Forming a Trust for NFA items

[alucard]

quicken willmaker is only $37.99... Thats how much my trust cost.

[mtechgunman]

quicken willmaker is only $37.99... Thats how much my trust cost.

I think I paid more for mine, regardless it worked for me.

received my stamp late march.

[arz]

I'm getting my first suppressor and want to go the trust route.

Are there any special provisions that need to be done in Quicken Willmaker to make the trust?

I'd also like to explore the lawyer created trust route - I understand it will cost more than the $40 for the software, but if it's not too expensive, it could be good for peace of mind. Know any attorneys who have done this previously?

Thanks.

ARZ

[Irving]

You are paying for the attorney to make sure that everything in your trust is okay. You could use Quicken Willmaker and an attorney at the same time. The issue with Willmaker, is that it is a general program, and may not be completely up to date, and also may not be state specific. They update the trusts every once in a while, but it would be a good idea to look into it yourself (or hire an attorney) so you can get all the state specific stuff correct. In my opinion, the corporation route would be the last way I'd go. Why should I have to pay to set up a corp, and fake yearly meetings just to own some Title II stuff? I'd argue with a sheriff about getting a signature before I'd go the corporation route.

[jackmode9316]

OR it's there's too much at stake and one should pay a lawyer.

So whats really at stake? What "Can" happen if your trust is set up incorrectly?

[rtr]

So whats really at stake? What "Can" happen if your trust is set up incorrectly?

I'm not a lawyer.

For all intense and purposes the ATF regards a trust or a corporation as a person. So if a trust is setup incorrectly and this issue somehow comes to light(say for instance you form a trust that owns NFA items and then you die, and in the process of probate or your estate being settled this trust issue is discovered) you then have some NFA items being posessed by an entity that isn't legitimate, therefore you have NFA items being posessed illegally. So if the items are sitting in your safe in your house, your dead and your wife is living there, you can see how this could be a problem.

How likely is this? Depends on your situation I guess, but it certainly isn't an unreasonable concern. I doubt your wife would mind spending the $1K or so it would cost to hire a lawyer to form a trust at this moment.

Just because the ATF approves your NFA paperwork DOESN'T MEAN YOUR TRUST IS BULLETPROOF. It just means it's good enough for government work.

By the same token just because a lawyer wrote your trust doesn't mean it's bulletproof either, but there's a much higher likelihood than if Quicken wrote it.

[sniper7]

I'm not a lawyer.

For all intense and purposes the ATF regards a trust or a corporation as a person. So if a trust is setup incorrectly and this issue somehow comes to light(say for instance you form a trust that owns NFA items and then you die, and in the process of probate or your estate being settled this trust issue is discovered) you then have some NFA items being posessed by an entity that isn't legitimate, therefore you have NFA items being posessed illegally. So if the items are sitting in your safe in your house, your dead and your wife is living there, you can see how this could be a problem.

How likely is this? Depends on your situation I guess, but it certainly isn't an unreasonable concern. I doubt your wife would mind spending the $1K or so it would cost to hire a lawyer to form a trust at this moment.

Just because the ATF approves your NFA paperwork DOESN'T MEAN YOUR TRUST IS BULLETPROOF. It just means it's good enough for government work.

By the same token just because a lawyer wrote your trust doesn't mean it's bulletproof either, but there's a much higher likelihood than if Quicken wrote it.

also look at how many guys out there create trusts using willmaker. there are a lot of people who have done this.
Talk with the dealers that you are buying the NFA from and have them look over your trust. They probably have a trust themself.

$600 for a lawyer is not much in the long run, but who is to say that he isn't going to screw up just as easy as you could screw up using willmaker. they more than likely have lots of lawyers who look over their materials instead of just 1 lawyer looking over your trust. the only gap with willmaker is you putting all the information in correctly.
the ATF still has to read the trust to approve the transfer.

[Irving]

It is purely a cost vs benefit issue.

If you only plan on cutting the barrel down on your $200 870, if you trust screws up, you are out $400. No reason to spend $600 to protect $400.

If you know it is addicting and are likely to build a collection, or even purchase one machine gun, then $600 is well worth your trouble. It is the same as worrying about spending an extra $100 on a pistol that you are going to put $7,000 worth of ammo through.

[jackmode9316]

Understood, thanks for the clarification.

[jj-enterprises]

Jeremy Cave at Cave Law does the NFA Trusts for folks. You need to make sure you have the correct language in the trust for NFA products.