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Friend Died Saturday. Has items on the Auction side.

hoosier
A  good friend died Saturday. Have only known him for  15 years, but   we  hung out a lot, and  did  Gun Shows, Dave would  talk all day if  you  let him.
He  got pneumonia, , and  went  down hill  quick.

He has  stuff listed on the Auction side and  his Wife has no way to figure how to  get  it off.   Help ??
He was kind of a hoarder, picking up lots of items cheap to  resell. 
Plus he had a Class 3  and manufacturers FFL and  tons of  stuff there. Suppressors, SBR,   NFA  items, I don't  want her to  ripped off  by selling Quick and  Cheap but I  don't known much about it all.



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Comments

15 comments

Date Votes
  • mark christian
    The biggest issue is what items belonged to him and what belonged to his business. His personally owned firearms automatically become property of his estate and will be distributed as specified in his will. Firearms belonging to his business are a contentious area revolving around his his business was structured: sole proprietorship, LLC, Corporation, ect. 

    GB Customer Service can be contacted and the situation explained, otherwise let the auctions run their course and when the auctions close send the bidder an explanation. The worst that your friend can receive is an F, and that a non issue now.
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  • Brookwood
    Sorry for your loss hoosier. :'(
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  • Grasshopper
    Tough to lose a true friend and they are not easy to come by. Sorry for the loss of all involved.
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  • Gregor62
    I won an auction here a long time ago, that the seller passed away while the listing was still live. I had no idea what was going on, and after several emails (weeks went by), his wife sent a message letting me know what had happened. Nothing anyone can do to change things. I felt really bad that I pestered her during such a hard time. I would hope everyone involved will understand in this situation.

    Sorry about your friend.
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  • hoosier
    She is  having a tough time of it,  as well at  trying to  deal with the  Firearms. 
    His Companion of  10 years,  I  often thought of her as his Wife,  We've been talking  back and  forth  about, the  firearms he had  (50+) and  15 NFA personal also.  As a Sole Proprietorship he has  also has items NFA  Items  on his  book for sale. Not sure what will be come of those.  She is lost  as  what  to  do with them.   Retain in her name or ?  I'll do an inventory,  and then contact  ATF .

    Everything  goes to her from the  will. He had started taking all the  out of his ATF log books  and assigning to himself as  personal Item's. 





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  • mark christian
    Since the business is a sole proprietorship the firearms in the business inventory become part of the estate, which would mean going to his wife. In the case of NFA firearms which were in the business inventory, this will mean the wife filing a Form 4 on each firearm. Form 4 is a tax paid transfer ($200 each if she wants to retain them). The NFA firearms which were registered to your friend as an individual may be transferred to his wife TAX FREE on a Form 5; which is a tax exempt transfer. 

    I'm sorry for the loss of you friend. His being an SOT (Special Occupational Tax Payer Class 3) makes the arrangements for the firearms complicated, but the ATF has seen this sort of thing happen many times before and will work with the executor of the estate, which would be the wife.
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  • toad67
    I would look for a lawyer who is familiar with this before contacting the ATF, but you need to do it soon. A good friend of mine owned my LGS, and passed away quickly also. The family called ATF since there were many consignment guns, and before you knew it, all of the guns in the store were packed up and sent to another local FFL, and the ATF took the books. Once the books were gone, there was no way telling who owned what. I realize that your friends situation sounds different than what my friend went thru, but as Mark said, you need to separate the business from the personal side of it.
    As for the gb side of things, if you know his user name, you are able to do an advanced search by seller, and hopefully find, and close the auctions.
    Very sorry for your loss, good friends are hard to find.
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  • hoosier
    Thanks for the Info Guys  will pass it along.
    Problem being  she  is not the  wife.  Just a Long time  companion ( girlfriend).
    Every thing  was left to her in the  Will, so will have to see how the family Lawyer, will sort this out first. thru the Estate Then  figure out how to  deal with the  NFA items.  
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  • mark christian
    If she is not his wife then yes, contact an attorney, especially if he has any children or even distant relatives who may contest the will. Firearms, especially NFA weapons are valuable, so long lost cousins/nieces/ nephews can pop up out of nowhere to stake their claim. It makes for a sad state of affairs, but after 35 years as a gun dealer, I've seen it happen too many times. 
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  • Locust Fork
    Send a message to Gun Broker support explaining things....if you give them heads up on things before the items actually end they can stop the listings.     They may need to confirm things with his wife, but if they can stop things before they end it will be a lot less hassle.
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  • mohawk600
    hoosier said:
    Thanks for the Info Guys  will pass it along.
    Problem being  she  is not the  wife.  Just a Long time  companion ( girlfriend).
    Every thing  was left to her in the  Will, so will have to see how the family Lawyer, will sort this out first. thru the Estate Then  figure out how to  deal with the  NFA items.  
    Common law wife if together for that long?
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  • notnow
    She is going to need more death certificates than usual. She may need two attorneys. Are there common-law statutes in this state that would define this relationship as a marriage? Sorry to hear of this situation.
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  • hoosier
    Real tough on her so far.  She has always been a nervous person anyway.  No Common Law marriages in  Kentucky.
    I'm going over Friday, to run over the  books,  although he was  very meticulous, in paper work.  Plus she wants a kind of  inventory of personal Items, he should have a log book of that too.
    She has not been up to calling  ATF, yet, too much going on. Will do that after she knows what is there in NFA items.
    Yes I'm a FFL deaerl but, I don't have a Class 3,  just being a  good friend.
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  • Grasshopper
     Well, you are doing a solid for your friend and just think if you were not there how screwed up it would be. Hard to do but  I know you will continue to assist. 
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  • hoosier
    Love the  Guy and  he has Great Girlfriend.
    Wife and I went over,my  Wife was there for  emotional support.
    I walked thru Just to see if I could  get a  Good  count on the  Firearms and  NFA items.
    Every room had   firearms in it  10-40 ea.  Looking at about  300 firearms. I had no idea  he  had that many.
    There are loaded pistols, laying all over the place. I  did not have time, but  will go back and  tag all the  firearms, Number in a book  and  value, so she  knows  what  she has.  Found a few that  will be in the  3-5,000 range.
     The sake has Over  24 Suppressors and  5  firearms  with built in suppressors, 3 short barreled rifles and 2 short barrel double shotguns..
    Pack Rat  Room of  computers,  another of  cameras, and  more
    So much for  her to do. Lawyer said it  cold take  3-4 months  to  get a Court date  to get estate settled.
    She is calling NFA  next week,  I'll be there to try help sort out  what she has to do????


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