NFA Gun Trust Lawyer Blog

Funding a trust is a basic concept that is necessary for a trust to be valid. The legal concept is that the trust does not exist if there is nothing in the trust. A Gun Trust can be funded with a firearm, money, or any other asset. Typically a Gun Trust will be used to acquire firearms and is often used for Title II Firearms. When you put money in or assign money to the trust, you have funded it and it is now valid. If you never assign property to a trust, it can create problems.

For example, if your trust is unfunded, and you purchase a Title II Firearm from a dealer personally you will own it personally. An Assignment sheet may fund the trust, but if the AFT has not approved the assignment or an additional fee is not paid, you may have created a legal problem.

Funding a NFA trust, purchasing NFA Firearms, and proper use of a Gun Trust are very important to understand and something you should ask your Gun Trust Lawyer® about.

We are often asked about the advantages of a Gun Trust by one of our Gun Trust Lawyers® over a LLC. I have compile a quick list of the most common advantages.

1. no federal or state tax or reporting requirements with a trust


2. no annual fees with a trust


3. with a trust you can easy, quick, and inexpensive to change who can use or have access to the firearms


4. privacy with a trust is not available with a LLC in most states


5. if the LLC is administratively dissolved, the items become illegal and fixing the LLC does not make them legal again under the NFA


6. a trust deals with incapacity and death for succession planning


7. a trust can be changed quickly (the same day) to fix problem with prohibited persons


8. your zoning may not allow for a business to be operated at your home.


9. easy to modify if you move or change states, LLC's often require to be registered in each state and additional yearly fees may be due.


10. some people want to use existing business to purchase NFA firearms, this can cause your business and livelihood to be at risk if someone uses the firearms incorrectly or allows others to have possession or use them.

If you would like to discuss the creation of a NFA trust for the purchase of silencer, SBR, SBS, AOW, or a machine gun contact us to begin the process. We work with over 150 Gun Trust Lawyers® in more than 43 states.

Recently I received a question from a client that I thought I would share. His dealer questioned the use of the Assignment Sheet because they were not familiar with it and stated that the Gun Store's lawyer said it was not necessary. ( A full detailed explanation is included in our detailed instructions and users manual) Here is a brief explanation for those who are not using our Gun Trust documents.

While the lawyer is correct, the ATF has confused the issue of funding a trust with documents which evidence the trust and mistakenly requires either a Schedule A or Assignment sheet or they reject the trust as invalid. While most trusts contain a Schedule A or a Schedule of Assets there are several issues with using a Schedule A in regards to the flexibility of our trust and privacy.

You can put a schedule of assets in the trust, but then you would have to keep it updated and if you decided to put your regular firearms in the trust, you would be creating a de facto registration of your firearms. Most gun owners do not wan't to provide the ATF a list of all of their firearms and as such we have elected to use the "Assignment Sheets". Our choice has increased privacy and allows for additional flexibility for the use of the trust without unnecessary disclosures.

As a result we have chosen to use an Assignment Sheet with our Gun Trust. If your trust uses a Schedule A and would like to discuss the benefits of using an Assignment Sheet and the other benefits of a dedicated NFA Gun Trust, contact us to speak with a Gun Trust Lawyer®.

We have a new version of our NFA Brochure available to download and review. if you are interested in finding out more about NFA Trusts download the new NFA_Gun_Trust_brochure.pdf.

We would appreciate any feedback on the document.

When you are purchasing a silencer, SBR, SBS, Machine Gun, AOW, or DD from an out of state resident there are two ways of accomplishing the transfer.

The first and slower way is to do a Form 4 transfer to a local Class 3 SOT dealer. Once this is approved a tax free transfer can be made from that dealer to one in the purchaser's state and then a second Form 4 transfer can be done from the buyer's dealer to the buyer. This will involved 2 transfer fees and generally each dealer will charge a fee for the paperwork and transfer.

The second method involves transferring it directly on a Form 4 to the buyers Class 3 dealer who is located in the same state as the buyer. Once this is approved a second Form 4 transfer can take place from the dealer to the buyer. This will involve 2 transfer fees and fees from the single dealer. This method should be quicker since the dealer to dealer transfer is eliminated.

The US Department of Justice today announced that

A man in Berlin, Connecticut, was sentenced to 101 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for illegally possessing machine guns, a sawed-off shotgun, silencers, grenades and improvised explosive devices or IEDs.

These items are controlled by the National Firearms Act and you must purchase them using a Form 4 or manufacture them with a Form 1 and pay the tax. If you are in possession of them, are using them, or sell them without complying with the requirements you can face prison sentences and fines.

A NFA Firearms Trust can help you protect yourself and your family from improper possession and other issues such as constructive possession. Contact a Gun Trust Lawyer® for more information on What a Gun Trust is and how you may benefit from one.

We often get questions regarding the use of NFA Trusts in regards to legal challenges to show that they are permitted under the NFA.

