Producing a brief but effective document requires more skill and effort than throwing together a long and overly complex one by cutting and pasting from various sources.
Generally speaking, conciseness in legal drafting is desirable. And it is true that it takes more skill to accomplish the same objectives with fewer words. But I would question whether a trust agreement shorter than 10 pages really accounts for all of the scenarios that it should. I can tell you that each and every line in my trusts are there for a reason.
It's important to keep in mind that a trust can last for generations (or perpetually in Maine or New Hampshire). Situations change. And sometimes even the parties to the trust can change. While my trusts may contain more bells and whistles than a particular client may need at any one time, I'd rather those provisions be there when and if things change.
Even if my clients tell me they are forming a trust merely to use eForms, I feel obliged to provide them with a solid legal instrument, as well as helpful ancillary documents. As a legal professional, using ATF acceptance of a trust as a performance standard seems perilously close to legal malpractice.
For example, their standard trust incorporates the entire wording of the current Federal Law definition of "Prohibited Person", ending with "Any person who is otherwise prohibited from possessing a firearm". Given that final clause, incorporating the existing Federal Law as part of the trust paperwork is pointless, just adding bulk but no value.
While this may seem like padding to you, it's actually something I include in my trusts as well. Why do I include it? Because it gives the reader a baseline understanding of the categories of federally prohibited persons, without the need to Google the definition (which in the statute itself is split among a couple subsections). It's a delicate balance choosing what should and shouldn't be included in a legal instrument, but one of the primary goals of legal drafting, aside from conciseness, is
completeness. If you have to do outside research in order to understand a legal instrument, the drafter didn't do his work properly.
Reputation (e.g. reviews by other customers), and how long they've been in the NFA trust business.
Got it. Thanks for your response.
![[sad]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/004.gif "Sad [sad]")
