Texas Bullion Depository Account Types Explained

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The five published account types at a glance

The Texas Bullion Depository publishes a single Account Types page that lists exactly five options: Personal, Joint, Business, Trust, and Estate. That page is the authoritative list because the depository is a Texas state agency; the account types you can open are set at the program level, not at the sales-call level.

Each type maps to a real legal owner of the metal. Personal accounts belong to one individual. Joint accounts belong to two individuals together. Business accounts belong to a legal entity like a corporation or an LLC. Trust accounts belong to a legal trust for the benefit of a beneficiary. Estate accounts belong to a decedent's estate through the probate process.

The choice is not cosmetic. It sets who owns the metal, whose signature is required to transact, and how the metal is treated at death, divorce, or dissolution. Choosing the wrong type at opening leads to paperwork later, sometimes court paperwork.

IRA metal has its own story, covered later on this page. It is not one of the five published account types. It is a separate storage service that a self-directed IRA custodian arranges on your behalf through the depository operator, Lone Star Tangible Assets LP.

Personal account: the default for one individual

The Personal account is the most common option. The depository describes it as "usually right for a private person to use to establish an account, generally to store their personal precious metal holdings." It is the right type for a single Texas resident who is buying gold, silver, platinum, or palladium under their own name.

Ownership is straightforward. The metal in a Personal account belongs to one individual. That individual is the only person authorized to transact against the account, unless an authorized user is added inside the depositor portal. Beneficiaries can be added to direct the metal at death, but they do not have transactional authority during life.

At opening you upload three documents: a state-issued driver license, an acceptable secondary form of identification, and an acceptable proof of address. Acceptable secondary IDs include a U.S. passport, a photo ID from a federal, state, or local agency, a U.S. military ID, or a voter registration card, among the roughly fifteen items the depository lists on its Items Required to Open an Account page.

A Personal account is also the right home if you plan to hold metal outside a retirement account and simply want a state-run vault instead of a bank safe deposit box or a private depository. It carries no minimum balance in the published rules, though the storage fee has a 25 dollars per quarter minimum.

Joint account: two owners, like a joint checking account

The Joint account is designed for two people who want joint ownership of the metal. The depository's Account Types page compares it directly to "a joint checking account at a bank." That analogy is the fastest way to see how it works: both account holders share ownership, and both need to be identified at opening.

In practice the Joint account is the natural fit for married couples, and for parents and adult children who intend to hold metal together. It is also the reason the document count is highest of the five types. Each account holder must upload a state-issued driver license and a secondary identification, plus a shared proof of address, for a total of five documents at application.

The depository does not publish on its Account Types page whether ownership defaults to joint tenancy with right of survivorship or to tenancy in common. That distinction matters for estate planning.

If your metal is in a Joint account and one holder dies, whether the surviving holder takes it automatically or whether the decedent's share flows through probate depends on the language in the account paperwork. Confirm the exact form of joint ownership before you fund the account. Get an estate attorney's read if the account is a meaningful part of your net worth.

Both holders need to authorize withdrawals in most joint-account setups. That is a feature, not a bug: it protects against unilateral withdrawal by one owner without the knowledge of the other.

Business account: corporations, LLCs, and limited partnerships

The Business account is for a legal business entity that wants to store its own precious metal assets at the depository. The depository lists corporations, limited liability companies, and limited partnerships as examples of entities that would use this type. The account is opened by an authorized representative of the business, called the account steward.

The document set reflects the entity layer. You upload the business formation documents (articles of incorporation, LLC filing certificate, or the equivalent for the entity form). You add a state-issued driver license for the account steward, a secondary form of identification for the account steward, and a proof of address. Four documents in total.

Ownership belongs to the entity, not to the account steward personally. The steward is the human authorized to transact, but the metal sits on the entity's balance sheet, not the individual's. That matters for tax treatment, for pledging metal as collateral, and for what happens if the steward changes roles or leaves the company.

Business accounts fit three common cases. A Texas company that treats bullion as a corporate reserve asset. A Texas partnership that owns metal as an investment. A Texas single-member LLC that a founder uses to hold metal separately from their personal balance sheet. They are not the right home for IRA metal, even if the LLC is a checkbook-IRA LLC; that path runs through the IRA storage service instead.

