One of these days somebody is going to just take their trust and word for word copy it and paste it on the internet for everybody to use. We are allowed to do that right?
Maybe it would have to be posted for each State but that seems like the easy way to end the gouging altogether. Does a NFA trust have different wording going from State to State?
If that is legal I will offer up mine for Florida. Mine was done by a attorney, so it's all legally worded.
I know there are a lot of lawyers in the country, and being one, I know that a fair number of them are jerks. I also know that if you've ever had contact with the legal system, there was a lawyer on both sides, so you probably think at least 50% of all lawyers are horrible people. But I think that lawyers who want to help people legally own NFA firearms are due a little more respect from the firearms community.
You paid a professional, who spent at least 7 years in college in order to learn how to write a proper legal document to protect you, to make you a trust. That professional owes student loans for that education. And that professional has mouths to feed. And he took into account your specific needs when he created that document.
And the document he created is copyrighted, as are all written works. So you may be breaking the law by posting it online for others to copy. The chances that you'd get punished are basically none, but that doesn't make it right.
If I were you, I'd at least give him the respect of asking him if you can post it on the internet. From an intellectual property perspective, it'd be no different than saying "Boy, that was a good book I just read, and I know other people want to read it, but the author wrote it down once, so why should anyone else have to pay? I'll just put it on the internet for free."
To answer the practical questions: yes, there are differences in trust laws from state to state. Those apply regardless of whether it's an NFA trust. And while the wording of a standard trust may be sufficient to let you legally acquire your NFA toys, where the NFA trust is differs is how the wording of the trust deals with the transfer of the items after your death, or forbids automatic actions that a standard trust might take that would cause you to violate federal law.
When I see people saying that you should get a lawyer to do it, I assume:
1) They are a lawyer.
2) They are still justifying how much they paid a lawyer for their trust.
I don't insist that people use a lawyer to make their trust. Yes, I am a lawyer and yes, I do NFA trusts (in Kentucky only). My fee is inexpensive, and I think that I provide a service that's worth the money.
Plenty of people are comfortable doing things themselves, and I respect that. I do my own plumbing, my own electrical work, my own car repairs, and my own gunsmithing. But I also know when I'm in over my head and need a professional's assistance.
If I were to ask a question on the internet about how to install a hot tub, I wouldn't be surprised if someone told me to hire a plumber. I would not expect someone to say that anyone who hires a plumber is either a plumber or trying to justify how much they paid their plumber.
If you want to create your own trust, go for it. There are plenty of intelligent people that are capable of it. But just like anything else, you need to learn what you're doing if you want to do it right.
Be prepared to read all the legal treatises you need to in order to understand what you're doing. This might involve going to a physical library. Understand the legal terms used in trusts and your state's laws about trusts. Know what you can and can't do with NFA firearms. And then draft your trust accordingly. Or take the risk that Quicken Willmaker will get it close enough that your heirs aren't in violation of federal law.
But don't violate copyright law and take food out of someone's mouth just because you don't personally want to pay for a trust.
I'm sure some people won't like my response because I'm an attorney, and so this response must be self-serving. That's fine. I'm a big boy and I can live with people not liking me. I am also sure that some people will ask, "Okay, so if NFA trusts really are different, tell me how they're different." The thing is, I make my living by knowing information and having skills that other people don't. (Just like a plumber. Huh.) I'm happy to discuss NFA laws on the internet, and I'm happy to talk in general about how NFA trusts are different. But I'm not going to spell it out, word for word, and tell you how to do it yourself for free, because my mortgage company doesn't take "the goodwill of THR" as payment. They insist on dollars. I'm sorry if that offends people.
If you want to create your own trust, then
seriously, go for it. But copying someone else's copyrighted intellectual property isn't creating your own. And don't look down on people who want the peace of mind of having an expert tell them that their legal documents will keep them and their family safe.
Aaron
