Articles Posted in How to Purchase a NFA Title II (Class 3) Firearm

A Gun Trust is different than a typical Revocable Trust. While it is possible to hold other assets in a NFA Gun Trust, we recommend that only firearms be placed in the trust.  There is no reason to subject your other assets to the liability associated with the improper use, possession, or transfer of these items.  No other trust begins to deal with the many unique issues of Title II firearms ownership, possession, transfer, and use.  The NFA Gun Trust has been reviewed and modified by more than 75 Estate planning and/or Firearms law lawyers who are licensed in more than 40 states. Whether your goal is to purchase a single silencer or hundreds of Title II firearms, our NFA Gun Trust can be easily modified to address your specific issues.

There are many problems in using a traditional trust when dealing with firearms.  Its not enough for a beneficiary to reach a certain age prior to distributing an asset like you would do with a couch, picture on the wall, or bank account.  You must ascertain the geographic location of the beneficiary, determine whether the items are legal in that state, determine if the beneficiary is legally eligible to receive, own, or possess the items, and most importantly determine if the beneficiary is mature and responsible enough to be in possession of the firearms.  We all know that one of the most important things with gun ownership is training.  We would never hand a gun to someone without providing them instructions on how to use it, but that is exactly what we do when we use a traditional trust.   In addition, we put our family members and friends at risk when they carry out the instructions in the trust because most trusts instruct the successor trustee  to break them law, when holding, purchasing, or selling assets by not pointing out how these simple actions will violate the NFA and create criminal and civil liabilities for our family members.  Above is only one of the many areas that illustrate why a traditional trust is not suitable for firearms, much less Title II firearms.

In addition to the many protections created for your family, a NFA firearms trust can help you acquire class 3 weapons without the need for fingerprints or CLEO sign off.  Many CLEO’s  are refusing to look at Form 4’s and/or Form 1’s.  

While there are many benefits of an NFA Trust, I am often asked for some of the main benefits. I have a list of 10 of the main benefits of an NFA trust. The benefits vary based on each individual’s circumstances but most of these apply to everyone.

1) The ability to tell your representatives how to properly transfer these assets upon your death;

2) The ability to transfer assets to children even below the age of 18 at a later time while giving the trustee the ability to look at the child’s mental state, physical location, and age in addition to whether the child is legally able to own, possess, or use the firearms;

There are several articles on AR15.com that discuss trusts for Title II firearms.  While much of the information is correct, there are a few problems with the articles and what is stated does not apply in all states.  You should have your trust verified by a lawyer for compliance with the NFA and state laws. 

Remember, although Quicken can be used to create a trust – the resulting trust is not appropriate for NFA items. There are many problems with these trusts and compliance with state laws.  For an example of the problems with Quicken 2009 you might read

Using Quicken to prepare a trust: The good, the bad, and ugly!