Advice-death in the family

SW CQB 45

SW CQB 45

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I had a family member commit suicide (medical issues) and he kept a lot of cash and had a few guns at the house.

when I got the phone call, I used my LEO status to get the details from the LE agency. I was told there was a lot of cash all over the place when they cleared the scene.

a person who was close to my family member was left in charge of handling his affairs when he passed. After this person realized he needed to get to the house and secure it.....the moochers were already there.

no cash was found and they asked about the guns. the person in charge could not think straight at that time and said they could take the guns.

Today, I got the phone call saying I can go to the house and get whatever I wanted. I was interested in the guns because I was with him when he purchased

Colt 38 super
Ruger Mini 14

thats when I was made aware that he let the moochers take the guns. I asked how did they get in the house. It appears they were smart enough to get the keys from the medical examiner based on last name and being a half brother/sister and they were in the house for hours.

I was very close with this family member since 1977 till I moved away in 1988. around 1991 was about the time when I started to minimize my time to due to work, family and being several hours away. the persons I refer to moochers were "halfs" only by the dad (who died in the late 60s) and they (the moochers) had absolutely nothing to do with our family when I was growing up.

I am not worried about any money that was stolen from the house as I cannot account for exact amount and they will have to account for that theft at the time of their death.

I plan to ask for the guns in the sense that they belong to the immediate family which they were never any part of and showed up to his house some 40-50 yrs later when he died.

I have a strong feeling the guns are likely sold, but has anyone ever experienced similar situation and can offer advice?

I don't think I have a criminal case, and not looking for anything civil. only want to present this in a professional manner and if they have the guns, to return them to immediate family.

I know I am looking for a needle in the haystack, but was hoping they were still in the house. the person who let them take the guns apologized to me and I told him it was not his fault. I blame my family member in the sense that the people he despised the most were the ones who benefited from his death.

thanks for looking
 
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When my father in law passed away, my sister in laws then boyfriend said he would take Art's guns and get them appraised. They were never heard from again. My sister in law thought there were around 200 firearms. I was ready to call the police department and press charges, but the rest of the family refused and let it go. So, basically, I have nothing for you. You can pick your friends, but you have no choice of your relatives.....
 
A10 said:
You can pick your friends, but you have no choice of your relatives.....
Click to expand...

you are so right.

at the funeral, the man had a smirk on his face and the female did a dramatic fall and started scream crying.

academy award performance. I almost went up to her and said, why are you crying....we have not seen you for about 40 yrs.
 
:( If it were me I would let it go. If you pursue this all it's going to do is keep mad and upset. I would just honor the person that has passed and forget about the rest. It's sad that the death of a person can bring out the worst in some people. I am sorry about your loss. Don
 
At this point, all you can do is help the next of kin and console those that need it.
Be as good a friend to him in death as you were to him while alive.
As far as the vultures go, they'll get their reward, funny how life/karma/whatever takes care of it's self.
 
the next of kin is me.

first cousin but we were like brothers until I moved away.

his halfs were never in the picture and only showed at the time of his death and were caught in his house.

his long time friend and work partner was placed in charge of his estate only because I moved away in 1988.

thanks for the advice
 
CQB, not quite sure how succession law works on Texas but would have to believe that non-heirs cannot just come into a home and start removing items -- it may very well be theft (felony theft at that), let alone a civil issue. Your cousin's estate is a legal entity (i.e. the estate owns the property left after your cousin passed) and the "friend/work partner" if he is the administrator, has the power to order items returned to the estate -- (actually, he would file a motion with the court and ask the judge presiding over the succession to order the return of the items). I would ask the friend/work partner to contact the folks who took the guns and ask for thier return. In Louisiana, we have a doctrine called "seizin" which means that upon a person's death, their estate automatically devolves into ownership of their property -- this protects the rightful heirs from clowns coming over and raiding the home -- once the succession is filed in court, the administrator of the estate can have the court order the return of assets that were illegally taken by people who had no right to them. In fact, the administrator usually has the legal duty/legal obligation to take all necessary action to obtain return of assets to the estate that were wrongfully taken. However, you may be able to suggest criminal charges could be referred to gain compliance by the miscreants. Unless the cousin left a will with specific bequests of those guns to the folks that took them, you would seem to have the superior legal position in this. Since I do not practice law in Texas, you may want to spend 10 minutes visiting with a general practice lawyer in your hometown (who may not charge you anything for the advice) or have the friend/work partner ask the lawyer who filed the succession for advice in this matter. But, based on general legal principles, if you are the next of kin, your rights would trump those of the folks who took the weapons, absent a will bequeathing those items. Hope this gives some general guidance.
 
