Lawyer vs Easytrust

[.Scarecrow.]

Is it worth paying around $600 for a lawyer to set up a trust compared to Silencerco's Easytrust ($130)? I've heard from one article that if something goes haywire, then a lawyer will aid in straightening things out, as compared to being on your own with an Easytrust.

 

[pdsmith505]

Look around... being in VA, I found a lawyer in VA who does NFA trusts for $100.

Seems like similar critters would exist in other states.

 

[pjeski]

IMHO, the cost for a trust is small compared to the issues you could have and small compared to the costs of the stamps. (My first trust was $400 and the second was $100)

Read in the "What constitutes possession" thread for some more discussion.

 

[redefined]

Oops, I just started a thread too in a different sub forum. Guess it sounds like I just need to 'shop around' more as a lot of attorneys out there will do it for cheaper than I was quoted.

 

[dogtown tom]

Scarecrow.Is it worth paying around $600 for a lawyer to set up a trust compared to Silencerco's Easytrust ($130)? I've heard from one article that if something goes haywire, then a lawyer will aid in straightening things out, as compared to being on your own with an Easytrust.

Why not read the excellent sticky at the top of this forum?

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

There was a discussion of the SilencerCo Trust specifically at The Firing Line:
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=558798

I'd give that a read. $600 for an NFA Trust is in the high-end of the pricing range for gun-specific trusts, though still a good deal as custom-drafted trusts go. For $600, the attorney should sit down with you, talk about your estate planning goals and plans for your guns after you die, hold your hand through the NFA process and make themselves available for questions, and you should be getting a custom-drafted trust specific to your needs (more important in situations where you want the trust to continue long after you die and/or where there are multiple trustees contemplated).

If all you want is a trust that the ATF will approve, the Silencerco Trust will meet that requirement just fine. You might want to give the thread tacked to the top of this forum a read if you haven't already.

 

[wally]

Another option, we had a pre-paid legal plan at work, used it for our wills, medical power of attorney, etc. and my NFA Trust. See if your job offers one.

 

[HRnightmare]

I tend to be the minority on this but many dealers and even manufacturers around me use the plug and play online programs to build the trusts for their customers. Many rag on them and say "you need one written by a lawyer". NOLO trusts or legalzoom or whoever you choose do not have McDonalds employee's write them, they have lawyers, teams of lawyers who write them, review them, pass them around and then test them to ensure their ability to plug and play does not affect their validity.

I got scared long after I created a NOLO trust that I took it to a lawyer who looked at it and said it is fine. Many also say you need an NFA specific trust. My lawyer argued that any trust is fine. Whether you write it NFA specific or not it does not change the legal ability for the names mentioned in it to be legally able to possess / own such items and that is what you need to be concerned with.

This topic seems to be on of opinion. Its a Ford V. Chevy or a Hamburgers V hotdogs argument. There does not seem to be a right or wrong answer.

 

[VinnAY]

I went with diydocuments for $60, I have an SBR and a Suppressor on it so I know it's good-to-go.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

whoever you choose do not have McDonalds employee's write them, they have lawyers, teams of lawyers who write them, review them, pass them around and then test them to ensure their ability to plug and play does not affect their validity.

No. That is not how that works based on the employment ads I've seen. You have to understand when using the DIY services that it is DIY. You are taking on the responsibility of being the lawyer. Just like you couldn't sue Home Depot if you butchered a firearm with a Dremel tool you bought there, you can't sue LegalZoom if you mess up your estate with a DIY will or trust.

Businesses that offer legal forms and DIY "legal services" #1 interest is in limiting their liability. They don't have law licenses to lose or a State Bar they are accountable to. They make their money on volume so their intent is to draft a single form that will cover as many people as possible and sell that at a lower cost than a lawyer (who has student loans, continuing education, state bar fees, law library costs on top of normal small business costs) can compete with.

There is nothing wrong with that - and it is a huge benefit to people who need something, even just a broadly drafted one-size-fits-all legal document and would otherwise get nothing because they can't afford a lawyer. But those people are taking on the responsibility of being their own lawyer. If something goes wrong, the person to blame is in the mirror - not at LegalZoom,

To use an analogy, some people are perfectly capable of running wire and rewiring their own home electricity. Some aren't. Some people are perfectly capable of being their own lawyer. Some aren't. In either scenario, if you start thinking "What the heck am I doing here?" then seeking professional advice is probably a good instinct.

The thread stickied at the top of this forum can help you figure out whether you are a good candidate for DIY Trusts or not.

 

[TIMC]

I did the lawyer thing. Part of the fee was considered a retainer should I ever need him later. I am more than good with the extra cost for the piece of mind it gives but each to his own.

 

[medalguy]

I also used an attorney, and when we moved to another state I had an attorney experienced in NFA trusts review the trust vis a vis our new state's laws. He pronounced it good except for changing our address in the trust.

Personally I feel a lot more comfortable having someone experienced in this particular area of the law review the trust just as I would prefer to have an orthopedist look over an X-ray for a broken hip vs a family practitioner. In the event I ever have any problem, or the ATF's idea of what is legal changes, I have someone I can turn to for expert advice. You get what you pay for.

 

[dogtown tom]

VinnAY I went with diydocuments for $60, I have an SBR and a Suppressor on it so I know it's good-to-go.

You won't know if your trust is "good to go" until it's challenged.....and that might be 20-30 years from now.

ATF doesn't validate, authenticate nor check to see if your trust meets state law.