While there are no successful challenges that stand for the positive or negative use of a NFA Trust, Trusts are not generally denied because the Federal statutes specifically authorizes the use of a trust for ownership of a item restricted by the NFA. There have been many applications with the ATF by people using other forms of Trusts that have been denied because the application or the trust was improper.

The more troubling issue with a Trust is that there are many invalid trusts that have been approved by the ATF. The reason this is problematic is that many individuals feel there possession and use of these firearms valid because ATF approved the transfer. They do not realize that the ATF's approval is to a valid trust and while they may disapprove an obviously invalid trust, there is no requirement for the ATF to validate (nor do they validate) a trust.

The approval process does little to shield the individuals from the liability that comes with an improper transfer, possession, and use of a NFA firearm and a Valid Form 4 or Form 1 to an invalid trust does not protect your right to ownership, use, or possession of NFA firearms.

The traditional estate planning trust and many so called gun trusts do not deal with the NFA and actually instruct individuals to break the law in regards to transfer, possession, and use of the restricted firearms. This is why it is important to have a professionally drafted trust that is specific to the NFA and actually guides you, your family and beneficiaries thought the correct process of determining what to do in the case of your incapacity or death depending on the individual circumstances that exist at that time.

For more information on how a NFA Gun Trust can protect you and your family from violations of the NFA Contact a NFA Gun Trust Lawyer® in your state or a Florida Gun Trust Lawyer®

Joshua Prince, a Pennsylvania Gun Trust Lawyer®, has an article on his blog talking about using us for Florida Gun Trusts. We also have a network of Gun Trust Lawyer®s in more than 43 states. Mr. Prince is a NFA Firearms owners and really understands the unique issues involved in PA Gun Trusts. If you need help in the state of Pennsylvania, Mr. Prince can provide a PA Gun Trust by email and telephone in a few days and we have heard nothing but praise over his trusts.

If you need help finding an attorney in your state, contact us and determine if a gun trust is appropriate for your needs. If so, we can draft the trust under the NFA rules and then have a local attorney or one licensed in your state review and make changes based on your state's laws and requirements.

Recently we have begun hearing that the ATF is no longer requiring a Schedule A and/or an Assignment of Assets with a Trust. While we have not been able to verify this with ATF at this time, we would still suggest sending in these documents with your trust for approval. Remember that just because ATF approves your trust, they are not stating your trust is valid, only that it meets their limited review of criteria. We have seen many cases where the ATF approves trusts that are not valid and subject the individuals to potential criminal charges, confiscation, and fines of up to $250,000 per offense.

There are significant advantages of using an Assignment sheet over a schedule of assets or as some trusts refer to it "a Schedule A". While most believe that the registration of firearms has been shown to be one of the first steps in the confiscation of firearms by the government, there are many individuals who unknowingly and freely give the ATF a complete list of their firearms by using a Schedule A. An assignment sheet can still transfer assets into a trust, but not create a full list of the assets and become part of the trust document. This additional privacy is an important advantage to using a NFA Gun Trust like we have created. To find out more about Gun Trusts or have your trust reviewed for problems with the NFA contact a Gun Trust Lawyer® by email or call us.

We have several Texas NFA Gun Trust Lawyer®s that we work with. While it is not necessary to visit the lawyers office, we have Texas Gun Trust Lawyer®s we work with in Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, Midland, and Houston. If you are talking with a lawyer about a NFA firearms trust for the purchase of Title II firearms from a Class III dealer remember to ask them if they are using the copyrighted Gun Trust from GunTrustLawyer.com. If you would like more information on the What a NFA Firearms Trust is and why it is significantly different that an standard revocable trust, contact a Gun Trust Lawyer® and we would be happy to send you information and answer any question relating to the NFA and Title II firearms ownership, transfer, possession, or use.

To create a Texas Gun Trust contact us by phone or email and we can begin the process. Typically we draft the trust for the NFA and have the local attorney modify it for Texas. Depending on your situation, a specific Texas attorney may be chosen. The cost of the trust includes the local counsel and the fees are shared with the local attorney. Our Fee is for the National work and the Texas Gun Lawyer is compensated for the Texas legal work.

Updated 9/11/10
We have relationships with Several Texas Gun Trust Lawyer®s including:

Austin Gun Trust Lawyer®
Dallas Gun Trust Lawyer®s
Ft. Worth Gun Trust Lawyer®s
Houston Gun Trust Lawyer®s
Temple Gun Trust Lawyer®s
San Antonio Gun Trust Lawyer®s, and
Midland Gun Trust Lawyer®s

One of the most common questions I get pertains to the use of regular or other so called gun trusts for the purchase of items restricted by the NFA.

