NFA trust lawyers

Madison · Feb 1, 2009

Please post here if you know of any local attorneys you have used or have heard of who have expertise in creating trusts for purposes of holding NFA firearms.

If I may be so bold, I am requesting that this thread remain free of any "Just use Quicken Willmaker" posts. There are other threads discussing such do-it-yourself trusts, so let's keep this one limited to attorney-created trust resources.

Thank you

Madison · Feb 3, 2009

After many hours of calling numerous local attorneys and gun groups (NRA, OFF), I'm coming to the conclusion that there are no acknowledged experts with NFA law around here (other than federal prosecutors

).

For an attorney-created NFA trust, it seems the best way for now is to hire an experienced NFA-savvy estate attorney out of state to draft the NFA trust (because the NFA is the same in all states), and have a local estate attorney review it to verify it is a valid Oregon/Washington/etc. trust. The combined price for the trust plus local review seems to run about $600 total (YMMV).

Here are some out-of-state experts I've found, both from Florida. The first one is the guy who seems to have started the trend to use trusts for NFA items a few years back.

Bob J. Howell, (954) 424-8889
David Goldman, (904) 685-1200, http://www.guntrustlawyer.com

But hopefully somebody will eventually post some local NFA-savvy local attorneys here.

bnr32gtr · Feb 3, 2009

I met a Trust Attorney at the last PDX show. He does the whole thing for you and quickly! I'm going to have him do one up to protect property, my firearms and then I can eventually get a can easier too.

He also did the incorporation paperwork for my brother and I within 24 hours of meeting him. He made it VERY easy for us and basically everything can be done via phone and fax if you don't have time for anything else.

Plus, and this is a BIG plus for me, he is a certified gun NUT! Has some killer stuff including an EDM in .408 CheyTac and at least one suppressor. He works closely with a local machine gun dealer and also helps with paper work and whatnot for that shop. He's very knowledgeable on NFA and other gun laws!

On top of all that, he's truly a great guy with a down to earth attitude.

If you send two people to him, he'll take off $200 from all the Trust prep and filing fees. Pretty damn good deal for a thought out, professional trust.

Here's his name and number:

Dick Donald
541.505.1520

Please be sure to tell him I sent you. Thanks!

Mike Dehnke
Custom Firearm Stands, Inc.(thanks to above named attorney!)
[email protected]
206.790.0835

MilesTeg · Feb 14, 2009

Donald was at the gunshow this weekend as well. Advertised $400 for a NFA trust.

ski_dog · Feb 28, 2009

Feel free to email me for information: [email protected]

gawatters · Apr 30, 2009

I have used David Goldman in Jacksonville as have a number of my associates. He is very good and can work with you over the phone or email.

His firm provides a number of documents in PDF so that you can submit additional Form 1 or 4 without a hassle.

I strongly recommend him. Google NFA Trust Lawyer, his name will come up, and he has a great deal of info online.

GW

dbrislawn · Feb 16, 2013

Northwest Gun Law Group serves gun owners in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska. You can find links to attorneys who use the GunDocx Trust System, most of whom have attended national-level gun law training, at GunLaw Community that has links to GunDocxLawyers.com as well.

the puma · Apr 14, 2013

dbrislawn said:
Northwest Gun Law Group serves gun owners in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska. You can find links to attorneys who use the GunDocx Trust System, most of whom have attended national-level gun law training, at GunLaw Community that has links to GunDocxLawyers.com as well.

Huge +1 for NW Gun Law Group. I bought the bronze trust package, and had a couple minor issues with how it was setup. I left a detailed email and got a call back the next day from one of the partners and we discussed the concerns I had. He assured me it wouldn't be a problem and took care of things so the trust was set up exactly how I wanted.

I have since mailed off my Form 1 and associated paperwork, and am angry at myself for waiting so long.

Chunky Milk · Apr 15, 2013

i dont mean to be the fingernail in this Cobb salad, but the ATF is working on closing the "trust loophole" for NFA Transfers. You will still be able to do a transfer with a Trust but it will be more work than to do an individual transfer. the proposed rule change will require all "responsible persons" of a trust or corporation to submit fingerprints and a photo. so if you have multiple people as trustees, you will need to submit all of their prints and photos too. the flip side of this coin is that they are looking to get rid of the CLEO sign off, because so many CLEO's abused the system to just ban anything NFA, which led to the rise in the use of trusts in the first place.

this information comes directly from the NFA branch director (Ed Svedra, or something like that) when i stood not 2 feet in front of him and chatted at SHOT show 2013. supposedly these changes will concur with the releasing of the new Form 4's (according to the info i received at shot show that is supposed to be in july)

Burt Gummer · Apr 15, 2013

The information you need to create a successful trust can be found on this forum. No need to pay a parasite to do it unless you have unlimited funds. What may or may not happen in the future is another matter. Just worry about the here and now.

TRD1911 · Apr 15, 2013

the puma said:
Huge +1 for NW Gun Law Group. I bought the bronze trust package, and had a couple minor issues with how it was setup. I left a detailed email and got a call back the next day from one of the partners and we discussed the concerns I had. He assured me it wouldn't be a problem and took care of things so the trust was set up exactly how I wanted.

I have since mailed off my Form 1 and associated paperwork, and am angry at myself for waiting so long.

Another +1 for these guys. I had a Silver Trust put together for NFA items. This isn't a 3 page DIY trust that can be found on the internet and they were willing to sit down with my wife and I for over two hours discussing EVERY PAGE of the package while answering any questions that we had. They also just recently went out of their way to help us with some other legal documents (I'm currently overseas). I can't say enough good things about this office and will be going back when we establish an estate plan (which the cost of the trust will be deducted from this service).

the puma · Apr 15, 2013

Chunky Milk said:
i dont mean to be the fingernail in this Cobb salad, but the ATF is working on closing the "trust loophole" for NFA Transfers. You will still be able to do a transfer with a Trust but it will be more work than to do an individual transfer. the proposed rule change will require all "responsible persons" of a trust or corporation to submit fingerprints and a photo. so if you have multiple people as trustees, you will need to submit all of their prints and photos too. the flip side of this coin is that they are looking to get rid of the CLEO sign off, because so many CLEO's abused the system to just ban anything NFA, which led to the rise in the use of trusts in the first place.

this information comes directly from the NFA branch director (Ed Svedra, or something like that) when i stood not 2 feet in front of him and chatted at SHOT show 2013. supposedly these changes will concur with the releasing of the new Form 4's (according to the info i received at shot show that is supposed to be in july)

I always thought it strange that setting up a trust bypassed so much of the background check issues. I went the trust route partly because it was easier than going through the picture/fingerprint/CLEO issue, but also because I don't want my wife to have any issues in the event of my death or incapacitation. It just makes more long term sense to me. The changes you speak of are something I've heard rumors about, and while it will make a trust more inconvenient, having a trust own my NFA items still makes a lot of sense to me.