O/T Not a gun person

I have a pistol from an estate of a older woman(99)who just died. I am one of the trustees for the estate. Her husband was a Chicago cop in the 50's. Cleaning out her room we found it. She lived in a nursing home, which was against the house rules to have a gun in a room.(can't emagine why) She and her husband who also died years ago, had a lot of guns. This 22 pistol was all she had left. She was a target shooter. The gun is a SW 22 pistol. How can I get it registered to me. If I go in a gun shop with a unregistered gun will they keep the gun. Should I just take the torch to it, and be done with it? I don't need any more problems in my life. My wife has her power of attorney, but since the lady has died, Will the wifes power of attorney still be in effect now. Any comments? Stan

What they told me was power of attorney was only good up until death after that the executor takes over. During that period between when the person dies and the exec takes over is a mess.

As to the guy, depends on where you are. Here, there is no gun registration. If you have it and the s/n doesnt show stolen posession is 9/10ths ownership.

Its simple to cahnge it over to you . Take it & all paper work to a licensed gun shop & fill out all paperwork they give you . In Pa. they keep the pistol until its checked out with the law for being stolen or involved in any crime . You also will be checked out good to see if you can legally have a hand gun . I went thru similar siwtch overs years ago with a hand gun given to me , another I inherited from my brothers will , & another I bought from my Grandmas estate . No problems at all . Don"t destroy it , you may regret it later on . HTH ! God bless, Ken

"My wife has her power of attorney, but since the lady has died, Will the wifes power of attorney still be in effect now."

NOPE haymans correct, the POA expired when the elderly lady died.

So, who has the authority to act in her behalf now?? The duly appointed Executor or Personal Representative or Administrator of her estate as appointed by the probate court, or if she had property in a trust, the Trustee or a court appointed Trustee (one of them is you I take it).

If she co owned property under a Joint Tenancy with rights of survivorship or had POD or TOD accounts, the survivor gets the property, thats a non probate transfer (dont need lawyers or courts) and can nnalert a will provision to the contrary. Similar, if she owned property with designated beneficiaries, they are entitled to the property and thats another non probate transfer no courts required.

So, how do you get property transferred into your name, welllllllllll first of all whats the basis of your claim of ownership, is it by intestate succession (no will but youre an heir at law) or did whe leave a will and bequeath it to you?? The job of the duly appointed Executor or Administrator or Personal Representative or Trustee is to collect and preserve assetts, pay the bills, and distribute the estate to the rightful persons.

In some states it cheap n easy to file a small estate affidavit if the net estate value is relatively little, such as under $50,000

Now, take 2 aspirins n call me Monday at the office lol

PS if theres a statute whereby gun ownership gets transferred, Id guess you need to take some evidence of your claim of ownership with you.

DISCLAIMER I have NOT researched your states laws so this advice is worth just what you paid NOTHING zero nada zilch.......

Best wishes

John T

Everyone should have a gun in their room, for protection from idiots, among other things. Maybe she just liked guns. My kind of woman.

In Pa ... Just asked my future Son In Law who has a gun shop.

He says yes If he is required by law to take possession of it if it wasn't registered.
They would run a check on it to see if stolen or registered in any other State then you could register it in your name... may take up to 30 days before you could apply.... here's the kicker...
you still have a 3 day waiting period for a hand gun registration in Pa

If its rightly yours keep it. Why say a peep to anyone about it. Your not a felon right?

If you don"t want the hassles with registration, hand it to a museum and let them check its life.That is an asset so I assume you are the beneficiary.

Give it to someone who lives in a free country and not worry about it anymore? Why does there need to be a paper trail?

You say you are one of the trustees for her estate. Who inherited her estate? Whoever inherited her estate owns the gun. Are you listed as to inherit her estate? If not, you cannot take the gun. Tom

You didn't say where the estate is or where you live. You need to check with the gun laws of the state you live in. At one time I lived in Illinois. At the time you only needed a permit from the state as a registered gun owner to have the gun. The individual gun did not need to be registered. I currently live in Texas. Unless you are a gun dealer, you don't even have to ask the person's name to sell a gun to.

In a free state he can just buy the gun from the estate.We still have the right to sell firearms in private sale in Maine.

I don't know how you would acquire the gun legally.
But I wonder why anyone would register a gun if they didn't have to. To me a gun that isn't traceable to me is worth more than one with a paper trail.

(quoted from post at 22:12:08 11/13/11) In Pa ... Just asked my future Son In Law who has a gun shop.

