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question about legal disposition of a collection..............
mohawk600
Member Posts: 5,376 ✭✭✭✭
Let's say that my single heir lives in a country where firearm ownership is prohibited.
I don't want my brother or my grubby handed cousins raiding my stuff if I suddenly pass away..........I don't want any of them to benefit from my collection.
How do I protect it?
Should I inventory everything by serial number and set up an LLC to encompass all of it and specify the disposition of it in a will?
I'm still young enough to not let things go........occasionally collecting more........but old enough to start preparing for an untimely demise.
Comments
A will or trust would work. You do not necessarily have to ID each piece in a will but it is a good safeguard.
This is a good question for Kasey. I have all my firearms, listed by serial numbers, and whom they go to. Kasey will be handling my firearms that I want to sell, when I pass. I gave Donna , Kasey's card and showed her where the books are.
I watched people rape my cousins gun safe, the week he died. Nothing went where he wished, because he didn't have a will, and his wife let anyone in the family take what they wanted. Most of the people that took the guns, sold them for money, cheap. By the time my dad and I got wind of what was going on, all the guns and ammo were gone.🤬. I did retrieve one handgun and one rifle for his daughter. My cousins wife was a real nit wit, so I expected nothing but the worse from her. Her only goal in life is, sitting in the casinos and pissing away her inheritance from him,
I've seen so much crazy stuff happen when it comes to estates. The vultures are quick to act.....the decent people involved are either grieving or have lives that are too busy to stop everything and focus on what is going on with things. It can be stressful to think about it. The best thing I've seen always involved an executor that was on top of things. Almost always its been a drama filled nightmare if you don't have that situation in the right hands. Whoever you choose needs to be notified of your wishes well in advance with all the legal power needed to do what they have to....otherwise its like trying to say which bits of sand are going with the waves. It'll be dispersed before everyone realizes and nobody will know exactly what happened.
Saw that very thing happen 50 years ago. A longtime family friend ,Mr Ivey , passed away . He collected high end double barrel shotguns and civil war weapons . Purdey , Fox ,Ithaca etc. Everything was in a book and book designated who was to inherit each gun . Before anyone knew what had happened a cousin or two came in and took everything . Of course they denied it but I know it happened as I traced some of it a few years later.
Those reasons are exactly why I had Casey sell off a large part of my collection a couple of years ago, Yes, I am still alive at 74, but guess what, I have not missed a single gun that she sold for me.
I have given Kasey's (Locust Fork) info to a number of friends in the same boat. Actually I sent it to a couple but those 2 said they had friends etc and could I send them the info to them. I have left that info for my stuff as well as it seems like many of us see the handwriting on the wall and it ain't Nebuchadnezzar
"Fools learn from their own mistakes. I learn from the mistakes of others"
Otto von Bismarck
You need to talk to your lawyer ---- NOW.
You can add a codicil to your will, stating who gets what from your estate. Hopefully, you are close enough to at least one of your heirs to have him act as a trustee of your estate, & help the lawyer. Everything must be in writing, including your safe combination.
I don't think that you want to leave guns to an heir in another country. Trying to get a State Dept permit to export guns will likely eat up most of the cash in your estate.
Neal
The next pair of boots through the door at my house will either trash or sell whatever I leave. I've told my kids this and they aren't ready to hear it yet.
I just finished a very extensive Will/Trust, Power of Attorney, Health Care proxy, the whole nine yards. My daughter ( my direct descendant) is the Trustee of my estate.
Approximately 20 guns are spelled out in detail to individuals. One third of my extensive collection will be sold and proceeds donated to the USMA Rifle Team in memory of my old boss the CEO of Assoc. of Graduates at West Point, One third of collection will be sold and proceeds will go to the WVA Rifle team as a gift from my son, a grad. One third of collection will go to my daughter for managing all this.
In NY State you have so many days to surrender pistol for safe keeping to sell pistol to a permit holder. If you don't comply who ever is managing your estate can be convicted of a Felony.
The Socialist in Albany will never get their grubby hands on my Guns.
If you do not have a direct descendant in NY State it is a can of worms. Whoever is managing your estate must submit two list to lawyer of Cal, mfg. S/N, Mod#.
One list goes to NY State Police Criminal Justice System in Albany and one list goes to your County Surrogate Court Clerk. ------------------------------------------Ray