Father passed away - what do I need to do to sell his guns?

[stevej5416]

I am a US expat living in Mexico and I recently learned that my father, who lives in San Francisco, passed away suddenly. I'm flying back to San Francisco next week to go through his things and take care of his affairs. I know that he has some guns, at least 3 pistols and 3 rifles. AFAIK he does not have a will, he is not married, and I'm his only child. What do I need to do to take possession of and then sell his guns?

[Pb Zeppelin]

First post, nice.

Who will bite on this first?

[Grendel Guy]

[racinjason233]

Bring your california ID and meet me at an FFL of my choosing.

I’ll bring tree fiddy!

Do you have a USA identification?

[fnlrun]

The good news is, the guy lives right next door tot eh FBI field office. So the walk will be short.

[Librarian]

I am a US expat living in Mexico and I recently learned that my father, who lives in San Francisco, passed away suddenly. I'm flying back to San Francisco next week to go through his things and take care of his affairs. I know that he has some guns, at least 3 pistols and 3 rifles. AFAIK he does not have a will, he is not married, and I'm his only child. What do I need to do to take possession of and then sell his guns?

Sorry to hear of your loss.

You need to establish that the guns are yours; without a will, that could be complicated, and I'll leave that aspect to a Real Lawyer.

Once that happens, ordinarily it would be easy; "San Francisco" and "expat" add some complications.

Easy part - as already suggested, meet at an FFL, sell the guns to a buyer, take the money, done. You don't need to register them, just sell.

However, IIRC, San Francisco has no FFLs, so you will need to locate one elsewhere. Not hard, just another step.

And then, expat -- are you a 'resident' of a US state? If your only ID might be from Mexico, I really do not know what a CA FFL would do.

If your ID is from CA, then things like the Roster of Handguns are not relevant to your prospective sale; if your ID is from out of CA, you could not transfer an off-Roster handgun to a CA resident.

I think figuring out whether one or more of the three you expect might be on/off Roster is a task for a bit more into the future.

(Y'know, Calgunners, it's just easier if one takes the question at face value ...)

[Dvrjon]

I am a US expat living in Mexico and I recently learned that my father, who lives in San Francisco, passed away suddenly. I'm flying back to San Francisco next week to go through his things and take care of his affairs. I know that he has some guns, at least 3 pistols and 3 rifles. AFAIK he does not have a will, he is not married, and I'm his only child. What do I need to do to take possession of and then sell his guns?

[BigPimping]

Get a lawyer.....

[newshooter650]

I am sorry for your loss of your father.

One FFL that is local to San Francisco is Best Collateral in South San Francisco. They work by appointment. You would ask for Ron when calling. I can't say definitively that they would be able to help you in this particular instance due to the circumstances but they have helped me in multiple transfers and are good guys to work with if they are able to help you with this.

[newshooter650]

Another FFL who works by appointment is Old West Gun Room in El Cerrito. You can book appointments with them online. The owner is Bob and I would say call him first before booking an appointment again due to the circumstances.

[Mr. Beretta]

Get a lawyer.....

This !!!

Sorry about the loss of your Dad.

[kurac]

I am not a lawyer, but I believe an estate will only go through probate if it has a minimum value, you can check with the state or county to see what that is. It kind of makes sense, lawyers charge $300-$400 and hour so there needs to be enough meat on the bone for them and the court to get involved.

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/california-probate-an-overview.html

[bugsy714]

[Snoopy47]

Given the financial relativity of the firearms, and the OP's willingness to basically not posses them in the future it might be simpler to just surrender them to local law enforcement.

Right? Are we talking about an inheritance of a lot of money and then a few firearms worth a relative inconsequential amount? Might not be worth the hassle in the grand scheme to the OP.

The only easy pathway is the OP have a valid CA ID. Anything else just doesn't seem worth the hassle for 6ish guns. What are we talking about here $3,000?

Imagine having to go through an estate and in there is a muscle car, not running, only worth parts, and it could be worth $3,000 easy, but you are not a car person. Now you have this big chunk of metal you can't do anything with, and don't care relative to the sale of the house, insurance and the financial accounts.

Just dump them off at the police and be done with it.

**********

I don't care if I get flamed or not folks. It's up to us as the owners of our firearms to tie up our loose ends before we die if we don't want to see them destroyed or want our heirs to get the best value out of them.

I hope when I get to my later years to have divested myself of everything but a few that I enjoy and personal defense.

[sbo80]

It's up to us as the owners of our firearms to tie up our loose ends before we die if we don't want to see them destroyed or want our heirs to get the best value out of them.

Sound and often overlooked advice. My grandfather is starting this recently. He's in his 80s, no longer hunts, and has several hunting, as well as older historical pieces. He's arranging to pass them down now before he passes, since it's easier, and lets others enjoy them for longer. My brother just got a nice Rem rolling block from him. I've hinted I'm interested in a late 18th/early 19th century flintlock musket he has.