Process of transferring suppressor to a family member

[maximus83]

I know all the info is buried somewhere deep in the fine print at the ATF, but hoping I can get a pointer to a reliable and clearer overview of the process.

My dad who lives in another state has a rifle with a Gemtech suppressor he wants to gift to me. In my state (WA), he would have to ship the rifle to a FFL in my state to transfer it to me, even if it didn't have a suppressor, so the FFL part is a given. So I assume it's going to be some paperwork/tax with the ATF, once we get that approved, then he sends rifle and suppressor to my FFL.

What's the additional process that I or my dad will have to go through with the .gov to transfer the suppressor? Would it help for the future if I set up a trust on my end first to receive the suppressor as well as add future ones? There are 'gun trust' lawyers in WA (like this one) who will set these up for you, but I'd rather not ask the lawyers themselves if I should buy their product.

[BigWaylon]

Assuming it’s registered to him as an individual, there are really two options:

1. He transfers it to an FFL in your state using a Form 4 ($200), then that dealer transfer it to you using another Form 4 (yes, another $200). That’s why the used market it pretty bad, especially when crossing state lines.
2. He dies, and it transfers tax free to you using a Form 5 ($0)

Obviously #2 is not the preferred method.

If you happened to be in the state, it would be a single $200 F4 transfer.

If it was currently registered to a trust, there would be no transfer...just add you as a trustee.

[maximus83]

Assuming it’s registered to him as an individual, there are really two options:

It is, he's all legal. He's unable to shoot it anymore due to age/health issues and wants to gift it to me now.

It seems like I'm really thinking about 2 issues here:
* Handling the transfer correctly with him, and
* Setting myself up better for NFA ownership or other firearms transfers/sharing etc with family members in the future. This is the part where I think maybe I should create a gun trust now--researching this for info in WA state, there are some local attys who specialize in it. If anybody knows reasons to AVOID these trusts, I would love to hear them. On paper it sounds like exactly what I need.

[Renegade]

For $200, he can put it in a trust with you right now.

[BigWaylon]

For $200, he can put it in a trust with you right now.

Oh yeah...3rd option.

[223to45]

He picked a fine time to transfer now that I1639 in effect.

Got your SAR training??

How far away?? The rifle part can be handled with a road trip.

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[maximus83]

He picked a fine time to transfer now that I1639 in effect.

Got your SAR training??

How far away?? The rifle part can be handled with a road trip.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

He's 1800 miles away so he'll be shipping it across state lines--which means it's going to an FFL for the transfer. Not sure I see a way around that. It's $50 fee here and whatever he pays to ship, oh well, a road trip or airline ticket would cost a lot more anyway. Yes I have the training, a number of places in WA are now offering the training online for free.

On the gun trust thing, learned more. Spoke to the attys that specialize in gun trusts that I linked to. They know their stuff on trusts, NFA, and the new state law, so I plan to meet with them and setup the trust to transfer the suppressor into. They have additional optional features in the trust that sound useful, so this is a great time to get it set up. Actually looking forward to getting this done. For some time I've wanted to get a suppressor for my AR's and now it'll be easier to get that done--except for the long wait for the stamp.

[BigWaylon]

Don’t skip over Renegade’s recommendation. It’s actually the best (fastest and cheapest) option, and I should’ve had it as #1 on my list.

And don’t get hung up on a “gun trust lawyer”. It’s just a trust that holds property, and that property happens to be firearms. The laws are the laws, regardless of how much NFA-specific language is added to the trust.

[ODgreenpizza]

Step 1. Dad creates trust
Step 2. Dad assigns nfa item to trust
Step 3. Dad adds you as trustee
Step 4. Dad ships item to himself when he comes to visit or you visit dad and ship item to yourself
Step 5. Dad ships rifle to himself when he comes to visit or you visit dad and ship rifle to yourself

Would this work for nfa items? I've shipped non nfa firearms to myself before.

[BigWaylon]

Step 1. Dad creates trust
Step 2. Dad assigns nfa item to trust
Step 3. Dad adds you as trustee

Not sure if you were implying this or not, but you can’t just create a trust and assign the NFA item to it. You have to File a Form 4, pay the $200, and wait for approval of transferring it from yourself to the trust. I currently have two pending from 8.13.18 using this process.