Gun Trusts for Title II Firearms
Why Do I Need a Gun Trust?
Why should a gun owner or future buyer need an NFA Gun Trust? As a gun owner, your estate plan is missing the mark if it fails to include a specially drafted NFA “gun” trust. Firearms are regulated under federal and state laws and demand careful attention from your estate planning attorney.
Gun ownership and gun responsibility are linked together. During life, people take care of their weapons. What happens to the firearms at death or even if there is mental incapacity? Most gun owners and collectors want to leave their firearms to a particular person or preserve family collections. Today, with increased regulations, it is best to have a way to legally leave your guns to a beneficiary that keeps them clean at death.
Responsible Person
Firearms may only be owned by a “Responsible Person.” Certain firearms may only be inherited if a person is a legal age. For example, in Arkansas and Missouri, the legal age to own a suppressor is 21 years old. A handgun is legally owned at the age of 19 years or 18 years if in active duty military. Your gun collection may include weapons used for sport, self-defense or investment purposes. In estate planning, firearm assets pose additional issues that must be carefully addressed to avoid unintended future consequences.
Your NFA "Gun Trust"
How do you keep your guns clean in case of disability or death?
Establish a NFA “gun trust,” which holds your firearm collection. With a “gun” trust you retain ownership and control of your collection during your lifetime while providing for the disposition of your guns to your intended beneficiaries. During your lifetime, you remain the trustee and beneficiary of the gun trust, and appoint a successor trustee and lifetime and remainder beneficiaries. Because the trust is revocable, you are free to make changes or revoke it at any time.
Trust Your Gun
Trust Your Gun creates a full package gun trust that is individually tailored for you. A properly drafted gun trust will include guidance or limitations for the successor trustee, create a plan in case of incapacity, and provides revocation forms. You will receive instructions on working with your FFL and stamp tax requirements to transfer firearms to your trust and a property list you complete for your firearms and non-NFA items such as gun cabinets, safes, and ammunition. More available information is at:
Sheri Tucker, Esq.
Contact
Tucker Legal Services, LLC
400 Chesterfield Center, Suite 400 Chesterfield, MO 63017
Free Resource
Get The Attorney’s Guide to Responsible Gun Ownership.