NFA Inheritance

[Mathieu18]

@BigWaylon at your convenience could you elaborate on this a bit more? Didn't want to hijack the other thread.

I'll just hafta ask..

I've been reading thru threads and pestering the guys at Poppies but we seem to be gettin further out in the weeds. So here we go with another tedious post.. ..Since ~06 I've been luggin around an old SWR Omega-turned-Specwar.. I'm ready to pull the trigger on a coupla smaller and lighter cans...

carolinafirearmsforum.com

"If she’s not going to use it without you, the trust wouldn’t do too much.
You can just as easily buy it as an individual, and name somebody to get it in your will. It’ll transfer tax free to that person. You’d have to name somebody as the beneficiary anyway.
I’m not saying not to get a trust, but don’t get one based on bad info."

If I got a suppressor in my own name and I die. Hows it work with an NFA item and whoever inherits it? I thought part of the trust was to enable "legal" inheritance. Ask because my wife won't care to shoot it, but if I kick the bucket first (likely) I didn't want to leave her with it to deal with either if it was gonna be a problem.

 

[BigWaylon]

I’ll explain it at a high level. I’ve never gone through the process, so I’m not 100% familiar with all the details. I ought to print one out and read through it one day.

Gun trust lawyers did a good job convincing the public that if you didn’t have a trust your registered-as-an-individual NFA item would be surrendered and/or destroyed if you died. The reality is not only can it still be legally transferred, it’s a tax-exempt (no $5/$200 stamp) transfer to the legal heir. The legal heir would be the person you named in a will, or whoever is entitled to your stuff (spouse, kid, etc) for legal reasons in your state.

No dealer is involved. The executor of your estate can be in possession of the item. A Form 5 would be filed to officially transfer it to the heir. I believe they’re generally processed faster than Form 4 transfers.

ATF Form 5:




Similar to a Form 4, but it’s for tax exempt transfers. The situation we’re discussing here is the 3rd one:




You could even name a trust as the heir. For example, if you and I were buddies, but not close enough where we had a trust together, you could list one of my trusts as the heir for those NFA items. Same way you could name another trust as the beneficiary for an existing trust.

You don’t get the immediate possession like you would if you had another responsible person on a trust, so your spouse would have to be involved to some degree. But, you can fill out most of the Form 5 ahead of time and have it filed with the current F1/F4, and provide specific instructions on exactly what steps she needs to take to file it.

 

[Mathieu18]

Awesome info, thanks. So you could even include it in your Will to give NFA items to a gun buddy, who in theory could dispose them in the best interests of all without making an unwitting spouse subject to a world of headache… I’ll look more but that might be the last hurdle since that was the only reason, didn’t have a trust and hadn’t got to set one up, but thought I “needed” one.

I guess it’s kinda like a bill of sale though (it might save you but has it ever -no), theoretically your spouse is “in possession” of a suppressor if you die and it’s sitting in your safe. But if it sits there unmolested how’s it actually going to be an issue.

 

[JimP42]

If your executor is your beneficiary it sounds like there isn’t even any delay that the trust would help with.

 

[Cowboy]

I've always wandered what happened to USMCSKI's guns he had in trust. I sure hope they were at least sold for profits for the kids.

 

[BigWaylon]

Awesome info, thanks. So you could even include it in your Will to give NFA items to a gun buddy, who in theory could dispose them in the best interests of all without making an unwitting spouse subject to a world of headache… I’ll look more but that might be the last hurdle since that was the only reason, didn’t have a trust and hadn’t got to set one up, but thought I “needed” one.

I guess it’s kinda like a bill of sale though (it might save you but has it ever -no), theoretically your spouse is “in possession” of a suppressor if you die and it’s sitting in your safe. But if it sits there unmolested how’s it actually going to be an issue.

The gun buddy just couldn’t be in possession until the Form 5 was approved…assuming he wasn’t also your executor.

 

[HawgBonz]

I think we ended up thinkin that the only thing the trust does is make it easier for the other trustees and/or beneficiary at the passing of the "responsible person" to avoid probate. But that may be tainted with lawyer-speak as well.
It's all clear as mud.. 🤔👴🤣

 

[Bowie561]

Learned something new today. We set everything up as a trust after speaking with a lawyer. He definitely made it sound like it was the only way to pass NFA items on. I guess the one perk is giving other trustees the ability to use the items without the owner being present.

 

[DrScaryGuy]

Learned something new today. We set everything up as a trust after speaking with a lawyer. He definitely made it sound like it was the only way to pass NFA items on. I guess the one perk is giving other trustees the ability to use the items without the owner being present.

When I first started buying items, it was before 41f and applications for individuals still needed chief law enforcement approval. Mine did not approve. The trust was my workaround and loaning things to friends was an exciting bonus.
Sadly, i was not one of the people who managed to form1 any machine guns when that was an option. I got the big red DISAPPROVED stamp and everything. Not sure how any of all this crap ever got legal. Especially since the GCA specifically lists who can and can't do things, and trusts aren't in it. They're turning the whole "in america, everything is legal until we write a law against it" thing upside down.

 

[Sleazy P. Martini]

I plan to have my NFA items buried with me. problem solved. 😁

 

[HawgBonz]

I plan to have my NFA items buried with me. problem solved. 😁

"..I figured that when I depart this life I'd like to leave something behind even if just to be remembered on some man's lodge pole.."