Gentlemen,
I recently read a thread regarding gun trust, Quicken forms etc. I want to clarify something quickly and briefly, to the benefit of my fellow shooters. Please keep in mind:
1) A trust is a legal document, a dealer helping you fill out a form or advising you that the form is even "acceptable" is committing the unlicensed practice of law and can be punished;
2) Just because NFA branch approves your Form 1 or Form 4 application with your quicken form trust attached DOES NOT MEAN YOUR TRUST IS VALID. When you submit your form with your Trust attached the NFA government employees are only looking to see if the trust name matches the name on the form 1 or 4 and whether the serial number of the application item is listed by serial number as an asset of the trust in the attached Scheduled A Declaration of Ownership, whether there is a beneficiary - THAT'S ALL - it does NOT mean ATF approved the TRUST as legally valid. They don't know the laws of the state of origin nor are the reading the entire trust.
3) The only way you will know whether your gun trust is valid is the day that ATF comes knocking on your door and wants to look up your butt with a microscope and that is when they will scrutinize your trust with their lawyers, and that is when it better be bulletproof under the controlling state law in which it was drafted. The price for an attorney drafted trust (from an attorney who knows NFA law) is well worth the peace of mind that it provides. A form trust is like running around a gun fight without armor. Sure you can do it, but you're not really protected.
4) A dealer that brags that his trust forms have been approved countless times, is missing the target about what that even means.
Yes I am a lawyer, yes I do NFA gun trusts, but most of you guys are not in my state anyway I don't image, so I don't regard this as a solicitation of business. Just trying to clear up some obvious legal confusion.
Have a nice day.
I recently read a thread regarding gun trust, Quicken forms etc. I want to clarify something quickly and briefly, to the benefit of my fellow shooters. Please keep in mind:
1) A trust is a legal document, a dealer helping you fill out a form or advising you that the form is even "acceptable" is committing the unlicensed practice of law and can be punished;
2) Just because NFA branch approves your Form 1 or Form 4 application with your quicken form trust attached DOES NOT MEAN YOUR TRUST IS VALID. When you submit your form with your Trust attached the NFA government employees are only looking to see if the trust name matches the name on the form 1 or 4 and whether the serial number of the application item is listed by serial number as an asset of the trust in the attached Scheduled A Declaration of Ownership, whether there is a beneficiary - THAT'S ALL - it does NOT mean ATF approved the TRUST as legally valid. They don't know the laws of the state of origin nor are the reading the entire trust.
3) The only way you will know whether your gun trust is valid is the day that ATF comes knocking on your door and wants to look up your butt with a microscope and that is when they will scrutinize your trust with their lawyers, and that is when it better be bulletproof under the controlling state law in which it was drafted. The price for an attorney drafted trust (from an attorney who knows NFA law) is well worth the peace of mind that it provides. A form trust is like running around a gun fight without armor. Sure you can do it, but you're not really protected.
4) A dealer that brags that his trust forms have been approved countless times, is missing the target about what that even means.
Yes I am a lawyer, yes I do NFA gun trusts, but most of you guys are not in my state anyway I don't image, so I don't regard this as a solicitation of business. Just trying to clear up some obvious legal confusion.
Have a nice day.