Trust account: metal held for a trust beneficiary

The Trust account is used to hold the precious metal assets of a legal trust "established for the benefit of the trust's beneficiary," per the Account Types page. The account is titled in the name of the trust, and the account steward is the trustee (or a co-trustee) authorized to transact under the trust document.

The document set is trust-specific: you upload the trust agreement documentation, a state-issued driver license for the account steward, a secondary form of identification for the account steward, and a proof of address. Four documents.

Trust accounts are common in estate planning because a trust survives its settlor. Metal held in a trust account does not become part of the settlor's probate estate on death; it moves under the terms of the trust, which is often faster and more private than probate. That is a general feature of trust ownership, not a promise about the depository, and you should confirm the mechanics with an estate planning attorney before you title metal to a trust.

The Trust type covers revocable living trusts, irrevocable trusts, and specialized vehicles like generation-skipping trusts and charitable remainder trusts, as long as the trust is a valid legal entity with a trust agreement the depository can review. A charitable trust that has been approved by the IRS as tax-exempt would still use the Trust account type, not a specialized nonprofit account.

Estate account: precious metal assets for a decedent's estate

The Estate account is the type used to hold precious metal assets that belong to a decedent's estate. It is opened after death, typically by the executor or administrator appointed by the probate court, and it exists to consolidate metal into a single custody arrangement while the estate is being administered.

The core document at opening is the Letters of Administration (or Letters Testamentary in some states), which is the probate court's order appointing the personal representative of the estate. You also upload the personal representative's state-issued driver license, a secondary form of identification, and a proof of address. Four documents in total.

Ownership is temporary by design. An Estate account is a holding account during probate. Once the metal has been valued and distributed under the will or under the state's intestacy statute, it typically moves out of the Estate account and into a Personal, Joint, or Trust account belonging to the beneficiary. For a Texas resident dying without a will, that intestacy distribution follows the Texas Estates Code.

The type is also useful for coordinating a fair-market-value appraisal. Metal in an Estate account is inventoried and can be valued through the depository's holdings record and current spot pricing on the portal. That gives the personal representative a clean paper trail for the federal estate tax return (Form 706) if one is required. It also serves the beneficiaries' cost-basis records at the stepped-up basis date under Internal Revenue Code section 1014.

IRA storage is separate: not a sixth account type

This is the most common source of confusion. If you are researching the Texas Bullion Depository for IRA gold, you might expect to see an "IRA" option on the Account Types page. It is not there.

IRA metal is handled through a separate IRA storage service, not as a sixth account type. The reason is that IRS rules require IRA assets to be held by a bank or an IRS-approved nonbank trustee, per Internal Revenue Code section 408 and the depository's own IRA Storage Services page.

The mechanism is this. Lone Star Tangible Assets LP, the depository contractor that operates the Texas Bullion Depository under the state contract, received IRS approval as a nonbank trustee in 2023. That approval is what allowed the depository to accept IRA metal at all. The IRS publishes a list of approved nonbank trustees and custodians on irs.gov that includes the approved entities.

In practice, IRA storage still works through a self-directed IRA custodian who holds the tax-law title to the account. As of August 2026 the documented custodian path for IRA metal at the Texas Bullion Depository is Equity Trust Company, per the depository's own IRA Storage Services page. The custodian sends the funds to a Texas dealer, the dealer ships the metal to the depository, and the metal is stored under the custodian's IRA account at the depository.

The upshot for a Texas retiree is that the account types on the depository's public page apply to the metal you own directly. IRA metal is layered on top of that structure through a third-party custodian. Both use the same vault in Leander, the same segregated storage, and the same insurance policy through Lloyd's of London; only the ownership title and the custodian layer differ.

How to open any of the five account types

Documents required by account type

The document list is set on the depository's Account Types page and cross-referenced on the Items Required to Open an Account page. The table below reproduces the published requirements for each account type. This is not the full acceptable-secondary-ID list (that runs to roughly fifteen items), only the count and category at opening.

The acceptable secondary IDs include U.S. passport, photo ID card issued by U.S. federal, state, or local government agency, U.S. military ID, U.S. permanent resident card, and voter registration card, among others. Acceptable proofs of address include an active utility bill, bank statement, credit card bill, vehicle registration, property tax bill, or cellular phone bill.

