Surviving Spouses Rights

[9thMarines 44]

Was wondering how best to set things up for my wife to sell my guns just in case a greyhound bus has my number on it.

Previous thread indicated that she would be able to sell my rifles and shotgun with just a COE,as she is my beneficiary and would be the legal owner. To that end I am thinking about attaching blank COEs to the bill of sales and P2P for them and keeping them in the strongbox.

Previous thread did not speak to handguns. What would be the best way to set her up so that she could legally sell my handguns either on NJGF or Gunbroker,etc?? She is not into guns at all and does not have an FID but I'd hate to see her sell the bunch to a dealer for 20 cents on the dollar.

"A gun lovers worst nightmare is for his wife to sell his guns at the price he told her he paid for them"

Thanks for your help.

Kenny

[djg0770 481]

Kenny,

 

Best bet would be to make a deal now with an FFL that you trust. Like pre-planning your funeral, you could pre-plan the disposition of your firearms. This way, she needs to know as little as possible about how to complete any type of gun transaction. There are some guys who are only looking to make a $50 commission per gun, and many of them list their consignment/used guns on the auction sites where a good dollar amount is often realized.

 

I assume that your wife is not a "gun person". Obviously, the most advantageous way forward is for her to become a "gun person". This way your kids (if any) would eventually get to keep your guns.

 

I have not decided what to do yet, but I have a family member who is a gun guy and I would tell my wife to get in touch with that person FIRST.

[kenw 293]

Interesting topic.

 

As bad as the surviving spouse selling the guns off at "20 cents on the dollar" would be, It would be even worse to just call the local PD and have them come get them, or to show up at a gun buyback location with someone's lifetime collection dumped in the trunk and have them turned into scrap metal for a few bucks worth of McDonald's vouchers.

 

I think the preplanning idea is great, and even if there's no inclination to sell them (for whatever reason) on consignment through a trusted FFL, organizations like the YSSA have firearms donation programs where they take donated guns, auction them off, and use the proceeds to support youth shooting programs. I suppose something like that could be simply written into a will as just another disposition of part of the estate.

 

Anything other than the grinder.