Manage Saving Bonds

Inheriting savings bonds as a named co-owner or beneficiary

Electronic savings bonds

If the person who died has an online TreasuryDirect account, contact us.

We will put a hold on the account and tell you what to do.

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.)	Series HH bonds have all reached final maturity and are no longer earning interest. The only option is to redeem the bonds as the deferred interest, if any is shown on the bonds, will be reportable for the tax year 2024, even if the bonds have not been cashed. Deferred interest is reportable when the bonds are redeemed or when they mature, whichever comes first.
Savings bonds that are no longer earning interest	Cash in the bonds

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

Note: All HH savings bonds have reached final maturity as of August 1, 2024. Deferred interest is reportable when the bonds are redeemed or when they mature, whichever occurs first. A 1099 will be sent at the end of calendar year 2024 for bonds dated 2004, even if you do not redeem your securities.

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.

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