Florida Estate Planning Lawyer Blog
If you live in a Jacksonville Florida, like many other cities around the country where the (CLEO) Chief law Enforcement Officer of your city will sign a Form 4 for NFA purchases of Class 3 items, there are several solutions.
Title II Firearms (sold by Class 3 SOT dealers) include suppressors, short barrel rifles, machine guns, and other destructive devices.
The most common solution is to create a revocable trust to hold title to the firearm or class 3 items you desire to purchase. Florida now requires a nexus to the state of Florida to create a Florida Revocable Trust or Florida Gun Trust
A Gun Trust, Firearms Trust, Limited Liability Company, or Florida Corporation are all legal entities that are established under Florida State Law. Each of these entities can purchase and hold firearms. There are some advantages and disadvantages of each legal entity. Generally the Florida NFA Gun Trust is the least expensive to create and maintain. In addition the Florida Gun Living Trust provides complete privacy from the public as Revocable Trusts are not required to be registered or filed with the state. The lack of any required filings means, the only people who know the terms of the trust are those you choose to tell.
Florida Business entities typically cost $150 a year for the state filings in addition to the cost of a CPA to prepare and file the federal filings.
Although most Florida Revocable or Living Trusts can hold firearms or other class 3 items, many are not properly setup to deal with the issues involving firearms and other items which are regulated by the National Firearms Act (NFA). If the NFA is violated, the owners are subject to criminal charges, substantial fines, and forfeiture of not only the class 3 items in question but all firearms in the possession or ownership. ($250,000 penalty, 10 years in prison, and forfeiture of items)
The Florida NFA Gun or Firearms Trust must give the Trustee instructions and special powers so that they can legally manage for unplanned events. Weapons and other assets in a Firearms Trust can not be distributed like other assets upon the death or incapacity of the person who placed the items in the trust(The Grantor or Settlor).
Many individuals are using Quicken or other simple trusts to purchase class 3 items. Before doing something like this you should consider the adverse effects that can be created by this technique.
1) You put your family and friends at risk of criminal and civil penalties in the event of your death or incapacity.
2) What happens if these items are transferred to someone who is not able to accept them because of eligibility, residency, age, or mental condition.
3) What happens if your trust merges with another trust, which will survive.
4) What happens if you will transfers NFA assets to your trust upon your death, can the trustee say no, most trusts do not allow for this.
5) What happens if the beneficiary is under age?
6) Will you know the mental state of the beneficiary, at the time of transfer and who and how will a problem be dealt with?
7) What state will the beneficiary live in at the time of the transfer? Can they accept, or possess these items, if not, what will be done?
If your trust doesn’t deal with these issues or you do not understand why they are important, you should speak to a Florida NFA Gun Trust Lawyer to find out the answers. Feel Free call, email or ask any questions using the contact form
Read more articles on Gun Trusts, NFA Trusts, or using Trusts to hold Guns, Weapons or Class 3 items.