not intend to reclaim guns such that any transfer of possession, under whatever pretense, and, thus, a transfer to a Maryland resident for storage is not a "loan".

Neot · Jul 9, 2019

Abulg1972 said:
You'll take a 35% to 55% haircut on value if you sell to a dealer. I know it's a pain, but you'll maximize value by selling them individually after taking good pictures.

I think what we are going to do is start listing them at his gun club up in PA first and see if we have any takers. This will be guns that he has no interest in anymore and guns that I'd have no interest in receiving down the line. Kind of wading into the shallow end of the pool as far as selling things go. If that doesn't work he had bought a lot of guns at a dealer he was friendly with. I might see about going over there and see if he'd be able to consign them there or buy them at a decent price. He's an honest guy and I feel he would be fair but I also get that he has bills to pay as well and needs to make some money.

My uncle is still sharp enough to remember some things so I don't want it to seem like we are taking all of his guns from him right now. I would still feel comfortable taking him to the range to go shoot (with me monitoring him closely) and him not be a safety issue. Right now it's mostly trouble with remembering the time, date and finding the right words. He gets that the family taking his guns is going to happen at some point though. He just went through losing his driver's license last week and we don't want to put too much on him at once.

Neot · Jul 9, 2019

Abulg1972 said:
This is terrible advice. First, Section 4-303(a) of the Criminal Law Article makes it unlawful for a person to (1) transport an assault weapon into Maryland or (2) possess or receive an assault weapon. There is an exception for transfers/possession pursuant to inheritance, and for someone who possessed the assault weapon prior to October 1, 2013. The owner might be able to transport it into Maryland. However, second, assuming that the firearm is simply a "regulated firearm" and not a prohibited assault weapon, I don't think it would be a stretch to conclude that a person who is of feeble mind does not intend to reclaim guns such that any transfer of possession, under whatever pretense, and, thus, a transfer to a Maryland resident for storage is not a "loan".

I think when it's time I'll just store the guns at a family members house or see if any of my buddies up there have room in their safe for the evil banned guns. We don't want them getting free and running amok.

Power of Attorney/Transfer for family member with Alzeimer's

The #1 community for Gun Owners of the Northeast

Member Benefits:

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

JMB fan club

Ultimate Member

όυ φροντισ

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Users who are viewing this thread

Log in

Forum statistics