Man owns gun. His wife has passed away. He has two kids. He dies, who gets the guns? Assume nothing in will. I know of a situation that is much more complicated than this but this may set me up for the 2nd question.

KIDS

me

Did it say anything on how the stuff is split between kids?  If not, maybe it goes to the oldest?

If one of those children is the executor of the estate it should be up to them how to divvy up

Well it gets tricky. The guy always said to everyone in the family verbally that it was going to a grandson. So both kids assumed it was the grandsons. I assumes that one of the direct kids could claim it. And it really could have been either kid. But wasn't sure if it had to be the oldest.

 

But the tricky part is the oldest kid (father to the grand kid that was verbally willed the stuff) passed away years later. That man had multiple ex wives and multiple kids with each. But I believe he was divorced at his time of death. His first wife was deceased prior to that. Second ex wife most likely alive. All kids alive.

If one of those children is the executor of the estate it should be up to them how to divvy up

No written official executor of the estate really. He verbally told his wishes to everyone and that was the end of it.

Lawyer.

 

What I mean is that you need a lawyer (probably a probate lawyer) to sort it out specifically to the letter of the law.  Worse comes to worse, it's the "estate's" property, and can be transferred via FFL to the grandson if there are no objections by any of the other heirs.  This is probably the most legal means of transfer being that there's no written record of his wishes.

Yeah. That's what I told them. (Transfer through an ffl just to make sure). They seem to not care as in their mind it's the grandsons since that's what the grandfather said and nobody thinks differently. They can't comprehend that in nj it doesn't work that way and are glad they do not live here

No written official executor of the estate really. He verbally told his wishes to everyone and that was the end of it.

Then one kid becomes the Administrator if the other kid don't oppose otherwise the state comes in and does it, no one wants that. IIRC the Administrator is entitled to a service fee (for lack of better term) which he or she could waive  

 

Executor =will

Administrator= no will

so when the grandfather died, either kid could be the administrator.  the older kid said they were his.  when he died, they were left to his kids since he was divorced.  the administrator decided to give to grandson.  nobody objected.  issue resolved?

It is in the best interest of the family to keep the State & County out of it.  if it’s not going to be civil then the state will administer the estate and take their cut of the estate. Correct, either kid could administers estate as long as the other signs off

Having just worked with a lawyer to set up a will, I'll add something that I learned--not specifically applicable here, but it may be useful to others.

 

As noted in other threads on the topic, firearms specified in a will with a recipient named transfer directly to the named recipient (assuming they are not a prohibited person).  No FID or P2P is needed, though a FID would be useful later.    This is the main reason it's good to transfer guns by calling them out in a will, rather than leaving them as just another part of the estate.  No NJ paperwork, no limbo period while waiting for permits to come through.

 

It's preferable to name the guns in the will by make, model, and serial number...but the will becomes public once read, and you may not want all of your serial numbers in the public domain.   So, it's acceptable to name the guns by make, model, and an accurate description, which would include caliber, any unique characteristics or markings, etc.   That does leave a little more open to interpretation than would listing serial numbers (where available; if you have older firearms in the estate some will lack serial numbers, in which case you are back to listing a description), but you can decide if you'd rather have an unambiguous identifier for the guns, or keep the serial numbers private.

 

The approach I took was to make a spreadsheet with columns for make, model, caliber, identifying characteristics, recipient, serial number, approximate value, approximate age, and family history (some had been in the family for generations).  The lawyer got a copy with only the first few columns (ending with recipient).  The full list with serial numbers and family history went in the safety deposit box, in case I ever have to file a claim for loss, or so that the heirs have the family history of the old guns.

 

I was careful to not list grips/stocks/sights as a distinguishing characteristic for newer guns I use for competition--they get changed around too often.   For the old warhorses, I did include them in the description.

It is in the best interest of the family to keep the State & County out of it. if it’s not going to be civil then the state will administer the estate and take their cut of the estate. Correct, either kid could administers estate as long as the other signs off

I believe it was civil and taken care of years ago. We were just talking about the nj laws at thanksgiving and that's where it came up. It's not a "current" issue anyone is trying to figure out.