What is a NFA Trust?
A NFA trust, or Gun Trust, is Living Revocable Trust that has language that deals specifically with the issues involved in firearm ownership, and the National Firearms Act.
How is ownership of a firearm through a Trust different from direct ownership?
When you own a title II firearm (class III weapon) directly, you and only you have the right to posses the firearm. Although, others may use it, you must always be present, to avoid a “transfer”.
When you own a class III weapon through a trust, the people you name as trustees, have the right to posses the firearm.
If my CLEO wont sign do I have to have a NFA trust?
No. You can still bypass the CLEO by owning the firearm through another legal entity such as a LLC, Corp., LP.
Why do I need one, or do I?
Whether you need an NFA Trust or not is really up to your specific circumstances, it depends on many things, such as:
What your family structure looks like.-
If you are married, your spouse will most likely have access to your weapons, so direct ownership is not a good idea unless you intent to restrict your spouse’s access to your firearms. The same applies to grown children living at home.
Your intent in owning a class III weapon.-
If you want to share the item with your family, a trust is probably good for you. If you always shoot with your dad, brother, son, wife, best friend, you may want to have them be able to posses the firearm independently from you.
If you are single and you don’t want anyone touching your stuff, then direct ownership is a viable option for you.
You are in the military.-
If you are in the armed forces, you may deploy and need someone dependable to store your firearms for you then having a trust with an additional trustee is probably the best idea. Having a trust drafted may be cheaper in the long run than storing your items with a class III dealer.
You are interested in long term estate planning.-
Most gun collectors would like to pass their collection to a love one in case of their death. Having a NFA trust would allow you to designate beneficiaries and successor trustees, so that the transfer of property can be done according to your wishes.
How does ownership through a trust differ from owning a class III item through a corporation or a company?
It is a similar type of ownership from a legal perspective, but the similarities end there. As an individual managing an LLC or a Corp, requires yearly filling, filling fees, registering with the State, etc. It can become a consuming chore, if you already have a corporation, then you know the requirements of maintaining it; if you don’t, you probably don’t want to learn them the hard way. So is always best to do some research of what your State requires of an LLC or a Corp. before you decide to follow that route.
Ownership through a trust requires little to no effort beyond establishing your NFA trust. The trust does not pay any taxes, does not require you to file with the State, there are no yearly fees; there are no minutes to keep, etc
Why are NFA trusts so popular now?
There are many reasons why a gun collector may want to use a trust. It is hard to pick the main reason why NFA Trusts are so popular, since everyone is motivated by their own circumstances, but its ease of use is a great motivation.
Another reasoned mentioned is the problem with getting the CLEO signature, in some counties the Sheriff will not sign a form 1 or form 4 under any circumstances.
Additionally, an NFA Trust can shorten the processing time, since you don’t need to get the fingerprints, which in some States can take 6 weeks.
Are NFA Trusts new?
No. NFA trusts have been around for years, they are simply have become more well known.
I have more questions, what can I do?
Go to www.NFA-Trusts.com/faq.html or email me at
Attorney@NFA-Trusts.com I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have