Request your NFA trust.

First, you will be named as the grantor/settlor of the trust and the acting Trustee of the trust.

This is the ordered list of who will take over as trustee after your death. Under the trust’s terms, they step into the trustee’s role. Naming someone only as a successor trustee does not give them current access or make them a responsible person for a purchase application. Once a successor takes over, their actual powers and applicable law determine their responsibilities; James can advise about any notification, application, or transfer requirements.

Typically, James recommends a spouse, followed by children. Under the drafted trust’s succession provisions, children who are too young to serve would be skipped until eligible at age 18. If everyone ahead of them dies before they are eligible, the trust can provide a way to appoint a trustee. Children can be listed now for future succession. List successor trustees in your preferred order.

Co-trustees with authority over NFA firearms are ATF “Responsible Persons” who can have lawful access to trust property and concurrent possession of the items, subject to eligibility, trust terms, and applicable law.

On the first draft, this section will be left blank, and these individuals can be added later. List the names and dates of birth of people you want to be co-trustees after ATF approves the transfer, and James will pre-fill the forms to make adding them later easier.

Prospective co-trustees who are not yet responsible persons are not included as responsible persons in the initial application. This can simplify the initial paperwork. Adding a co-trustee later does not itself trigger the same application background-check process, but responsible persons must meet applicable requirements when the trust next applies to make or receive an NFA firearm. After the transfer, co-trustees may be added or removed in accordance with the trust and applicable law. Confirm the timing and eligibility with James before giving anyone access.

These are the individuals who ultimately benefit from the property in the trust. Naming someone only as a beneficiary does not authorize current possession. They need separate authority as an eligible co-trustee to possess trust property. Beneficiaries without powers over the firearms are not responsible persons and do not complete an ATF responsible-person background check when an item is purchased.

Under the trust James drafts, the trust becomes irrevocable at your death. If it is then closed out, its property is liquidated and the proceeds are divided among beneficiaries under its terms. Choose people likely to outlive you; James generally recommends your children, if you have them, or someone else likely to survive you.

The beneficiary list may be amended before your death, but not afterward under these trust terms. The trust’s succession provisions govern who receives a deceased beneficiary’s right to benefit—typically that person’s children. The trust must list at least one beneficiary.

The trust does not have to have a completely unique name. James recommends simply calling it “(Last Name) NFA Trust.” If you complete an ATF Form 1 to make a short-barreled rifle or silencer, applicable maker-marking requirements may require engraving the trust’s name on the item, so James recommends keeping it short.

James will also need the make, model, and serial numbers of silencers or SBRs you already own, or have purchased and intend to transfer into this trust. Do not include non-NFA items you do not intend to convert into an NFA item, such as by attaching a stock to a pistol or shortening a rifle or shotgun barrel. Contact James for more information about why he does not recommend including non-NFA items in NFA trusts.

Example: SilencerCo Omega-300, SN# OMG-12345. Include already-owned SBRs here too, clearly labeled.

Example: Aero Precision, X-15, SN# USA-12345.