How fees work across the five account types

All five published account types use the same non-IRA storage fee schedule. The depository publishes a tiered annual rate on average daily value, effective April 1, 2026. First tier: 0.49 percent up to 499,999.99 dollars. Second tier: 0.44 percent from 500,000 dollars to 999,999.99 dollars. Third tier: 0.39 percent from 1,000,000 dollars to 2,499,999.99 dollars. Fourth tier: 0.34 percent from 2,500,000 dollars to 4,999,999.99 dollars. Above 5,000,000 dollars the rate is negotiable. A 25 dollars per quarter minimum applies.

Fees accrue daily on the average daily value and are billed quarterly. The daily rate is the annual rate divided by 365. A Personal, Joint, Business, Trust, or Estate account with an average daily value of 100,000 dollars sits in the first tier and pays about 1.34 dollars per day, or roughly 490 dollars per year in storage fees.

Non-storage fees are also uniform across the five published account types. There is no account setup fee and no standard withdrawal fee. Domestic shipping is 17.95 dollars plus 0.0018 times the spot value (or declared value where higher). A courier pick-up appointment is 35 dollars per transaction. Customer room usage inside the facility is 35 dollars per half hour. Stop payment, late payment, insufficient funds, and refused deposit fees are 35 dollars each.

IRA storage sits outside this fee schedule. The depository's IRA Storage Services page states that IRA storage fees are typically negotiated among the custodian, the gold dealer, and the depository contractor. If you are quoting IRA storage, get the number from the custodian in writing before you fund, and check that the total (custodian fee plus depository storage fee) is what you expect.

The calculator below models the compounding effect of storage and custodian fees on a retirement account. Enter the fee bundle your custodian and dealer quoted to see the long-run drag on your balance.

The projection is a modeling tool, not a promise. Real fees vary with account activity, wire fees, and any additional custodian charges. Always cross-check your first quarterly statement against the quoted rate for the account type you opened.

How to choose the right account type

The right account type is the one that matches the legal owner of the metal today, not the owner you might prefer for tax or estate planning reasons. If the metal is your own personal property, Personal is the answer. If you and your spouse both own it, Joint. If your company owns it, Business. If your revocable living trust owns it, Trust. If the account is being opened after death by the executor, Estate.

Three tests help when the answer is not obvious. First: whose federal tax ID would appear on any tax reporting for this metal? That points to Personal or Joint (Social Security number), Business (employer identification number), Trust (trust EIN if any, or grantor's SSN for a grantor trust), or Estate (estate EIN issued during probate).

Second: whose signature is legally required to sell the metal? That determines who must be listed as an account holder or account steward. Third: what happens to the metal at death? Personal accounts go through probate unless a beneficiary designation is on file. Joint accounts follow the joint ownership form. Trust accounts follow the trust agreement. Business accounts follow the entity's operating agreement or bylaws.

For IRA metal, none of the five types applies directly. Route through a self-directed IRA custodian that supports the Texas Bullion Depository, and let the custodian open the IRA storage arrangement on your behalf.

Worked example: a Texas couple opening a Joint account

When the Texas Bullion Depository is not the right home for your metal

The five account types cover most private and business ownership situations, but there are honest cases where the depository is not the right answer:

• You need the metal in your hand for barter or emergency use. A depository account is a custody arrangement. Metal in Leander is not the same as a coin in your pocket. If your plan requires physical possession, a home safe (with its own insurance and security tradeoffs) is a different tool.
• You are not a U.S. resident, or you do not have a U.S.-issued driver license. The application at this time requires a valid driver license issued in the United States, per the Items Required to Open an Account page.
• Your metal is IRA metal and you have not lined up a supporting self-directed IRA custodian. The five published account types are not IRA accounts. Route through a self-directed IRA custodian and its IRA storage arrangement instead.
• You want a very small account with no fees. The 25 dollars per quarter minimum on storage fees means a very small position, say a few ounces of silver, will pay a fee that outweighs the storage need. A home safe or a bank safe deposit box may be a better fit for a small position.
• You want the vault to also broker or advise on your metal. The depository is a state custody service. It does not upsell, does not advise on asset allocation, and does not broker trades. Buying and selling still happens through a dealer.

None of these are red flags against the depository. They are the boundaries of what a state-run custody service is designed to do.

Frequently asked questions

By Harry's Coins Editorial. Last reviewed August 2026.