The are many differences between a family, limited, or standard revocable trust and our NFA Firearms Trust. The biggest difference is that other types of revocable trusts are designed to protect your assets from the abuse of others and our trust is designed to allow for the abuse (the use) of the firearms. Our NFA firearms trust has be re-written from the ground up to protect your firearms and those who use them or are in possession of them.

In fact, you should not put non-firearms in the NFA trust and if you have a pour over will, you should change the will to direct that any firearms remaining in your estate go to your firearms trust and the remainder of the assets go to your traditional trust.

There are to many changes to go into in detail and one can only appreciate the changes when they are read with the concepts of preservation of the firearms and protection of your family and friends in mind.

While its legal to give someone a form for a trust or will to fill out, its illegal for a non-lawyer to help them complete the form or fill it out for them. Gerry Beyer of the WIlls, Trust & Estate Prof Blog brought my attention to this issue. Many software manufactures, firearms manufactures, gun stores, and individuals do not understand that the act of helping someone create legal documents without a license to practice law is the Unauthorized Practice of Law (UPL) and a crime in every state. The reason these actions are prohibited by state law is that individuals without the proper legal knowledge and background tend to give wrong, inaccurate, and misleading advise to others who can be harmed by the misinformation.

Take for example the Silencer manufacture in the Midwest, who use to post a free trust for their clients. While a lawyer could have taken that trust and completed it correctly, it was missing some very important language which made the trust invalid in almost every state. The ATF was approving these trusts for a while, but as these individuals have been going back to make new purchases, they are being told that their trust is not valid.

Likewise, there are many examples of Quicken trusts that are posted on the INTERNET. Besides being inappropriate for NFA firearms, which a non-lawyer would not understand, many are not valid in other states. We have seen many people trying to use an Arizona trust in Florida. The problem is Florida has different requirements for a valid trust than Arizona and while if the trust was created in Arizona it might be valid, if it is created in Florida it will not comply with the Florida Trust Code. We see these issues all over the country and this is why we work with more than 100 lawyers in over 40 states to help individuals and their families prepare valid trusts that deal with the unique issues of NFA firearms ownership, transfer, possession, and use.

Apparently LegalZoom is the latest company to be sued for UPL because they were offering customized wills and information on how to modify their will and change payable on death accounts and joint property deal with estate planning issues.

If you are looking to prepare a trust for any purpose, you should have your individual circumstances and objectives reviewed by a lawyer who can then make suggestions and give you options based upon what makes sense for you and your family.

The ATF has recently made a decision to review Trusts for legal sufficiency. While this may slow things down for those using generic trust for NFA purchases (Quicken, Legal Zoom, Gun Store Trusts) I think its a good idea and will protect many from unknowingly violating the NFA.

We have seen several issues where the ATF is declaring trusts to be invalid that are in fact valid under various state laws. They claim they are not practicing law in those states and will not give legal advise. They suggest that you have the trust reviewed by a lawyer to tell you why it is invalid or make changes to the trust to make it valid.

If your trust was rejected by ATF we can help by reviewing and or amending the trust with our network of 75 attorneys in more than 40 states.

While ATF has previously stated that a certification of compliance is not necessary for trusts, they have now changed their mind or at lease in some cases. For this reason we are now recommending that you send in the 5330.20 with your Form 4 or Form 1 application to purchase or make a firearm restricted under the NFA.
We will create a sample Form 5330.20 to review. Here is a link to download a Certification of Compliance with 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(5)(B) ATF 5330.20

NFA Firearms (also called Title II Firearms) are guns and other items regulated by the National Firearms Act (the "NFA"). Many people mistakenly refer to them as "Class 3" firearms or weapons. The NFA regulates the sale, use, possession, and transfer of machine guns, short-barreled shotguns and rifles, silencers, destructive devices, and AOWs.

In most states, some or all of these items are LEGAL to own. In addition to state regulation, federal law regulates these items under the NFA. Individuals, business entities, and trusts are permitted to purchase NFA firearms if allowed by state law. To obtain permission to transfer or make these items, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (the "BATFE" or "ATF") requires completion of a Form1 or Form 4 along with payment of $200 for a tax stamp.

While a traditional trust can be used to purchase NFA firearms, there are many problems with using a traditional trust and therefore only an NFA Firearms Trust should be used.

We work with more than 75 lawyers in over 43 states to help individuals and their families educate and protect themselves from unintentional violations of the NFA. The process of creating an NFA Firearms trust involves discussing the client's objectives, determining what and how their family makeup will influence the structure of the trust, as well as trying to limit future legislative and transfer tax risks associated with NFA firearms ownership. Once the trust is designed an attorney who is licensed in the proper state reviews the trust and then forwards the trust to the client. The client reviews the instructions and FAQs and has a phone consultation to discuss any questions or comments on federal and state laws. If necessary, modifications are made, then the all grantors and trustees sign the trust. Once the trust is properly executed, NFA items can be purchased.

If you are looking for a NFA Firearms Trust Lawyer contact us and we can help.