Inheriting savings bonds as a named co-owner or beneficiary

Paper savings bonds

This page tells you what to do with paper savings bonds that you inherit directly because your name is on the bond as a co-owner or beneficiary.

Options for different savings bonds

If you now own savings bonds as the named survivor, your options depend on which savings bonds you have.

The paper savings bonds you have	Your options
EE or I savings bonds that are still earning interest (EE and I bonds earn interest for 30 years from their issue date.)	You have 3 options: Do nothing. Cash in the bond. Have the bond reissued in your name alone, removing the deceased person.
HH savings bonds that are still earning interest (HH bonds earn interest for 20 years from their issue date.)	You have 3 options: Cash in the bond. Have the bond reissued in your name and get the interest payments every 6 months. Do not have the bond reissued but get the interest payments every 6 months.
Savings bonds that are no longer earning interest	Cash in the bonds

How to...

Do nothing for savings bonds with a named survivor

EE and I bonds

Because the interest accumulates and you get all the interest when the bond matures or you cash it in, you may just hold onto a paper EE or I bond.

HH bonds

Because the owner actually gets the interest payment twice a year, doing nothing is NOT an option for HH bonds.

Cash in savings bonds with a named survivor

EE and I bonds

Find a bank or other financial institution that will pay for your bonds. Ask them what identification and other documents they need you to bring with the bonds. They may also have a limit of how much they will cash. Ask about that. Take the bonds and other documents they need and get cash for the EE and I bonds.

Also read Cashing in EE or I savings bonds

HH bonds

Banks are not permitted to cash HH bonds. But your bank manager can probably help you prepare to send the bonds to us for payment.

Also read Cashing in HH savings bonds

Reissue savings bonds with a known survivor

Series EE and I

When we reissue an EE or I bond, we make it an electronic bond in our free online program, TreasuryDirect.

Therefore, as the survivor (co-owner or beneficiary named on the bond of someone who died), if you want an EE or I bond to now be registered in your name alone, you must have a TreasuryDirect account. Once in your TreasuryDirect account, the bond will be registered in your name alone. You can then add either a secondary owner or beneficiary.

Once you have a TreasuryDirect account, you can convert other paper bonds you own to electronic bonds.

More about TreasuryDirect

Open a TreasuryDirect account

Converting EE or I paper bonds to electronic bonds

Series HH

Note: As the new owner of the bond, you will receive the interest on an HH bond every 6 months from now on whether we reissue the bond or not.

We reissue HH bonds as paper bonds.

With this option, you not only get the interest every 6 months, you also get a new copy of the bond with your name as the owner.

(If you want to get the interest but don't care about having the name changed on the bond, go to the next option.)

To have us reissue an HH bond in your name as the new owner (and if you want to name a new co-owner, new beneficiary, or both)

1. Fill out FS Form 4000.
2. Sign FS Form 4000 in the presence of a certifying official. (Follow the instructions on the form. Also see Signature certification.)
3. Fill out FS Form 5396.
4. Send us
   • The filled out and signed forms
   • The HH paper bonds unsigned
   • Certified death certificates for everyone named on any of the bonds who has died.
5. Mail the package to us at
   

   Treasury Retail Securities Services
   P.O. Box 9150
   Minneapolis, MN 55480-9150

Note: We cannot return documents you send to us. Please make sure everything you send is legible.

Do not reissue the HH savings bonds with a known survivor but get the interest payments every 6 months

This option applies only to HH savings bonds, not to EE or I bonds. With an HH savings bond, you cannot accumulate the twice-a-year interest and wait to get it later. We must send the interest payment every 6 months to the person who owns the bond.

Therefore, we need to have an address, Social Security Number, and direct deposit information for you the survivor (co-owner or beneficiary) who is now entitled to the interest payments.

To have us set you up to receive the interest payments on an HH savings bond without reissuing the bond:

1. Fill out FS Form 5396.
2. For bonds where you are named as the beneficiary: Certified death certificates for everyone named on any of the bonds who has died.

   Note: A co-owner does not need to send the death certificate(s) for this option because we aren’t issuing a new bond in your name and removing the first-named owner.

3. Send them to us at the address on FS Form 5396.

Note: We cannot return documents you send to us. Please make sure everything you send is legible.

What about taxes?

For information on who owes taxes in various situations involving different savings bonds, see

Tax information for EE and I savings bonds

Tax information for HH savings bonds

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