I already have a will, why do I need a gun trust? To understand the difference between these two estate planning documents, it’s useful to look at what each one does. Most people are familiar with wills. They serve to organize an estate, assigning how property gets distributed from your estate after your death.
This applies to money, real estate, vehicles, jewelry, and anything else you choose to leave to loved ones. Wills are typically drafted by an estate attorney in your county of residence. They are notarized and signed in front of witnesses and filed with the local clerk of court.
Executor
An executor is designated to carry out the wishes of the deceased, as laid out in the will. Those who inherit the property, the beneficiaries, take possession of the money or other items, and after the will is fulfilled, it ceases to exist. When the estate contains restricted weapons, the situation becomes more complicated.
Tax Stamps
The ATF issues tax stamps for NFA weapons to track their ownership and manage their use and possession. If the tax stamp is issued in one’s individual name, it can be transferred to their named beneficiary after their death. However, that individual cannot legally possess the NFA item until the tax stamp has been transferred, creating a sticky situation for the beneficiaries.
In this case, the deceased’s executor would need to contact either a class 3 dealer or local law enforcement to take possession of the NFA property. Then, the beneficiary can submit a form 5 to the ATF, which transfers the tax stamp from the deceased’s name into the name of the beneficiary.
Once that new tax stamp is received, the beneficiary can take possession of the item. This process must be repeated for every NFA item, which can be quite a burden if the deceased had a large collection. In the case of an NFA gun trust, the ATF issues a tax stamp in the trust name, rather than the individual.
This ensures that the trust decides who has possession of the property. Upon the death of the trustee, the trust continues to own the NFA items, and the property is distributed to the beneficiaries with no paperwork required with the ATF.
Beneficiaries
The beneficiaries are allowed to immediately possess the NFA weapons, with no waiting period. Another benefit to keeping your NFA items in a gun trust rather than a will lies in its flexibility. If one has a large collection of restricted items, the trust can be amended at any time to add and remove that property from the trust.
The trust can also be amended to update co-trustees, beneficiaries, and the address where the property is kept. A will can be amended, but it requires notarization, witnesses, and to be resubmitted to the clerk of court in some cases. This requirement for filing also demonstrates another benefit of a trust.
A will lists all the property and a copy of it is kept with local court. A trust is not on record, so the contents of the trust and the detail of its property remains private. Due to these factors, many NFA weapons owners choose to maintain their collection with a gun trust, rather than a will. Contact NFA Lawyers today to have an attorney draft one for your needs.
Paperwork and the NFA