Out of State Inheritance

How does an inheritance from out of state work? It would be from LA to VA. I do not think there is going to be a will. The transfer would include both long guns and handguns.

Thanks,
Eddy

If you have in fact inherited them (as in it was in the decedant's will) then you now own them and just follow FOPA transporting them home or having them shipped directly to you.

If there is no will and you get them as a general disposition of assets then they most likely are gifts and need to be transferred (as in shipped) to a FFL in Va. The executor in La should handle that, which most likely will mean they will end up going to a FFL there to, amomg other things, cover their backside.

If there is still time, get the soon-to-be-deceased to write out a will. In most cases wills do not have tpo be written by an attorney, and may cover specific assets and not the entire estate. Or they can be specific as to certain items and them "equally divided" or "equal shares" for the rest. It is best to at least consult an attorney in La if going that route.

stay safe.

skidmark said:

If you have in fact inherited them (as in it was in the decedant's will) then you now own them and just follow FOPA transporting them home or having them shipped directly to you.

If there is no will and you get them as a general disposition of assets then they most likely are gifts and need to be transferred (as in shipped) to a FFL in Va. The executor in La should handle that, which most likely will mean they will end up going to a FFL there to, amomg other things, cover their backside.

If there is still time, get the soon-to-be-deceased to write out a will. In most cases wills do not have tpo be written by an attorney, and may cover specific assets and not the entire estate. Or they can be specific as to certain items and them "equally divided" or "equal shares" for the rest. It is best to at least consult an attorney in La if going that route.

stay safe.

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Thanks for the prompt reply Skid. The individual in question is my grandfather, and I believe he has been encouraged to write a will and just doesn't want to. I don't know why. It is good to know that if a will doesn't exist, an FFL transfer will need to occur.

If someone writes their own will it does not need to be notarized (in Virginia at least). What it does need is at least two witness signatures to appear. Lacking this, it will not pass probate.

Since it appears the is not yet deceased, and presuming that he does want you to have certain specific firearms upon his death, it might be worthwhile to explain to him that 1) only by writing out a will can he assure (pretty much) that his wishes will be carried out, 2) that he does not need to spend a lot of money getting a will written and 3) does not have to list the specific disposition of each and every item in what will be his estate in the will. OR, he could write out a one-line will: "Eddy get everything."

Dying entestate (without a will) activates syate law on the division of the estate based on degree of relationship and can be equal shartes or unequal shares, again based on relationship. If that comes about you cannot be guaranteed getting those firearms and may in fact end up with a check for your share of what the items that composed the estate sold for.

You need to check all this with an attorney in La to make sure there are no glitches based on the fact that law down there is based on theories that are different than the rest of the country. But even in La the state bar association can help find an attorney and set up a 15-minute free consultation (one of the few things the ABA did that is good for the public).

stay safe.

skidmark said:

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Dying entestate (without a will) activates syate law on the division of the estate based on degree of relationship and can be equal shartes or unequal shares, again based on relationship. If that comes about you cannot be guaranteed getting those firearms and may in fact end up with a check for your share of what the items that composed the estate sold for.

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It should be noted that the executor's fees/charges have been known to devour a goodly amount of intestate inheritances - leaving the beneficiary with an empty bag.

Consider a NFA trust as an alternative solution - it isn't just for class lll guns.
Our own John Pierce specializes in this and I am told the expense is minimal.
http://www.guntrustlawyer.net/nfa_trust

There is as usual both Federal and state laws to consider. The GCA'68 contains a general exception to the requirement to transfer through an FFL in the case of an interstate transfer occasioned due to an otherwise-lawful transfer as a result of a bequest upon death.

I am not a lawyer but I served as an executor to an estate in California. There, at least as things stood in 2007, a bequest is a specific exemption to the requirements pertaining to firearms transfers, in that an executor does not have to do anything "special" to transfer a firearm to a named-in-the-bequest party. Transfers to felons, dopers, etc. are disallowed as usual, it is/was essentially a private transfer from the deceased to the heir with the executor acting as the deceased's agent. Note that this applies only to probate court appointed executors. In cases where the deceased's estate distribution was not overseen by the court, any transfer had to go though a state licensee. Therefore, an illegal intestate out-of-state transfer that did not go through a state licensee would also be in violation of Federal law.

I know that CA laws have tightened up significantly since then, and maybe Lousiana is more forgiving, but my point is that it might be prudent to familiarize yourself with the state laws before they become an issue and aggravate the pertaining Federal law.

architect said:

There is as usual both Federal and state laws to consider. The GCA'68 contains a general exception to the requirement to transfer through an FFL in the case of an interstate transfer occasioned due to an otherwise-lawful transfer as a result of a bequest upon death.

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Can't make a specific bequest without a will. Thought we had settled that.

stay safe.

If a person dies intestate, there should be a list of heirs to be filed with some local office, county clerk, clerk of court, commissioner of accounts, or some such thing. In addition, someone should get appointed as executor, generally requires filing something with the local trial court of record and posting a bond. Documentation one ought to have: a copy of the death certificate, the list of heirs, and something signed by the executor showing (specifically, serial numbers and stuff) transfer to the heir receiving the gun. Next thing: you can go to the foreign state to p/u the gun you now own and carry it home with you, if that would comply with the foreign state's law and you comply with the Gun Owner's Protection Act amendment to the 1968 Omnibus Safe Streets and Crime Control Act, or you can have it shipped via "common carrier". You cannot have it mailed or otherwise delivered unless you go through a local FFL because that would be a transfer of possession from a nonresident person (the estate) to you (ownership doesn't matter).