dbrowne1 is 100% correct in his analysis of what is wrong with your gun dealer practicing law.
You have gotten away with what you did ... for now. The ATF examiner approved it and the hand of God has not smitten you, so all is well, right?
Maybe, maybe not. There may very well never be any problems, but if there ever are ... if (for whatever reason) your trust is ever examined in a legal setting -- an accident involving your gun (or suppressor or DD or AOW or whatever NFA item is at issue here) -- a divorce -- a bankruptcy -- you die (I hate to be the one to tell you this, but someday you will) -- and there are significant problems with your trust, you can say adios to everything in the trust. It is the same reason you wear seatbelts and the same reason you don't use a POS gun as your primary defense weapon ... you may drive for years, even your whole life, and never be in an accident and so never need the seatbelt, and your POS gun may work 100% of the time when you fire it at the range, but if you aren't wearing your seatbelt when you need it, or if your POS gun malfunctions in the middle of a home invasion (or in the middle of a firefight in one of those unfriendly sandy places), what are you gonna do? The point in all of these situations is the same: by the time you find out that you have a problem, it is too late to do anything about it and you're screwed.
It's the same with setting up the trust/corporation/LLC that owns your NFA playtoys.
I know that if you're going to spend X-hundreds of dollars on gun stuff, you want something tangible you can hold in your hand ... a new optic, whatever. I understand that paying the same money to someone in return for 10 sheets of paper (especially when you think that you can get those 10 sheets of paper for $30) grates.
Lawyers are widely perceived to be arrogant, money-grubbing assholes, and I know more than a few who are. But, who else can you trust (no pun intended) to set up an NFA gun trust and do it right? How many estates and trusts courses has your gun dealer taken? Or was he graduated from the I Don't Care What Anybody Says, I Know How to Do This School of Law?
Tell ya what. Ask your gun dealer to explain the rule against perpetuities in writing (no fair researching it beforehand) and then you post that here. If the lawyers on this board (and I gather that there are a few) agree that he/she has explained it reasonably accurately, then maybe you don't need to worry about your trust. (Although dbrowne1's points remain valid.)
(Full disclosure demands that I tell you that very few attorneys who do not actively practice estate and trust law really understand the RAP. Most lawyers forget it as soon as they take the bar exam ... if they really understood it even then.)
I'm not trying to scold. You do what you want. It's your gun (can, DD, AOW, whatever) and your freedom ...



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