ASSET PROTECTION, ESTATE PLANNING & NFA FIREARMS TRUST

You have worked hard to provide for your family and accumulate family treasures and you deserve to pass them on to your loved ones the way you want! South Carolina Attorneys At Law asset protection and estate planning practice can help you ensure your loved ones are properly provided for in the way you want upon your eventual passing through the preparation of a personalized estate plan. Without a proper estate plan everything you have worked your whole life for could be distributed in ways that you would not have approved of in life, be taxed unfairly, wrapped up in frivolous lawsuits, or even taken by the government.

Life is uncertain, and that’s why it’s very important to plan ahead and make sure you have made very clear your personal wishes and also appoint a spokesperson in the event you are no longer able to speak for yourself. The last thing you want to do is create ill will or infighting amongst your loves ones over decisions that affect you and should be made by you! Through the proper drafting of advanced directives like a declaration of a desire for a natural death (living will) or a health care power of attorney, our South Carolina Asset Protection and Estate Planning Attorneys can help you ensure your wishes are carried out in the event life takes an unfortunate turn for the worse. We are committed to helping you manage your life in the way you want and protect your accumulated wealth through effective tax, investment, privacy, and personal asset protection and estate planning strategies.

A sampling of some of the types of legal services our Asset Protection and Estate Planning practice group offers:

• Preparation of wills
• Preparation of trusts
• Combinations of legal entities with trusts
• Equity stripping
• Preparation of advance directives: living will and health care power of attorney
• Preparation of durable power of attorney, and many more!

Contact our asset protection and estate planning practice group at estateplanning@scattorneysatlaw.com to see how we can help you today!

A NFA Firearms Trust is a unique legal instrument that helps deal with the issues that can arise with the sale, purchase, and ownership of Title II firearms. (Including short-barrel rifles and shotguns, machine guns, and silencers.) These are also referred to as Gun Trusts, Firearms Trusts, or Firearms Revocable Trusts.

A Trust, generally, is a legal relationship whereby property is held by one person for the benefit of another. NFA Firearms Trusts are specifically tailored to deal with the fact that the property can be firearms. The Trust itself is the entity that ‘owns’ the property in trust. While something similar can be achieved with LLCs or Corporations, Trusts are preferred because those business entities have annual tax and other reporting requirements. This is not only expensive, but provides less privacy. Further, since there are more reporting requirements, there is more of a risk of mis-reporting, which could lead to severe criminal penalties.

From an estate planning perspective, having your NFA assets in a trust allows them to avoid probate and pass seamlessly to your beneficiaries tax-free on a Form 5.  If any of the beneficiaries are under the age where they may legally possess the NFA items, then the trust will continue to hold the assets until such time as the beneficiary may legally take possession. In addition, the trust contains instructions on how a successor trustee is to handle beneficiary distribution in the case that one of more beneficiaries becomes a disqualified person.

Contact our NFA Firearms Trust practice group at nfatrust@scattorneysatlaw.com to see how we can help you today!