To set up a gun trust, you pick a trust name, decide who will serve as grantor, trustees, and beneficiaries, draft the trust document (either through a firearms attorney or a reputable online service), sign it before a notary, and fund it by attaching a Schedule A that lists the firearms the trust owns. From that point forward, every time the trust acquires an item regulated under the National Firearms Act, you file an ATF application in the trust’s name. One recent change matters for your budget: as of January 1, 2026, the federal transfer and making tax on most NFA firearms dropped from $200 to $0, with only machine guns and destructive devices still carrying the $200 tax.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5811 – Transfer Tax
Decide Whether a Trust Fits Your Situation
Individuals can register NFA items in their own name, so the first question is whether a trust is worth the setup work at all. Two things drive the answer.
The first is shared possession. When an NFA item is registered to you personally, only you can legally possess it. Hand a suppressor to your spouse at the range and that spouse is technically in unlawful possession of an unregistered NFA firearm. A trust fixes this by letting you list multiple trustees, each of whom can lawfully possess and use every NFA item the trust owns.
The second is what happens when you die. Items held individually go through probate, where a judge decides disposition. Items held in a trust pass directly to the named beneficiaries through a tax-exempt ATF transfer, and the trust document itself dictates who gets what. For families or shooting groups, that combination of shared access and clean succession is the whole point.
Pick Your Roles
Every gun trust involves three roles. Getting them right at the start saves you from amending later.
The grantor (also called the settlor) creates the trust, writes its terms, and transfers firearms into it. The grantor almost always serves as the initial trustee, keeping full control during their lifetime. Most gun trusts are revocable, meaning the grantor can amend the terms, add or remove trustees, and dissolve the trust at any point.
The trustees hold legal authority to possess, use, and manage every firearm in the trust. This is the role that makes a gun trust valuable, so every person you want to have lawful access to your NFA items needs to be a trustee. The ATF treats all trustees as “responsible persons,” which triggers fingerprinting and background check requirements each time the trust files to acquire a new NFA item.2Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Background Checks for Responsible Persons (Final Rule 41F)
The beneficiaries inherit the trust’s firearms when the grantor dies. They have no possession rights during the grantor’s lifetime unless they are also named as trustees.
Check That Every Trustee Is Eligible
Every trustee must be legally eligible to possess firearms under federal law. The ATF runs a background check on each responsible person whenever the trust submits an application, and one prohibited person on the trust can sink the whole filing. Before you name anyone, confirm they are not disqualified under 18 U.S.C. 922(g).3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts Disqualifying categories include:
- Conviction of a crime punishable by more than one year of imprisonment
- Conviction of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence
- An active qualifying domestic protection order
- Unlawful use of or addiction to a controlled substance, including marijuana regardless of state legalization
- Adjudication as mentally defective or commitment to a mental institution
- Dishonorable discharge from the military
- Fugitive status, renunciation of U.S. citizenship, or certain non-immigrant alien status
These rules apply equally to the grantor, trustees, and any beneficiary who has power to direct trust activities. If a trustee later becomes prohibited through a new conviction or restraining order, remove them from the trust right away.
Gather Your Information Before You Draft
Pull three things together before you touch a document.
Pick a trust name. It appears on every ATF form and legal document the trust ever touches, so keep it simple and distinctive. A family name followed by “Gun Trust” or “Firearms Trust” is a common pattern.
Compile full legal names and current addresses for the grantor, every co-trustee, and every beneficiary. This information feeds directly into ATF applications and background checks; a misspelling or an outdated address will slow processing.
List every firearm you plan to place into the trust, with make, model, and serial number for each. This inventory becomes your Schedule A. You can add firearms later, but starting with a complete list keeps records clean from day one.
Draft the Trust Document
You have two realistic paths.
Hiring a firearms attorney makes sense if you have an unusual family structure, own items in multiple states, or want custom provisions for situations like a trustee becoming prohibited. An attorney who handles both firearms law and estate planning can tailor the document to your circumstances and your state’s trust law. Fees for a straightforward gun trust generally run around $300 to $500, though this varies by attorney and region.
Online gun trust services sell pre-drafted, attorney-reviewed templates for roughly $60 to $80. These are adequate for most people with standard needs. The document arrives as a PDF you fill in, print, and sign. If you go this route, pick a provider that updates its templates to reflect current ATF rules and has a track record of accepted applications.
Whichever path you take, the finished document should contain a declaration of trust, clear identification of the grantor, trustees, and beneficiaries, a grant of powers to the trustees covering possession, acquisition, and disposition of firearms, and provisions naming successor trustees who take over if the original trustee dies or is unable to serve.
