NFA Gun Trust Lawyer Blog
How can a Gun Trust protect my guns for my children and other family members?
Recently we have had many inquires as to how a Gun Trust can be used to protect firearms from future or currently pending legislation. First let me say that while no previous gun law has taken away the current owners rights, there is no guarantee that a future law would not attempt to do so. In other words, no one can guarantee you what will happen in the future. If we look at the firearms restrictions that have been imposed on US citizens over the last 200 years we see that all legislation has been designed to restrict future purchases and transfers of firearms and even attempts to totally ban firearms have allowed those who already possess them to keep their guns.
All of our Gun Trusts are designed to own regular and NFA firearms including the so-called “Assault Weapons”. Our lower end trusts are based on revocable trusts that will end at sometime after the death of the person who creates it. We do have a Professional gun trust which is designed to offer both asset protection and multi generational ownership of the firearms.
Historically a trust can only have a limited lifetime which is controlled by state law. The Rule Against perpetuity is a limiting factor that dates back to England and attempts to restrict the ability to control from the grave. The modern trend in the United State has been to increase the length of time you can control and in some states the restrictions have been abolished.
For example in Texas a trust can last 90 years after the death of the last person named in the trust dies, in Florida a trust can last 360 years, Arizona 500 years, Colorado 1000 years. In some states like Alaska, Idaho, New Jersey, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and South Dakota trusts can last forever.
The good news is that even if you do not live in one of the states that has expanded or abolished the Rule Against perpetuity, our Professional Gun Trust allows for you to elect to change the rules of your trust to follow another state at the time you create it or a later time. This means your Professional Gun Trust will be the owner of all of your firearms forever and children, grandchildren and beyond will be the authorized users of the firearms.
The Asset Protection Gun Trust is designed for the firearms owner or collector that is concerned about liability from their profession or personal life that may cause the loss of the firearms. In addition this Gun Trust can be structured for multi-generational use so that your kids, grandchildren, and future generations can use the same trust and have the same protections. The Multi-Generational Asset Protection Gun Trust uses Asset Protection techniques that can protect the firearms and other assets in the trust from your creditors as well as the creditors of your beneficiaries. Because of the complexity and cost involved with this trust, it has historically only made sense for those with $20K in firearms or where the individual desires for the trust to exist for future generations.
This Gun Trust is not designed for everyone. If you have a larger gun collection or keeping them in an asset protection vehicle so that future family members can use them is important than this Professional Version of our Gun Trust may be right for you and your family.
For those of you just looking for a good Gun Trust for NFA firearms and regular firearms without legal support you may check out the online form version. This Gun Trust comes with great instructions and a users copyrighted users guide. It is also designed for all of your firearms but at a lower price because it does not come with legal support. It can be found at GunTrust.com
While the prices and protections vary by state, here are some of the more significant differences in the trusts we offer with legal support that would be customized by a Gun Trust Lawyer® who is licensed in your state:
| Feature | Advanced | Professional |
| Price | $600-$750 | $2500-3000 |
| Created by Gun Trust Lawyer® | Yes | Yes |
| Customized for you by Lawyers | Yes | Yes |
| Ability to act without others | Yes | Yes |
| Special Veto Powers | Yes | Yes |
| Protect Guns For Children Grandchildren and beyond |
No | Yes |
| Asset Protection – Protects guns from: | ||
| – Your creditors | No | Yes |
| – Your beneficiaries creditors | Some | Yes |
| – Lawsuits Against You | No | Yes |
| – Bankruptcy | No | Yes |
| – Divorce | No | Yes (if spouse signs waiver) |
| – Disqualifying you from GovernmentBenefits |
No | Yes |
|
Ability to change beneficiaries |
Yes | Yes |
|
Authorized Users (included) |
15 | Unlimited |
| No EIN or Separate Taxes | Yes | Yes |
| Multiple Beneficiaries | Yes | Yes |
| Charitable Gifts to NRA | Yes | Yes |
| Multi State Users | Yes | Yes |
| Multi State Use | Yes | Yes |
| Multiple Owners | Yes | |
| Multiple Trustee Levels | No | Yes |
| Good for all Firearms | Yes | Yes |
| Form to Add Trustees | No | Included |
| Form to Remove Trustees | No | Included |
| Form to change States | No | Included |
| Form to allow for self expiring Trustee |
No | Included |
Asset Protection does not protect from fraudulent conveyance or fraudulent transfers. Divorce and Bankruptcy protections vary by state. All protections are not available in all cases and how a trust is structured will determine the protections available. The Professional version of the Gun Trust does not permit you to change the beneficiary to yourself.
If you are interested in a Professional Gun Trust to own and protect your firearms for generations as well as protecting them from your creditors and those of your beneficiaries, Contact Us to create one before the laws change and you may not be able to transfer your firearms into a Gun Trust.
If you already have a Gun Trust, it can be upgraded to the Professional Gun Trust your previous investment will not be lost. We are currently reducing the price by what you previously paid to any Gun Trust Lawyer®.