With all of the federal and state laws in place concerning firearms, it is extremely important that they be transferred properly. This includes transfers made upon the owner's death.
Most gun collectors know the laws they need to follow when dealing with their weapons. They know what they need to do if they want to sell or give those guns to another person. However, the collectors' heirs are often not aware of those laws.
That can cause people who inherit guns to unwittingly break the law, which can possibly lead to big trouble.
Recently, the Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog published an article that suggests how to best leave someone an inheritance containing firearms. The article is titled "Estate Planning for Firearms."
The answer seems simple enough, use a gun trust. This is a special trust that will actually have “ownership” of the firearms. The advantage is that the gun trust is set up by a professional who knows how guns need to be transferred to comply with the law.
Of course, it is not that simple.
Properly setting up a gun trust is something that only a professional estate planning attorney with special expertise in gun trusts should undertake.
Thus, if you have a gun collection, you need to have an estate plan done by a professional. If you plan on just leaving your guns to your heirs in your will, you might be getting those heirs in trouble with the law.
Reference Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog (January 15, 2015) "Estate Planning for Firearms"
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