He says yes If he is required by law to take possession of it if it wasn't registered.
They would run a check on it to see if stolen or registered in any other State then you could register it in your name... may take up to 30 days before you could apply.... here's the kicker...
you still have a 3 day waiting period for a hand gun registration in Pa

Click to expand...

There is no 3 day waiting period. I just purchased hi-point .40S&W from Cabela's. The wait was like 15 minutes and i was out the door with gun in hand.

I certainly am glad I live in Texas where I don't have to worry with silliness like that. Stan, as I recall you live in the shakey state on the far west side. If I were you, I would simply keep my mouth shut and stash it away and someday someone else will find it from your estate. If you want to sell it, wait until you go on a vacation to Texas and bring it along and sell it at a gun show,or Craigslist, or a garage sale, or a flea market! But don't wait too long as the California thinking does shift east...but it usually takes 20 + years to get here.

(quoted from post at 01:12:08 11/14/11)
you still have a 3 day waiting period for a hand gun registration in Pa

Click to expand...

Really? So that is why you can walk into any gun shop, lay your money on the counter, fill out a 4473, the PASP form, and walk out with a pistol after a phone call?

Lots of miss-info in this thread, but without knowing where you are, it is all speculation.

Sounds like Chicago.

If you think that's all there is to buying a handgun there you are sadly mistaken.


http://www.freddry.com/blog/chicago-handgun-ban-law.html

There is no waiting period in Penn, but I think Chief is in Chicago.

Chief, it depends where the gun is and where you live. As I recall, you live in California, which requires registration of handguns. I don't have any experience with handgun registration in CA, as I neglected to register my own when I was a resident there. One would reasonably assume that there is a process for inheriting guns that haven't been previously registered, but "reasonable" and "California" aren't words that are used together. I suspect you will have no problem as long as the gun has never been reported stolen, which seems unlikely.

Now if the gun is out of state, that could complicate things, particularly if it was previously registered in that state.

I presume you already got it out of the home and hid someplace. I am more worried about the legalities of the estate than the CA gun laws. the state of Cal would run it, make you fill forms, and give you the list of does and don'ts. The 'estate' knowing about this thing, and like threads below, think it is going to bring thousands at auction, when it is probably a $400 K frame kit gun. Either way, calm up about it, ask a 'non estate involved ' lawyer, and see what his thoughts are. A big hastle if the old couple already did a Ca reg, easier if they didn't, but you tell the state it was in YOUR family, and don't tell any of the other people involved in the estate just yet. Sounds sneaky, it is, but like you said, you don't need anymore dramas...

In the state of Michigan you have to either have a concealed carry permit to buy a handgun or have a purchase permit to buy a handgun.
Just filling out the 4473 sheet aint enough here.
Seeing that it is the state of California I would think that the amount of BS would be insane.

I have to say, this discussion makes me VERY happy to live where I do, I guess I take my freedom for granted and do not realize how much has already been lost further south :shock:

So where do you live that requires the regristration of a 22 cal pistol TO YOU.
Are you saying it is in viloation of some law to possess the pistol un registred?

Notwithstanding the question of ownership the the registration process in California is easy. Cal Penal code 12078 (u) exempts executors of estates, a trustee in bankruptcy, surviving spouse, ect from Dealer Report of Sale (DROS-the instrument that registures the gun).If you take it to a gun shop they will not keep it, but don't do that. If you want to get it registured go to the gun shop without the revolver and take the test for the Handgun Safety Certificate. It cost something like $15 and is good for 3 years. You will need that. Then go to the CA DOJ Firearms website and go to Forms. Find the one called "Firearm Ownership Record" print it out, fill it out and send it, along with a check for $19, to the Dept of Justice. If you are not in a "Prohibated Catagory" and I suspect you are not, within 30 days you will get a confirmation letter. But I wouldn't bother. If the old gal you got it from was 99, we can suspect she got that gun over 50 years ago.The started registuring handguns here a long time ago. Any records of registuration from the late 1960's and earlier, if they still exist, are hand written on cards with long changed addresses buried in the back of some wharehouse in Sacramento. The later records, up into the 1980, are stored on magnetic tape that no existing computer can read. My poinnt is, they are not sure what old guns were registured or not. If you are old enough, just claim you bought it in some long gone pawn shop in 1962. The only time anyone will ever check anyway if it has been reported stolen or used in a crime and recovered. If that gun is a S&W 22 Masterpiece target model and is in great condition it may be worth a $1000.