Firearmdeskestate firearm administration
How the service works

Seven stages. Each one evidenced before the next begins.

Every matter moves through the same explicit stages. Your portal always answers three questions: what is happening, who has the next action, and what, if anything, you need to do.

The stages

  1. Referral received

    Next action: Firearmdesk operations

    A matter reference is issued the moment you submit. The referral is triaged, usually the same or next business day, and your firm gets a personal link to the matter.

  2. Authority verified

    Next action: Attorney and executor

    Letters of executorship and identity evidence are uploaded through a secure link, never by email, and reviewed by our compliance team.

  3. Licensed custody arranged

    Next action: Firearmdesk operations

    A licensed custody site is allocated by service area, capacity and capability; your firm is told the custody region and when custody is confirmed. Collection or handover is arranged with the executor.

  4. In licensed custody

    Next action: Custody site

    Each firearm is identified, photographed, tagged and receipted on arrival. A chain-of-custody receipt is filed on the matter.

  5. Valuation and executor instruction

    Next action: Valuer, then the executor

    The executor reviews the approved valuation in plain language and signs an instruction for a permitted path.

  6. Processing and external steps

    Next action: Firearmdesk operations

    Sale, transfer or other lawful disposal is tracked. External authority steps are shown as waiting states with evidence, never as approvals.

  7. Settlement and closure

    Next action: Firearmdesk finance

    Financials reconcile and a closure pack, with custody receipts, valuations, instructions and settlement records, is delivered to your portal.

Two kinds of pause

A matter can be paused for a legal or a compliance reason. Both are shown in neutral language, both keep custody and records tracked, and both tell you whether you can resolve it or whether our team is handling it.

Paused pending legal confirmation
Counsel has asked us to pause this step until the law is settled. Nothing is lost; the firearm stays where it is and the records keep running.
Paused pending compliance review
Authority evidence is missing or contradictory, or an exception at the custody site needs a reasoned outcome.

Timing

Referrals are usually triaged the same or next business day. Everything after that depends on the documents, the custody site and, where it applies, an external authority. The portal shows the current stage and the next-action owner rather than promising a date it cannot keep. Receipt into dealer custody opens once counsel confirms the court order is operative; until then we open the matter, verify authority and gather documents, and the custody step waits with its evidence.

External steps

Waiting states, never implied approvals.

Where a step depends on the South African Police Service, the Central Firearms Registry or another external authority, the matter shows an honest waiting state with the evidence of what was submitted and when. An outcome is recorded only when there is evidence of it.

The legal basis and its current status

Ready when a firearm appears on the inventory.

A quick referral takes under five minutes and needs only the details you already have.

Refer an estateProfessional login