NFA Trust Questions

[Hunter125]

Another thread about NFA Trusts got me thinking about some questions. Probably won't happen for a while for me if ever, just curious about a few things.
1) Can a trust cross state lines? Family in other states.
2) Do your trust members have to be family, extended family, friends, etc?
3) Only 1 person can be in possession of the items? Can a family member take one for a while?
4) If a member of the trust is accross state lines do you still have to notify the ATF when you cross lines? (dependent on 1 being a yes I suppose)
5) Does it have to be for a specific type of item i.e. SBR,SBS,suppressor,etc

 

[bikemutt]

I only know a bit about #5, my NFA Trust may cover more than one item. Each item still requires a tax stamp and waiting period.

 

[MagnumDweeb]

Well there are answers that folks who aren't lawyers will tell you. And then there are answers that lawyers will give you. I get a lot of calls into my office with people just wanting to ask questions and I tell them there are websites like avvo.com out there where one can ask a question. As I don't provide legal answers, I provide legal advice, but I have to charge for that legal advice. When you ask a lay person for an answer you are merely getting advice. When you ask a lawyer you are getting legal advice which you can possibly sue them for if it is incorrect.

Whatever answers you get, take with a grain of salt. If a lawyer won't put it in writing, I'm suspect of trusting it. And answers you get on forums, beware of immensely when it involves the NFA. Try reading the tax code and enjoying that fun. I did, and after a dozen letters to the ATF and their response letters I got an idea of what was going on. And I sitll have to send letters. Which by the way you can't rely on those letters in a court of law as legal advice should need to raise a defense for some reason.

 

[Hunter125]

I'm not looking for legal advice as to my specific situation, just in general, what are the characteristics of an NFA Trust? What can you do and not do with one?
I'm beginning to get the idea that they are whatever you set them up to be and every one is different, but I'm not sure on that. What do some of your existing NFA Trusts allow you to do?
Just trying to get my head around the idea of an NFA Trust to see if I even want one.

 

[bikemutt]

This is the law firm I used for my trust, their website may have information helpful to you: http://nwgunlawgroup.com/

 

[Frank Ettin]

...what are the characteristics of an NFA Trust? What can you do and not do with one?
I'm beginning to get the idea that they are whatever you set them up to be and every one is different, but I'm not sure on that. What do some of your existing NFA Trusts allow you to do?...

I'm also a lawyer, and these sorts of open ended questions can be difficult and time consuming to answer, and take many pages to do a thorough job of it.

But here are a few resources I found through Google that might help you:

• Gun Trust Lawyer
  
  
• Gun Trust Lawyer Blog
  
  
• Gun Trust Attorney
  
  
• 86th.org
  
  
• CT Gun Lawyer

You might also want to check out our NFA Forum.

 

[Hunter125]

Thanks for the links guys, I will definitely check them out. I'm definitely not opposed to doing some heavy reading about this.

 

[Telekinesis]

To begin with, this is not legal advise and I'm not a lawyer, but I do have a NFA trust and feel I have at least a little bit of knowledge about the topic. I'm not going to get into the crossing state lines bit as that involves a much higher level of understanding of the law than I have... I think the best answer anyone can give you would be to hire a lawyer to create the trust for you and that way he can design it exactly to your needs.

In general, the trustees do not have to be of any relation to you, so it doesn't matter if they are family or friends on any level. But just a word of caution, I would be very careful of who I allow to be a trustee and possess the weapons. Some people just don't need to be playing with NFA toys (from just a general lack of understanding of the law to them being downright dangerous). For example, I am very close to my cousin, but I barely trust her with a 20ga pump shotgun. There's no way I'm giving her nearly unlimited access to a submachine gun. It may be possible to write a paragraph into the trust limiting which trustees have access to which weapons, but I do not know that for sure so I'll have to defer to one of the lawyers on the board if they feel comfortable answering.

The way my trust (and I believe most trusts) is set up is that all trustees can have access to all of the assets. It has nothing to do with someone being your family member. The people listed as trustees are able to possess the weapon independently of the grantor (creator of the trust/you).

Finally, all NFA weapons can be registered to a trust.

And just a word of caution when first venturing out into the world of NFA weapons: they are EXTREMELY addictive. I started out thinking one pistol suppressor would be all I'd get, but after shooting it I realized that I needed another suppressor for my rifles, then maybe a SBR, and a machine gun would be fun, and then the machine gun needs its own suppressor... I think you see how this goes

 

[GE-Mini-Gun]

1) Can a trust cross state lines? Family in other states.

Yes

2) Do your trust members have to be family, extended family, friends, etc?

No

3) Only 1 person can be in possession of the items?

Hard for two people to posses a single item at two different locations.

Can a family member take one for a while?

Yes

4) If a member of the trust is accross state lines do you still have to notify the ATF when you cross lines? (dependent on 1 being a yes I suppose)

Yes...ATF wants to know where the the item is located reason for the 5320

5) Does it have to be for a specific type of item i.e. SBR,SBS,suppressor,etc

No. As mentioned, most if not all NFA Trusts are for mulitple NFA items

Hope this helps.

 

[Hunter125]

Thanks, that does help.

 

[medalguy]

Relative to question #5, I suppose you could have two separate trusts set up with MGs in one trust, and maybe SBRs in the other if you wanted to allow a specific individual to have access to one type weapon but not another. Anyone ever thought about this? I confess the idea never crossed my mind.