To set up a gun trust in Florida, you draft a revocable trust written specifically to hold firearms regulated under the National Firearms Act, sign it in front of two witnesses and a notary, and then use that trust to apply to the ATF each time you want to acquire an NFA item like a suppressor or short-barreled rifle. The 2025 tax change zeroed out the federal transfer tax on most NFA items starting January 1, 2026, but the trust, the background checks, and ATF approval are all still required.1Congress.gov. The National Firearms Act and P.L. 119-21: Issues for Congress
A trust is worth the trouble for two reasons. It lets multiple trustees legally possess and transport the same NFA item without the registered owner being physically present, and it moves those items to your beneficiaries through the trust document instead of through probate when you die.
What the Trust Is Designed to Hold
The National Firearms Act covers a specific list: short-barreled shotguns (barrels under 18 inches), short-barreled rifles (barrels under 16 inches), silencers or suppressors, machineguns, destructive devices, and weapons classified as “any other weapon.”2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5845 – Definitions Florida allows ownership of every NFA category that federal law allows, so there’s no separate state ban to work around.
Ordinary handguns, rifles, and shotguns don’t need NFA registration and don’t need a trust for legal possession. Some Florida owners still fold them into the gun trust for estate-planning convenience, but that’s a choice, not a requirement.
Deciding Who Goes on the Trust
A gun trust has four roles. The settlor creates the trust and funds it. The trustee (and any co-trustees) manages trust property and has legal authority to possess, transport, and use the trust’s firearms. A successor trustee takes over if the original trustee dies or becomes incapacitated. Beneficiaries eventually inherit the trust property.
Responsible Persons
The ATF uses the term “responsible person” for anyone with the power to direct the management of the trust or to receive, possess, transport, or dispose of the trust’s firearms.3Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Background Checks for Responsible Persons (Final Rule 41F) The settlor and every active trustee always count. Beneficiaries usually don’t, unless the trust gives them power over management or the firearms. Successor trustees who haven’t yet stepped in don’t count either.
This matters because every responsible person has to undergo a background check and submit paperwork each time the trust acquires a new NFA item. More responsible persons means more paperwork and more chances for delay, so keep the list to people who genuinely need access.
Screening for Prohibited Persons
Federal law bars several categories of people from possessing firearms at all, and a trust does not create a workaround.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts The disqualifiers include felony convictions, fugitive status, unlawful drug use, certain mental health adjudications, domestic violence convictions or restraining orders, dishonorable military discharge, renounced U.S. citizenship, and most nonimmigrant visa statuses. The ATF background check will flag anyone in these categories, but screen potential trustees yourself before you spend time and money on paperwork.
Drafting the Trust Document
You can hire a Florida-licensed attorney to draft the trust, or use a service that provides Florida-specific gun trust forms. Either way, the document needs to do more than a generic revocable trust.
It should name the settlor, all trustees and co-trustees, successor trustees, and beneficiaries by full legal name and current physical address. It should spell out who has authority to acquire, possess, and transfer NFA items for the trust, how trustees can be added or removed, and what happens to the firearms when the settlor dies. It should also automatically cut off access for any trustee who later becomes a prohibited person.
A firearms inventory, usually called Schedule A, is attached to the trust and lists each firearm by make, model, and serial number. You update it every time the trust acquires or transfers a firearm. Starting out, the schedule can be empty or list only conventional firearms you’re transferring in.
Signing It Under Florida Law
Florida requires the testamentary parts of a revocable trust to be executed with the same formalities as a will.5FindLaw. Florida Statutes Title XLII Estates and Trusts 736.0403 The settlor signs the trust in front of two attesting witnesses, and each witness signs in the presence of the settlor and the other witness. Notarize it too. Notarization makes the trust self-proving under Florida law, and the ATF requires a notarized copy of the trust with every NFA application anyway.
Once the trust is signed and witnessed, you fund it. For firearms you already own that aren’t NFA items, you create an assignment transferring ownership from yourself to the trust and update the schedule. For NFA items you don’t own yet, the trust needs to be fully executed first. The settlor puts money into the trust, and the trustee then uses those funds to buy the items in the trust’s name through the ATF process below.
