Why you would Amend or Restate your NFA Gun Trust

A trust is a fiduciary arrangement that permits a trustee to hold property on behalf of a named beneficiary or beneficiaries.  Trusts are created to provide legal protection to the settlor's property within the trust and to ensure that the property within the trust is distributed to the beneficiary or beneficiaries to the trust.  In the case of our NFA Gun Trusts, the property within the trust would be NFA Firearms [Title 2 firearms] or non-NFA Firearms [Title 1 firearms].  Our NFA Gun Trusts are revocable trusts that can be changed or terminated by the settlor during his or her lifetime.  Some NFA Gun Trusts might be irrevocable trusts, in which the trust cannot be changed after the settlor establishes the trust, or becomes irrevocable upon the death of the settlor.  We describe both below: 

Revocable NFA Gun Trust:  A NFA Gun Trust that is revocable is no different than any other revocable trust, except it contains language specific to and related to the National Firearms Act.  A revocable trust is the most common and generally the preferred route for NFA Gun Trusts.  A revocable trust can be changed at any time and can be amended if you have second thoughts about your trust or would like to add or remove co-trustees later, etc.  

Irrevocable NFA Gun Trust: A NFA Gun Trust that is irrevocable is no different than any other irrevocable trust, except it contains language specific to and related to the National Firearms Act.  A irrevocable NFA Gun Trust is not common and generally not the preferred route for a NFA Gun Trust.  A irrevocable trust cannot be changed after the trust has been signed and executed.  A NFA Gun Trust's contents may change over the lifetime of the settlor, which makes a irrevocable NFA Gun Trust not the preferred route.  Note:  After the settlor passes away or after a specific amount of time a revocable NFA Gun Trust may become irrevocable.

With your NFA Gun Trust, things are bound to change.  You may want to change the address of your NFA Gun Trust, change the members of the NFA Gun Trust i.e. the co-trustees, successor trustee, and or beneficiaries.  In order to change this information in your trust, you cannot simply write the changes into the trust or change the contents of a notarized trust.  In order to make changes to your NFA Gun Trust, you will either need to get an amendment drafted for the changes that you want made or restate the trust.  

Amendments to your NFA Gun Trust

NFA Gun Trust amendments are used to change or modify an already executed NFA Gun Trust.  All of the NFA Gun Trusts that we sell include NFA Gun Trust amendments.  Other services might not.  You will need to ask them at the time of purchase.  You can also speak with a NFA Gun Trust Lawyer to draft an amendment to your trust.  Lastly, you can create an amendment to your NFA Gun Trust yourself, however this option is not recommended as you are more prone to making a mistake.  All three options are viable options.  To execute one of our NFA Gun Trust amendments you will need to get it witnessed, dated, signed and notarized.  Other NFA Gun Trust amendments might require more or less than previously mentioned. Once your NFA Gun Trust amendment is executed, it is considered to be a part of the whole trust.  This means that when you apply for your next NFA Tax Stamp, you will be required to send the ATF a notarized copy of your existing NFA Gun Trust and a notarized copy of any NFA Gun Trust amendments that you have executed.  Once you have amended your NFA Gun Trust you cannot simply shred and throw away an amendment you made to your trust.  Each executed amendment is now part of your trust.  It is highly recommend to keep your original NFA Gun Trust and the originals of any NFA Gun Trust amendments in one place.  To help and aid you with this we offer NFA Gun Trust Binder services to help you keep your ATF Tax Stamps, NFA Gun Trust, NFA Gun Trust amendments, Certifications of Trust and other important documents together in one place.  You should never send your original NFA Gun Trust or any original NFA Gun Trust amendments in with your ATF application(s).  The ATF will not send them back to you.  The most common NFA Gun Trust amendments that are used are to Add or Remove a co-trustee(s) from the NFA Gun Trust.  Those are the most common, but below is a list of the typical NFA Gun Trust amendments that you may need and encounter:

• Adding or Removing Co-Trustee(s)
• Changing the Successor Trustee
• Changing a Beneficiary or Beneficiaries
• Changing the Address of the NFA Gun Trust

These are the most common NFA Gun Trust amendments that you will encounter however, every situation has the potential to be different and you may need to execute a NFA Gun Trust amendment that isn't listed above. 

Restatement of your NFA Gun Trust - View More Here

If you don't prefer to amend your trust or the amendments above won't serve your needs, you may want to have your trust restated.  When we restate your NFA Gun Trust, all of the firearms that were purchased with your NFA Gun Trust will still be owned by your NFA Gun Trust.  With a NFA Gun Trust restatement, we change the contents of the NFA Gun Trust to be complaint with the current ATF requirements.  Below are a few reasons why you would want to get your NFA Gun Trust restated:

• Your NFA Gun Trust is not ATF 41F complaint.  This includes, allowing your successor trustee and beneficiaries to use, possess, transport and store your NFA Firearms.  If your current NFA Gun Trust names the the successor trustee and the beneficiaries to be responsible persons in your NFA Gun Trust, they will then be required to comply with the current ATF requirements of a responsible person.  This means that they are required to submit the ATF 5320.23 paperwork, fingerprint cards and a passport photo.  A restatement of your current NFA Gun Trust will fix this issue. 
• You are a settlor to the trust, but not considered to be a trustee to your NFA Gun Trust.
• Your NFA Gun Trust didn't require co-trustees to sign, notarize and acknowledge that the co-trustee accepts responsibilities laid out within your NFA Gun Trust. 
• Your NFA Gun Trust doesn't speak to any of the required ATF regulations and language. 
• Your NFA Gun Trust is written in a way to not allow you to amend your NFA Gun Trust.  This can pose problems in the future, as you aren't able to amend your trust with new co-trustees, etc. 
• Your NFA Gun Trust includes a "Schedule A" or a page that contains your NFA Gun Trust contents that is required to be sent to the ATF.  This can be troublesome when this information is available to everyone that you are required to submit your NFA Gun Trust too, this includes: your class 3 dealer, the ATF, etc.  We can eliminate this with a restatement of your NFA Gun Trust.
• Your NFA Gun Trust limits the amount of beneficiaries that you can name. 

All of our National Firearms Act approved NFA Gun Trusts include the required amendments to amend your trust in the future and all of our NFA Gun Trusts that are restated are ATF 41F compliant and compliant with the current ATF standards.  We are you NFA Gun Trust experts and ready to answer any questions that you have about your current NFA Gun Trust and what options you have.  We will be able to solve any of your NFA Gun Trust needs.  You can purchase your NFA Gun Trust restatement here - Restate your NFA Gun Trust.