NFA Gun Trust Lawyer Blog

There are several steps in designing a NFA trust, the first consideration is to determine who should be the Settlor (or Grantor). This may change depending on who the beneficiary is, but generally the settlor is the person who contributes the property to the trust and is the current beneficiary of the property. The Settlor is not an authorized user, but is the one that will receive the benefit of the property.

To determine the best choice for the settlor, we often ask our clients if they are married, do you they have adult children, and who they want to receive the items after your death. Often the Settlors can be changed to reduce the risk of future legislative changes and increased transfer taxes. While this is not a normal consideration with a typical trust, a NFA trust should take this into consideration to create the most flexibility and protection for the creators of the trust and their families.

How do I stop the ATF from finishing the approval process on a Form 4 or Form 1?

Either the buyer (individual, officer, or trustee) or the seller can call the BATFE @ 304-616-4500 with the serial number of the items, speak to the examiner, and withdraw the application.  The fee may not be refunded but your should ask about it.  Apparently it is taking 60 (as of June 2009) days to transfer the file to the examiners and they cannot be stopped until the file is in the hands of an examiner.

You might want to stop a transfer, or change the application if you know that the documents you submitted are incorrect, need to be modified, you are moving to another state, or something has changed in a way that you can no longer trust the other trustees.