A family member is going through a bad divorce (central Florida, Orlando area) and needs to find a shop or other location to hold a couple firearms.   The soon to be ex has a history, and in order to protect themselves preemptively against any false accusations, my family member needs some information which I am unable to provide.    The gun shops with which they are familiar don't hold firearms, so checking here in case anyone might be able to make some useful suggestions.

I am not sure of the details of the situation, but I'd "sell" them to a friend (private sale).   As you mentioned the possibility of false accusations,  I'd get rid of them quick.

I’m trying to see if anyone here might know of any FFLs in the area that would hold them, for a fee of course.  Those my family member spoke to would not hold them.  

Shooter's World used to have lockers you could rent to store your firearms, at least in the Villages location. Don't know if they still do -- intent was for "snowbirds" to not have to travel with all their stuff. Also for those owners who might rent out their homes.

Thank you!

Use a friend. even if you have to rent a bedroom.

This.

One potential downside to this plan is if the estranged spouse does make an accusation, the owner will not have plausible deniability about being in possession, since they'll have the keys and access to the locker. If he's lucky, the shop will have video cameras, but if he never went to get them over the course of a lengthy divorce, he'd have to show literal months' worth of video during a hearing to prove he'd never removed them at any time. It'd be MUCH easier to subpoena the licensee to testify that the guns were entered into his bound book on such and such a date and they're still in there and in his possession at his store.

Over thinking in my opinion.

False allegations happen all the time, I deal with it constantly in my job as a Deputy. It’s literally a daily affair as are domestic violence calls.

Just because certain firearms have been secured somewhere doesn’t prove the absence of any other firearm, and even when face with purely a verbal allegation absent corroborating facts or circumstances, that isn’t Probable Cause for a criminal charge.

If a purely verbal allegation is made against your family member they don’t have to prove anything.

The best tactic, if this is really a nasty situation, is complete contact avoidance…

Given the red flag law, hasn’t this changed the dynamic a bit?    

No.

People make untruthful VERBAL ALLEGATIONS all the time... You and I can make any allegation we/I want. A simple UNFOUNDED verbal allegation in most states requires MANDATORY REPORTING but falls WAY SHORT of the needed criteria for legal action.

People get denied Injunctions/Protection Orders all the time because all they can offer to the police, courts, or a Judge is "Because I said so".

You would be hard pressed to find an Injunction or an arrest case where the legal basis was based PURELY on "I SAID SO".

ETA- I've seen Red Flag actions denied because they lacked some form of corroborating information. They are not "rubber stamped" around here or anywhere I know of. Granted the corroborating info scale in civil actions is much less than that in a criminal action, but there's corroboration of some sort vs. just someone's verbal claim.

Remember... A STATEMENT WITHOUT FACT IS MERELY A CLAIM.  And just because guns A, B, and C are at location X doesn't prove the nonexistence of gun D.

I reiterate... the best tactic to head off allegations of any kind starts with CONTACT AVOIDANCE... contact of ANY KIND... funnel all communications through a lawyer. Cut all means of personal and electronic communications as much as humanly possible.

IMHO, I would 1) listen to what Bowhntr6pt says and 2) rehome them with a trustworthy friend, including documentation to protect you both. Alternatively, take the firearms boating on the SS Minnow and make sure they don't fall overboard...