Gift but have questions on how to record it

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I am a new LTC recipient in MA. I did some research but there is one or two twists that make me think the new post is justified.

Scenario:
I recently received my LTC here in MA.
  • My brother in Law recently found a .357 revolver that belonged to his deceased father in some of his packed belongings.
  • He wants to gift me that gun. He has other guns of his father's and my father in law and I were close so I would value such a gift.
  • My brother in law is a valid LTC holder as well.
  • He does not know his deceased father's LTC info which I think is required for him to record his own inheritance of the gun before he can gift to me.
  • Neither of us have any idea about the history of the gun or it's transaction history.
Questions:
  • Is he allowed to simply complete a personal sale or transfer action in the MA portal?
  • Even if that is the best course, is there any risk / exposure for either of us, doing this without knowing the history of the gun?
  • I know I have the ability to register it myself but I that option on the website specifies it's for a weapon that "there is no record of the weapon on file with the Firearms Records Bureau." I have no idea on this.
Any inputs / thoughts are appreciated.
--steve
 
See this stickied thread:
 
The most important question is . . . is he the person named in the will to inherit the guns?
Why is the criterion not that he's a named, or implied, heir,
and the executor chose to distribute the guns to him?

(As opposed to, say, a widow and sole heir just giving the BIL the icky guns,
or the deceased handing them over pre-mortem,
which are not "inheritance").
 
Thanks for the inputs. Still wading through much of that. No interstate issues and the wills will clearly state either my brother in law (or my wife) will be the legal heirs.

Yes, am in Lowell and I was a bit surprised. No restrictions.
 
Thanks for the inputs. Still wading through much of that. No interstate issues and the wills will clearly state either my brother in law (or my wife) will be the legal heirs.
Sorry, no; you misunderstood.

Did your brother-in-law's late father have a will? (Maybe you said "yes").
If your brother-in-law's late father had a will,
did that will name your brother-in-law as an heir? (Maybe you said "yes").
-or else-
If your brother-in-law's late father did not have a will (i.e., died intestate),
was your brother-in-law an heir under the applicable rules of succession?

If your brother-in-law was not an heir of his father,
then he didn't inherit any guns from his father -
someone who was an heir gave him the guns.

Also, if your brother-in-law was an heir of his father via a will, (Maybe you said "yes"),
did the will explicitly mention how his father's guns were to be disposed of, (I don't think you said),
and if so, did the executor follow those directions?

If the guns were explicitly willed to someone else
who then gave them to your brother-in-law,
he didn't inherit any guns from his father -
some other heir gave him the guns.

If the estate hasn't been completely distributed yet,
then you need to stop worrying about how to get guns from your brother-in-law,
and start worrying about how the executor will correctly transfer the guns to heir(s).

Which that sticky thread probably helps with...
 
I did misunderstand. Sorry for the longwinded response below, but yes, I believe my brother in law is the legal owner / heir of that gun.

My father in law did have a will. When he died, he left his estate and personal belongings to his wife. I will confirm but I am 95% sure it did not specify exactly how the guns were to be handled. So at that point the guns passed to his wife. She gave her husband's other guns to her son. My brother in law.

She too passed away some years back. She also had a will, evenly distributing the estate and all her (and her dead husband's) belongings to her two children. The estate has been settled. Their personal belongings were split evenly and my brother in law bought his sister out of the physical property. He now owns their building and land. I am positive her will didn't specify anything about the guns as she thought she had already given them to her son.

The .357 was recently discovered packed away in some of my father in law's things when we were cleaning the basement of that property. We actually remembered the gun when we saw it, but all had forgotten about it.

Thanks for the input.
 
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I have been pouring over that inheritance thread and the referenced pieces at the beginning. Lots of good info so thank you. Here's my take away:

As a legitimate heir to the estate / weapon (with a valid LTC), my brother in law can simply process a sale / transfer to me using our respective license numbers via the portal. https://mircs.chs.state.ma.us/fa10/action/home?app_context=home&app_action=presentTrans
  • The previous gun registration history and details are not relevant.
  • My brother in law should be able to prove his legal standing as an heir (if ever questioned).
Did I get that right?
--Steve
 
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The most important question is . . . is he the person named in the will to inherit the guns? If so, a simple transfer to you on eFA-10 is all that is needed. Past registration (or none) is totally irrelevant.
I think Len and Jack would agree with this practical advice.

Just have your brother in law transfer the gun to you via an eFA10. The state does not have a proper registration system. They won't be thinking "hmm. that gun doesn't belong to him, something is wrong". They know that they don't know. There are lots of guns transferred every day that the state has no idea exist and are possessed lawfully.

They will just be happy that they now know where this gun is. Since most likely it was purchased before this stuff had to be reported to the police. Do the transfer. Log it in the states portal. Move on with life.
 
I only read the thread title, but if you were gifted the gun 5 years ago the statute of limitations is passed and there's no reason to record a transaction.
 
I only read the thread title, but if you were gifted the gun 5 years ago the statute of limitations is passed and there's no reason to record a transaction.
Although someone (@swatgig ?) related scant days ago,
(with that air that implies it was a well-known anecdote_,
that The Man had no problemo charging their client with
that as a crime, even though it was manifestly expired
under the statute of limitations.

So you may beat the rap,
but you may not beat the ride.
 
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