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Posted: 8/3/2007 2:39:33 PM EDT
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Sorry if this has been asked before, but I found nothing in Search and the Archive isn't working at the moment. A friend of mine says his grandfather has a nice gun collection, some of which are naughty toys, including the M16. While he doesn't expect anything from his grandfather, he wondered if he were lucky enough to get inherit that M16 and other naughty toys, what would he have to do to legally keep it? I told him he'd have to be a resident of a Class 3 friendly state and pay the $200 federal transfer tax for each naughty toy. But is that all there is to it, or will he have other things to consider? |
| Depends on how "naughty" we're talking here. Do friends, family and coworkers consider them "naughty", or does everybody's Favorite Uncle consider them "naughty"? If it's the first your mostly correct. If it's the second, and this is JMHO, I would not stand to close to your friend, or be anywhere near his collection. I think a quiet conversation with gramps is in order. |
 I hope you're not implying that I'm talking about illegally acquired guns.  If I recall correctly, this grandfather lives in Georgia. For my friend to visit him, it's not something that he can do all the time with ease. 
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So Form 5 is the answer.  I just looked at it on the BATFE web site. Now I wonder about this: if the transferee (a.k.a. lucky bastard  ) already set up a trust or corporation (to transfer ownership of the NFA item to), would he still need a CLEO's sign off and the fingerprint submissions? 
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Form 5's to heirs do not require CLEO signoffs (at least, they have gone through in the past without 'em). That section is on the form because 5's are used for several different types of transfers. I have no idea if a trust or corporation can legally be named as an heir to an estate -- possibly/probably, but I would check with BATFE and with an attorney to make sure. It would suck if the Form 5 were rejected for that reason, since he would have to dig up his relative to get new sigs on a replacement Form 5.
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I don't see why he couldn't leave them to a Trust or a Corp, but like tony_k said, now is the time to talk to an estate attorney and find out for sure. Of course, if you inherit a legal machine gun, I'd happily pay the $200 to transfer it to whatever entity I wanted it in for the long term after it transferred to me, individually, on a Form 5. The bigger issue is if gramps actually has the proper paperwork for everything. |
Not exactly true. If Gramps has a will and leaves everything to someone else, then yes, as an excluded heir you'll need to do a regular $200-tax-due Form 4. But if Gramps dies with no will and his widow and/or executor is distributing his estate, they can designate anyone among the potential heirs (blood relatives). Similarly, if Gramps dies and you are his only surviving relative, no will is needed -- you are the heir to his estate, so you get everything, including tax-free transfers of any NFA items. |
As a designated heir that had inheritance Form 5's kicked back, I'm just trying to emphasize "CYA". The more solid the inheritance documentation, the better your chances for a successful transfer with minimal hassles. |
Not trying to "imply" anything, and really no insult intended, I'm nowhere near that subtle. Just asking. How many "my buddy has this gun" post have we all read? Glad to hear it's all good. (Still friends?)
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