Actually, the new SAFE act requires the filing of "a particularized firearms inventory" with both the Surrogate's Court and the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services upon probate of an estate. Furthermore, anyone caught in NYS with the guns without a permit, even an out of state resident moving the guns to a legal state, can be charged with criminal possession.
I suppose one could try to say there are no firearms of the decedent. However, I suspect (at least in the case of handguns), the court will cross check the pistol permits for the county at the time of probate.
The deceased could easily have transferred the firearms out of state after the last renewal of the permit but prior to his death unless he renewed the day before he died.
“Oh, darn, you were so open with your fascism that even Grandpa noticed and moved his freedom-tools out of your little fascist hellhole while he could still legally do so. Better luck next time stealing someone else’s rights property! Maybe it would help if you tried being more subtle.”
The good news in my family's particular case and I've posted it before if it sounds familiar, is that my dad, in the early 1980’s, when he knew he was getting older, had my brother put on his pistol permit. My brother took this paperwork to our sheriff's dept. and NY state's response was “we don't allow that anymore”. But my brother proved it was a legal document and in 1983 was allowed so he was given the guns. Otherwise, the state would have taken them. My dad and brother were always "gun guys" and kept up with rules and what they could do before some new moronic NY law went into effect. I hate to see what NY state has put other families through that don't keep up with these laws.