Sign, Notarize, and Fund the Trust
The grantor signs the document in front of a notary public. The notary verifies your identity and applies their seal. Co-trustees typically sign at the same time or shortly after. Notary fees for a standard acknowledgment run from a few dollars up to about $25 depending on your state, and many banks offer free notary service to account holders.
After signing, fund the trust by transferring your existing firearms into it. Complete the Schedule A attachment, list each firearm’s make, model, and serial number, and sign it. For ordinary rifles, shotguns, and handguns, the signed Schedule A alone moves them into the trust. For NFA items you already own individually, transferring them into the trust requires an ATF filing, described below.
File With the ATF Each Time the Trust Acquires an NFA Item
Setting up the trust is one-time work. Using it is an ongoing process, and every NFA acquisition means a filing.
Buying or Transferring an NFA Item
When a dealer transfers an NFA item to the trust, the trust is the applicant on ATF Form 4. As of January 1, 2026, the transfer tax is $0 for suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and any-other-weapons.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5811 – Transfer Tax Machine guns and destructive devices still carry the $200 transfer tax.
Along with the Form 4, every responsible person listed in the trust must submit a completed ATF Form 5320.23 (Responsible Person Questionnaire), two passport-style photographs, and two FBI fingerprint cards (Form FD-258).2Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Background Checks for Responsible Persons (Final Rule 41F) The trust also sends a copy of the completed Form 4 to the chief law enforcement officer where the trust is located, plus a copy of each responsible person’s Form 5320.23 to the CLEO where that person lives. This is notification only; the CLEO does not have to approve anything.
Making an NFA Item Yourself
If you want the trust to build an NFA firearm, say by assembling a short-barreled rifle from a pistol lower, you file ATF Form 1 instead of Form 4.4Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Application to Make and Register NFA Firearm – ATF Form 5320.1 The same responsible person paperwork applies for every trustee. Wait for ATF approval before doing any work on the firearm.
The making tax mirrors the transfer tax: $0 for everything except machine guns and destructive devices, which stay at $200.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 US Code 5821 – Making Tax Civilians cannot manufacture new machine guns, so the $200 making tax is effectively irrelevant for most trust holders. Once approved, engrave the trust’s name, city, and state onto the firearm.
ATF processing times fluctuate. Check the agency’s current processing times page before filing if timing matters to you.6Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Current Processing Times
Keep the Trust Current
Life changes, and the trust needs to keep up. You might add a co-trustee when a child turns 21, remove one after a divorce, or update beneficiaries. Because most gun trusts are revocable, the grantor can make these changes at any time by drafting a written amendment.
The amendment should state clearly who is being added or removed and reference the original trust by name and date. The grantor signs it in front of a notary, and in some cases the new trustee signs too. Give copies to all existing trustees and beneficiaries. The next time the trust files an ATF application, any newly added trustee goes through the full responsible person process: fingerprints, photographs, and Form 5320.23.
When you remove a trustee, make sure they return any trust property in their possession, including firearms and documents. A removed trustee who continues to hold an NFA item registered to the trust is in unlawful possession.
Two Things a Trust Does Not Do on Its Own
Setting up the trust does not give it unlimited freedom to move or transfer items. If the trust holds short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, machine guns, or destructive devices, you need written ATF approval on Form 5320.20 before transporting any of those across state lines.7Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Application to Transport Interstate or to Temporarily Export Certain NFA Firearms – ATF Form 5320.20 Suppressors are exempt from that specific filing, though state laws still apply everywhere you go.
The trust also does not run itself after you die. Your successor trustee has to inventory the firearms, secure them, and file ATF Form 5 (tax-exempt) to transfer each NFA item to the named beneficiary.8Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Transfers of National Firearms Act Firearms in Decedents’ Estates Pick a successor trustee you trust to actually do this work, and make sure they know they are named.
Penalties for Getting It Wrong
Gun trust mistakes are not paperwork technicalities. Violating any provision of the National Firearms Act carries penalties of up to $10,000 in fines, up to 10 years in federal prison, or both.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 US Code 5871 – Penalties
The trap most trust holders fall into is constructive possession. If a non-trustee has access to the safe where NFA items are stored, whether that person is a roommate, a family member, or a spouse who is not on the trust, they could be treated as unlawfully possessing the item. The fix is straightforward: name them as a trustee, or make sure they cannot get into the storage location.
Other frequent violations include building an NFA firearm before receiving ATF approval on Form 1, leaving a prohibited person on the trust, moving restricted NFA items across state lines without an approved Form 5320.20, and skipping the transfer paperwork after the grantor’s death. Each carries the same felony exposure. Setting the trust up carefully, keeping it current, and filing the right ATF paperwork for every acquisition and transfer is what keeps lawful NFA ownership from turning into a federal charge.