With the constant fluctuations and proposed changes in federal gun laws, many gun owners are rightfully concerned. Will you be allowed to add to your collection in the future? What happens to your collection after you are gone? Future restrictions, such as a renewed assault weapons ban, or tighter restrictions on NFA items could mean your heirs will be unable to inherit these guns. Moreover, very strict NFA rules under existing law mean that no one else can handle, or have access to, items registered in your name- not your children, not even your spouse.
The solution to these concerns may be a gun trust. Our skilled gun trust attorney can provide advice and help you create such a trust, keeping your collection safe for the future.
For help creating a gun trust, trust Jason M. Tyra, PLLC can help.
What Is a Trust?
A trust is a legal entity that handles your assets after death. Whereas a will transfers all your property at once, a trust can manage your estate, allowing it to grow. The trust becomes the legally recognized owner of your assets. It can buy and sell property, and it can make investments.
How Can a Trust Protect My Rights?
You can move your assets into a trust while you are still alive. Transferring your gun collection makes the trust its legal owner. As such, the trust can bypass many restrictions placed on purchasing, selling, and ownership of guns.
A trustee manages the trust’s interests and any beneficiaries of the trust. After you pass, an alternative trustee continues the work. You may name your trustees in your estate plan. A trustee can be any adult person, including your attorney.
Benefits of a Gun Trust
Remember that the trust becomes the owner of your collection. As such, it falls under a different legal category from an individual owner. You may be able to purchase and sell guns through the trust with fewer restrictions. For example, a trust can simplify the process of obtaining items regulated under the National Firearms Act., such as machine guns, short-barreled rifles and shotguns, and suppressors.
A gun trust also provides privacy to your heirs. Inherited property generally must be inventoried and declared to the probate court in a public filing. However, with a trust, you have already transferred ownership of your property to the estate, so there is no need for it to go through probate. Only trustees (and sometimes beneficiaries) of your trust will know what the trust contains.
Trusts are also revokable. If you need to update any aspect of ownership or eliminate the trust altogether, you can do so with minimal difficulty. You are not locked into any permanent decisions.
Attorney Jason Tyra Can Help
Our lawyer is a skilled and experienced. He knows the legal ins and outs of creating your gun trust, and he can help keep your collection safe and accessible to your family in the future.
For help with gun trusts and all other estate planning needs in Dallas, call (972) 201-9008 or reach out online today.