Funding And Proof Of Ownership: Gun Trust

Texas law requires a trust to always be funded to be created. Section 11
2. 005 in the Texas Property Code (Texas Trust Code) provides: “A trust can't be created unless there's trust property. ” Nominal funding is sufficient to make a trust where the other formal requirements for the establishment of the trust are met. During a battle over a large estate, the San Antonio Court of Appeals ruled that a funding to a trust with $1. 00 was sufficient corpus to satisfy the funding requirements of a valid trust.

In Re: Estate of Canales, 837, S. W. 2d 662 (Tex. Civ. App. – San Antonio, 1992).

The mere drafting and signing to a revocable trust is not going to form a trust unless it is funded. This is why there has been questioning on in part by ATF examiners for ATF Form 4 transferees regarding NFA trust funding.

If the trust has not been funded the transfer might well be to a non-existent entity in which case it is invalid. A gun trust ought to be funded to be in existence and valid. Funding of one's Class 3 gun trust can be accomplished in many ways. An account with a bank can be opened or property can be transferred in to the trust. Trust property is know for being the “res” as well as “corpus”.

It is essential to document transfers of property into an NFA gun trust. Because the gun trust can last several generations and survive the death its creator (grantor or settlor), issues often arise about what property the trust actually owns. When there is not a soul living to ask, documents has to be reviewed to find out ownership.

The document which displays a transfer of title into the gun trust is the Form 4 or Bill of Sale. Without either there's no written proof for the conveyance of NFA or other tangible physical property in the trust. This might lead to expensive litigation in the future if not correctly completed on time. A short while ago, litigation arose within a large estate of a Kerrville oilman. Given that the trustee in the trust created by the oilman's will didn't keep very good records, it turned out difficult and quite expensive to find what property was actually in the trust and that which was not. A number of the items to be moved to the trust or left to the heirs had stickers with the trust or beneficiaries names thereon. However, after a period the glue had dried out and also the stickers had fallen off from the items making it difficult to establish who was entitled to what property. For example, the sticker around the back of a $25,000. 00 painting by Salinas, hanging on the a wall inside the estate's mansion, had fallen off.

The sticker on the back of a less costly armoire with another heir's name thereon had also fallen off. Both stickers were found lying about the floor, next to one another, behind the armoire covered in dust.

The dispute over who received the expensive painting versus the less costly armoire needed to be resolved.

In any gun trust setting this issue could be avoided by filling out a bill of sale conveying the property at issue (i. e. 1862 Sharps rifle, Serial # 3354) to the NFA gun trust and keeping the bill of sale with the original gun trust document. This would be sufficient proof of transfer on the non-NFA item into the trust.

The transfer of NFA items into a gun trust require an approved Form 4 to be valid.

It is vital that a gun trust be funded and transfers to the trust be properly documented. Martin Seidler, a Texas gun trust lawyer, solves these issues by properly drafting each NFA trust which he prepares in addition to a custom Bill of Sale with instructions for use.
Audus Zinkerman is a NFA Trust / Gun Trust enthusiast who informs people on how to acquiring class 3 weapons.

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