I was surfing around tonight for a NE Ohio lawyer to do an NFA trust for me and came across http://nfafirearmstrust.com/. For $119, I’m tempted to give it a look.Has anyone heard anything about them? I found next to nothing, good or bad.
Let me know how it goes…I may go this route if all is well…
With legal services, a lot of times, you really do get what you pay for. There is one service I know of that specializes in NFA trusts, and locates affiliate lawyers near you, that must follow their explicit “boilerplate” format, adapted to any local legal peculiarities.
That seems very cheap for a trust.
Here is another one that was posted over on glocktalk.
that also appears to be just a form, the site specifically says that is not meant to provide legal advice.
So it’s basically an over-priced version of Quicken Willmaker. 
possibly
It is impossible to know without exactly looking at it. More than likely, it is what they call a “boiler plate” form. These are forms that are known to be well crafted, but require user input. I use them all the time in law school, but have to substantially edit them most of the time in order to craft whatever I’m doing in an appropriate manner for whatever hypothetical jurisdictional limitations I am operating under… The problem with these forms in the hands of a non-lawyer, is that subtle local peculiarities may effect what should be the proper wording of the form; or that they lack entire portions that are extremely beneficial to the person seeking such a trust. This is why the big firm that is known for their NFA trusts does not simply send a boilerplate form to fill out. They send it to a local attorney who understands any and all aspects relating to a trust for your given locality and properly adjust it in a manner best suiting the client.
I’m sure many people have used forms like this, but there is always the very high possibility that using a form, without consultation with a local attorney can seriously screw someone over in the event there is a problem.
While I’m sure it seems like an additional financial burden to go with a an attorney backed source, (last I checked it was a little over $550 for the entire ordeal) it is much better than creating/signing a legal document without attorney consultation.
I am not attacking any of those listed sites whatsoever, but be warned, it is incredible how many things can be hidden in small print. Furthermore, legal ramifications from poor legal work are often substantial, and will cost you a lot more in the long run than doing it right the first time.
Thanks for the feedback. I agree. The peace of mind of going through a lawyer is probably worth the money. But on the other hand, as long as the ATF accepts the trust, I don’t see the difference in the source of the trust. I have never heard of them changing their mind after the fact. Lawyers pretty much use find/replace forms anyway - at least they did when we set up our estate. I’m still undecided on whether or not the ~$400 difference is really worth it.
My concern wouldn’t be whether or not the trust is accepted by the NRA, but with the actual attributes of the trust itself. Trust law can be quite complicated, and varies state by state. There is one website for texas NFA trusts that really highlights some of the problems that can be created with fill-in trust forms.
I do not endorse, or recommend anything on this site, I am only providing the link to show some fairly common issues that are likely to come up.
http://www.guntrustlawyer.net/gun-trusts-buyer-beware
The cases you study in school are typically ones were somebody had a poorly written trust and is suffering pretty severe consequences because of it. I can’t think off any time I’ve read one that dealt with an exceedingly well-crafted trust, except in the fact some angry family member is greedy and trying to fight their way out of it.
They most likely have drafter a “boilerplate” form inside their firm that deals specifically with any local law. The difference between that and what you are trying to do is that here, you are taking a form from a non-lawyer, who cannot provide legal advice, that is more than likely extremely unfamiliar with local trust law, and will more than likely have some aspect of the transaction preventing backlash in the event there are problems with the trust. He doesn’t have to worry about losing his license for piss poor work. Furthermore, offering these forms as a non-attorney is bordering on the practice of law without a license.
Just because someone else did and it seems fine does not mean that it truly is as trust issues don’t typically arise until a trustee wishes to make a transfer of interest, or the death of interest holder (as this is when interests of the trust are distributed).
Willmaker is to trusts as Turbotax is to taxes.
Hi. I’m one of the people behind that site. I’m a lawyer in Georgia. Our firm drafted a custom Gun Trust for a client, and then we decided to make that website based off the gun trust we created.
Also, our price has gone up since this thread started- but you can use the promo code “oldsale” to get the $119.00 that the original poster mentioned.
Have you had anyone I’m Texas use your trust?
There are numerous Texas gun trust lawyers available, just google it. Texas uses its own version of probate law that is very different from many other states. As mentioned above I would strongly recommend not using a form and contacting an attorney for any kind of trust or estate.
Thanks. I think im going to use the Texas law shield.