I would file a theft report, listing the "kin" as the suspects....

IF he had no will, there are laws in place as to Who the property of the Estate goes to.

I would also file a complaint, and lawsuit with the Law Enforcement Agency, that left an improper person incharge of the property.

And same agains who ever let the keys go to Improper people.
 
my condolences go to you and your family.

i had something happen when my grandpa and grandma died, my grandpa never updated his will but when i started to shoot he said that his guns went to me.
everyone execpt my uncle (who was the head of the will) agreed that i should get them, so i pack them up and head home. next day my uncle walks into my house and took my grandpas single shot .22 that hes had since 1932. ill admit we go into it and ended up skuffling in the front yard, long story short my uncle got the single shot (only reason he wanted it besides the others was it was worth a pretty penny) i got a pump .22 and a 12ga.

But the only thing i can say is try to work something out with them even know your mad and full of emotions.


Matt
 
Sorry to read your post. Brought back bad memories. Yesterday was 8 years ago that my identical-twin brother died. It took me a while to get beyond the way his wife conducted herself in totally and completely disregarding his clearly stated written instructions for what he wanted done with several of his firearms.

I will not speak to the matter of legal action. Everyone has to deal with that in the manner they consider best. All excuse making not withstanding, my sister-in-law's prevarication and dishonest conduct following the death of my brother was completely unjustified and inexcusable. The consequence was that she did herself irreparable harm in the eyes of family and friends. As my father's executor, I was in a much better position to see to it that things would be handled with integrity. I made certain that she was treated equitably in the settlement of his debts and remaining assets. It is a course of action that I would respectfully suggest to those who find themselves in similar circumstances.
 
Its definitely a case of theft. removing any of the deceased property like that is theft. I'd press charges.
I also second filing a complaint against those who failed to do their duty to keep his property safe.
 
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I see two ways to handle it. Get the law involved make a fuss and the gun will probably never be seen again. The other way is contact the person who you think has them. Then make them as cash offer and buy them. Yeah I know its bull stuff but I think its the only way you will get them back.

I guess it depends on how bad you want them.

Dancing with the devil if you will. I just dont see another path. If you do want them you will need to work fast before they are gone.

Best of luck
 
I know they removed cash.....no one can tell how much....so thats a goner.

We are talking hours after his death and the executor of his estate went to the house and the moochers were there.

he asked about money and they said there was none.

they asked the executor what about the guns and in a confused state of mind....he told them they could take them.

thats how the guns left the house.
 
The executor of the estate disposed of the guns to family members. End of story. Morals and ethics aside, it sounds legit to me.
 
Mike, I understand how you feel and I sympathize, but I would encourage you to just let this go. I had an older friend who was not related, but we were good friends for many years and spent a lot of time together. He lived alone, had no relatives who visited him (that I could see), and had only a few local friends who were really just acquaintances. In his early 90s, he got ill and his son gathered him up (and everything in his house of any value) and took him to Colorado, where he died three months later. He had a nice S&W M&P which he would bring out to my residence and we would shoot it several times a year. He frequently told me that when he was gone, he wanted me to have it. I ended up with an old Army surplus napsack that he used when we would go hiking. His son was going to throw it away! :mad: I am sure the M&P was sold for little of nothing in Colorado.

I received similar advice. Let it go. Sometimes you can't "unring" the bell, and even if you can, it is not worth it.
 
Mike, I'm sorry to hear of your loss. Prayers go out to you. I had a similar situation after the death of a family member some years ago. There were no guns involved, however the things involved had great sentimental value. The vultures came out in droves. It still eats me up to this day if I let the anger start building again. Try not to focus on it. Think of the good times you two shared.

......moon
 
Hi:
The Suicide scene was a "Crime Scene". The Investigator (s) should have photo and listed all items (cash/firearms) plus having comm center run the serial numbers of the firearms for stolen/missing hits.
The cash should have been counted and noted for not only the incident report but to protect the Investigators against libel charges.
I would DIG deeper into this as from what I read , this was a "Three Stoeges" investigation.
 
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