Applying to the ATF for Each NFA Item
A signed and notarized trust doesn’t itself buy you a suppressor. Every NFA acquisition needs its own ATF application and approval.
Form 4 or Form 1
ATF Form 4 (Form 5320.4) is what the trust files when it’s buying an existing NFA item from a licensed dealer. That covers most trust purchases.6Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Firearms Forms ATF Form 1 (Form 5320.1) is what you file when the trust wants to make an NFA firearm itself, like assembling a short-barreled rifle from parts or building a suppressor. Both need ATF approval before the transfer or manufacture actually happens.
Paperwork for Every Responsible Person
Every responsible person on the trust must complete ATF Form 5320.23, the Responsible Person Questionnaire, for each application.7Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. ATF Form 5320.23 – National Firearms Act Responsible Person Questionnaire Each also submits two completed FD-258 fingerprint cards and a 2×2-inch photograph taken within the past year. That material is what the ATF uses to run the background check.
CLEO Notification
Before the application goes to the ATF, every responsible person sends a completed copy of Form 5320.23 to the chief law enforcement officer where that person lives. The CLEO is typically the local chief of police, county sheriff, head of the state police, or local district attorney.8Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Firearms Questions and Answers The CLEO doesn’t have to approve or sign anything. It’s notification only, but skipping it leaves your application incomplete.
Submitting the Package
A complete submission has the Form 4 (or Form 1), a copy of the signed and notarized trust, a Form 5320.23 for every responsible person with photograph attached, and two sets of fingerprint cards per responsible person. You can submit through the ATF’s eForms online portal or by paper. eForms is much faster.
What It Costs in 2026
The federal transfer and making tax for most NFA items dropped to $0 on January 1, 2026. Suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and any-other-weapon items all carry no tax. Machineguns and destructive devices still carry the $200 tax.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5811 – Transfer Tax The ATF still issues an approval stamp for every transfer regardless of tax amount.
Beyond the federal tax, budget for the trust itself. Attorney-drafted gun trusts in Florida typically run from a few hundred dollars upward, depending on complexity. Online services charge less but may not account for every nuance of Florida law. Fingerprinting and passport photos for each responsible person cost extra, and those costs come back every time the trust files a new application.
How Long Approval Takes
ATF processing times shift, but the most recently published averages put Form 4 applications for trusts submitted through eForms at about 26 days. Individual applications outside a trust average about 10 days.10Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Current Processing Times Paper submissions historically take much longer. Check the ATF’s processing times page before you plan around a specific date.
Keeping the Trust Current After Approval
When the ATF approves an application, you get the approved form back as your proof of registration. Keep the original with the firearm, or at least a readily accessible copy. Registration doesn’t expire, and there’s nothing to renew.
Adding or Removing Trustees
Every change to who’s a trustee changes who counts as a responsible person. The trust should include amendment procedures. A newly added trustee doesn’t have to file ATF paperwork right away, but they will need to complete Form 5320.23 with fingerprints and photos the next time the trust applies for a new NFA item. If a trustee becomes a prohibited person, remove them from the trust and cut off their access immediately.
Taking NFA Items Out of State
Most NFA firearms need prior ATF approval on Form 5320.20 before crossing state lines.11Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Application to Transport Interstate or Temporarily Export Certain NFA Firearms – ATF Form 5320.20 Suppressors and any-other-weapon items are exempt from this form. Short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, machineguns, and destructive devices all require it. Movement within Florida doesn’t need Form 5320.20, but any change of address for the registrant should be reported to the ATF in writing.
When the Settlor Dies
When the trust’s creator dies, the successor trustee takes over and the NFA items pass to the beneficiaries as the trust directs. These transfers are tax-exempt under 26 USC 5852 because they happen by operation of law rather than voluntary sale. The beneficiary still has to register the items in their own name with the ATF. If a beneficiary lives in a state that prohibits a particular NFA item, that item can’t legally transfer to them, so the trust should include contingency provisions for that situation.