adding a trustee?

[zignal_zero]

On my trust, I am the only trustee. My wife is listed as a beneficiary. The trust has already purchased an M11. Can I ammend the trust so that my wife is made a trustee but still retains her position as beneficiary? My concern is that - even though it was a trust, I filled out the box with personal info, I am sure the ATF ran a background. Now, can I add a trustee that wasn't there when the transfer was made? I mean what if she was a felon?!?! She's not, but do they have anything that keeps people from doing what I want because of the possibility?

 

[tepin]

Are you saying you completed form 1 or 4 with your personal information rather than the Trust name, address etc...? If so, did you do the fingerprints, photos, chief LEO sign-off? If you put your personal information in box 3b (form 1 for example) then your NFA item is registered to you and your Trust.

Here is a blurb on the ATF web site regarding "TRANSFERS OF NATIONAL FIREARMS ACT FIREARMS IN DECEDENTS’ ESTATES"

http://www.atf.gov/press/releases/1999/09/090599-openletter-nfa-estate-transfers.html

 

[zignal_zero]

I don't remember the box numbers, but NO - the box on the front page near the top, I put my trust info. There was questions on the back page (IIRC) that pertained to background, felonies, etc. I answered all those questions and I figured, being they had my info on my trust, they did a NCIC on me. I've been told they do, even when you are using your trust. Oh, and no, I submitted no prints/photos/CLEO sig.

Now, the transfer has been complete and I would like to make a change to my trust adding a trustee. I'm not sure if this will bother them though seeing as how they approved the transfer to a trust that had different trustees than it will now. I'm not sure I'm explaining this properly - they approved the transfer to a trust that they read and could see who the trustees were, now I want to add one AFTER they already approved the transfer. Problem? And if not: (1) how do you write that? Extra page title amendment? And (2) can the current beneficiary be listed as a trustee and still stay the beneficiary?

Thanks.

 

[Charger442]

yes, you can add a trustee. or beneficiary. it was one of the first questions i asked when i had the lawyer draw up my trust. he said it was no problem to amend the trust, but he would charge me 100 bucks, just as a deterant to people always making changes all willy-nilly. I agree that its a good policy.

 

[wally]

he would charge me 100 bucks, just as a deterant to people always making changes all willy-nilly.

This is why I take advantage of the pre-paid legal plan we have at work -- handles all our routine legal matters -- wills, trusts, medical power of attorney, etc. for well under what most are asking for just doing an NFA trust, basically a trivial amount -- less than I give to local charities through our corporate payroll deduction.

 

[Cesiumsponge]

If your wife is on it, you might want to make her a co-trustee anyhow so she has all the same powers to manage the trust property as the trustee and holds legal title over trust properties. A trustee can also be beneficiaries. Beneficiaries are simply those that benefit from property held and controlled in the trust by the trustee and any co-trustees.

Lifetime beneficiaries are those that benefit from the property held in trust during the lifetime of the trustee. These can be temporary or permanent, depending on how you set it up. Friends, family, or even strangers at the range are beneficiaries that benefit from the trust property during the grantor's lifetime.

Remainder beneficiaries are those that only benefit from the property held in trust at the end of the trust term (your death or incapacitation, or however the trust is written).

When I modify my trust, the first page of my trust document states my trust name, with the creation date (the creation of the first iteration of your trust), followed by a "restated X X, XXXX" which indicates an updated version that supersedes the previous versions since it's a revokable trust and the grantor can restate it. Just make sure you keep the SAME trust name or if the ATF pulls all your Form 4 records with the attached copies of your trust sent with each form, they'll see what is legally two different trust entities, so if you created the "zignal zero trust", when you restate it, keep the same "zignal zero trust" name when you do all future paperwork. Changing that means you've created a different trust.

I'm not a lawyer, blah blah legal disclaimer. Consult an expert.

 

[medalguy]

This is a good reason to have a trust drafted by an attorney and don't do a "do it yourself" thing so you have someone to whom you may address any questions.

 

[zignal_zero]

Cool, thanks guys!

Especially Cesiumsponge, it's always great when the info someone provides is GOOD news

 

[Cesiumsponge]

I'd contact an attorney to be safe if you plan on expanding on it or putting a few more items on it. I can make some changes to my trust myself but my attorney mentioned that anything substantial I should run by him. I don't think it's a money issue because the trust package I bought gets "touch ups" unless I'm really adding substantially to it since the system they came up with was "tiered" for various levels of property requirements (mainly regarding estate handling). A few hundred bucks or whatever a qualified attorney charges for the initial trust package is a pretty cheap investment given the financial expenses should you run afoul of the numerous federal and state laws.