guntrustlawyer.com which is a website operated by Apple Law Firm in Jacksonville, FL has arrangements with attorneys in many states. They provide the instrument for an attorney in your state and that local attorney goes over the trust as it pertains to your state. I found them to be quite helpful as stated in a previous post.
http://northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=61710&highlight=NFA+trust
When I started researching, I felt the same way about wanting to use someone local, but the attorneys I spoke with gave me ballpark figures between $600 to $1500 and they had executed only a fraction of the NFA Trusts that Apple Law Firm had. Looking back, I personally don't know what would have been different using one of the local attorneys as a matter of fact, the attorney I contacted in NH had looked over Apple's trust and felt it was such a good document, he chose to be an associate NH attorney for Apple. As I said, my experience was rather easy.
Also, it is rather worrisime to me when I hear of the ATF approving the paperwork for a transfer when they know the trust is probably invalid, but since they are not in the business of legal advice, they approve it. But if you go through with the transfer it now becomes an illegal transfer, and they can then proceed with enforcement action. Even paperwork violations when dealing with guns can be a felony.....then you don't get to EVER own a gun.
This situation was posted on Silencertallk.com forum on April 20th. and then the law sites like guntrustlawyer.com picked up on it as a selling point. I contacted Apple because I was concerned about the validity of my trust and and they responded:
"The one(NFA Trust in Question) that the ATF approved, named the same person as the Settlor, Beneficiary and Successor Trustee of the trust, which you can't do; therefore, the trust was invalid. Our trust is extremely different from a Quicken trust and there is no chance of it being invalid. We have produced trusts for lawyers, police officers, judges, FBI and Secret Service agents, and someone very hig up in the NRA, so I assure you that the trust is valid!"
So this response from Apple give me more piece of mind.
I apologize for the long post, but I was frustrated when I was looking for information about trusts and found it difficult to locate accurate information. I just want to help bridge that gap for those coming behind me.
