A decision the client makes with counsel.
The Office is not a law firm. Titling, governing law, drafting, filing, and estate-plan integration sit entirely outside the Office’s scope. The Office does not propose, recommend, or evaluate ownership structures. Below is how the Office coordinates the operational pathway around whatever structure the client and counsel establish.
A record of what the client has decided, not a proposal.
§05 of the Physical Reserve Strategy Brief documents the ownership structure the client has established with counsel — or, where the engagement begins before counsel has finalized the structure, the brief notes that titling is to be resolved with counsel before the depository account is opened.
§05 records the operational specifics the depository needs in order to implement the structure: the named entity, the signature-authority pattern (typically “the trustee then serving” under a trust structure), and any beneficiary read-only arrangements counsel has directed. The Office does not characterize the structure, does not weigh alternatives, and does not opine on tax or estate- plan tradeoffs.
Out of scope, named explicitly.
The Office’s role around titling is operational, not advisory. The following sit entirely outside the Office’s scope and are decisions the client’s counsel makes under counsel’s retainer.
- ·Selecting an ownership structure or recommending between alternatives.
- ·Drafting trust instruments, LLC operating agreements, or any other titling document.
- ·Choosing governing-law jurisdiction.
- ·Opining on tax treatment, estate-plan integration, asset-protection posture, or distribution policy.
- ·Filing entity formation documents or amendments.
Operational implementation, after counsel decides.
Once counsel has finalized the structure, the Office’s operational coordination has four components.
- 01Depository agreement. The depository storage agreement is run between the titled entity and the depository directly, in advance of execution. Counsel’s redlines are coordinated with the depository before signing.
- 02Account opening. The depository account is opened in the name of the titled entity counsel has named.
- 03Signature authority. Configured per counsel’s instruction (typically the trustee then serving where the structure is a trust; an individual or an LLC-authorized signatory in other cases).
- 04Documentation chain. Trade records, depository statements, the all-risk insurance summary, and the supporting documents land in the client’s file as the engagement runs.
The full operational treatment of the documentation chain lives on the Custody page.
Operational questions only.
Where counsel has operational questions about how a given structure will be implemented at the depository level — what signature-authority pattern the facility accommodates, what the holdings statement looks like under the structure, what records the engagement produces, what beneficiary read-only arrangements are operationally available — the Office is available to describe the operational shape so counsel can decide with the operational picture in view.
Operational answers are not legal advice. The Office answers what the depository will do; counsel decides whether that fits the client’s structure.
Counsel decides; the Office runs the operational pathway.
Where the client’s counsel has questions about how a given structure will be implemented at the depository level, the Office is available for a 30-minute orientation call. The brief itself is available on request via the sample-brief surface.