How to Fill Out and Submit FS Form 5336: Estate Bond Disposition

FS Form 5336 lets a close family member claim the savings bonds and other Treasury securities of someone who has died, without going through probate. Its full title is “Disposition of Treasury Securities Belonging to a Decedent’s Estate Being Settled Without Administration,” and it works only when the total redemption value of the decedent’s Treasury holdings was $100,000 or less on the date of death.¹ The person who files is called a “voluntary representative,” and the Treasury recognizes only one per estate. The current version, revised July 2025, is available at TreasuryDirect.gov.²

Who Qualifies to File

You must be at least 18, competent, and either a blood relative, a legally adopted child, or the surviving spouse of the person who died.³ Only one person may serve as voluntary representative, and that person is selected by a fixed order of precedence:¹

Surviving spouse
Child of the decedent (natural or legally adopted)
Descendant of a deceased child (a grandchild, for example)
Parent of the decedent
Brother or sister of the decedent
Descendant of a deceased brother or sister (a niece or nephew)
Next of kin under the law of the decedent’s state

Start at the top and work down. If anyone in a higher category is alive and competent, no one in a lower category can serve. On the form, check the box for your position on that list.

When You Cannot Use the Form

The form is off the table in several situations. Silence in these cases would send you down the wrong path, so check each one before filling anything in:

A court has already appointed someone to administer the estate, or a petition for administration is pending.
The estate was settled under a state small-estate statute, summary administration, Texas Muniment of Title, Louisiana Judgment of Possession, or a similar proceeding.²
The total redemption or par value of the Treasury securities exceeded $100,000 on the date of death.¹
A living co-owner or beneficiary is already named on the bond. That person owns the bond outright and doesn’t need this form.⁴
You want to distribute bonds directly to a trust. The instructions specifically prohibit this.²

When any of these apply, the Treasury requires a court-appointed representative to handle the securities.

What to Gather First

Missing a document means the Bureau of the Fiscal Service sends the whole package back, so pull everything together before you begin.

You need a certified copy of the death certificate for every deceased person named on the securities. Photocopies will not do. Each certificate must be certified by the state or local registrar and carry a legible seal or stamp.⁵ If both people named on a bond have died, you need certificates for both. Anything you send to the Treasury cannot be returned.²

Every bond must be listed by serial number, along with its series (EE, E, I, HH, H, or a marketable security type), face value, and issue date.⁵ For paper bonds, that information is printed on the face; for electronic bonds, it appears in the TreasuryDirect account. All securities belonging to the estate go in one submission. You cannot file for part of the holdings now and come back later for the rest.²

For every heir who will receive bonds or cash, collect the full legal name, Social Security number, and mailing address. If any recipient wants direct deposit, you also need the bank’s routing number and account number.

Completing the Form

Print in ink or type. The Treasury rejects transfer requests with any alterations or corrections, so if you make a mistake in a transfer section you may have to start again on a fresh form.²

Part A: Estate Information

Enter the decedent’s full legal name, Social Security number, and state of legal residence. If more than one person was named on the securities, use the name of the person who died last. Attach the certified death certificates here.

Order of Precedence

Check the box matching your position on the precedence list. By signing, you certify that no court representative has been or will be appointed and that the estate will not be settled through any formal legal process.

Parts D and F: What Happens to the Bonds

This is where you tell the Treasury what to do with each security. You have two options and can mix them across bonds:

Cash out (Part D). The Treasury redeems the bonds and sends payment to the people entitled. List each recipient’s name, Social Security number, and mailing address; add bank details for direct deposit.
Transfer and reissue (Part F). The bonds are reissued in the names of the people entitled. Specify which bonds go to which person; if distribution goes to more than one person, the form or an attached list must show exactly which securities each person receives and to what extent.⁵

An individual savings bond cannot be split. Each bond goes to one person in its entirety. Marketable securities (Treasury bills, notes, and bonds) can be divided in $100 increments.²

If someone entitled to a bond wants to cash it, that person must separately complete FS Form 1522 (Special Form of Request for Payment). To have a bond reissued in their own name, they file FS Form 4000 (Request to Reissue). Include these additional forms in the same mailing.⁵ Need more room in any section? Photocopy the page or attach a plain sheet.

Getting Your Signature Certified

Do not sign the form at home. You must sign it in the physical presence of someone authorized to certify your identity. Who counts as authorized depends on what you are claiming:⁶

Paper savings bonds only. Either an authorized certifying officer at a financial institution or a notary public may certify. A notary must include their seal or stamp.
All other Treasury securities, or a mix of paper savings bonds and other securities. You need an authorized certifying officer; a notary alone is not enough.

Authorized certifying officers include bank and credit union officers (who apply their institution’s seal or signature guarantee stamp), commissioned officers of the U.S. Armed Forces for military-connected signers, and judges or clerks of U.S. courts. Members of Treasury-recognized Medallion signature guarantee programs (STAMP, SEMP, or MSP) can also certify, but only for security transfers.⁶

Call your bank first. Not every branch employee is authorized, and smaller branches sometimes need advance notice. The officer must sign, add their title, and apply the institution’s official stamp or seal in the space provided.⁵

Mailing the Package

Send the signed, certified package to:

Treasury Retail Securities Services
P.O. Box 9150
Minneapolis, MN 55480-9150²

Include:

The completed FS Form 5336 (without the instruction pages)
All original paper bonds and any related checks belonging to the estate
Certified copies of death certificates for every deceased person named on the securities
Any FS Form 1522 or FS Form 4000 if entitled heirs are asking for cash payment or reissuance

You are shipping original bonds and documents the Treasury will not return, so use registered or certified mail with tracking. The Treasury charges no processing fee for FS Form 5336; you pay postage and the cost of the certified death certificates.

After You Submit

The Bureau of the Fiscal Service reviews the form, verifies the bond records, and checks the heir information. If something is missing or wrong, the agency contacts the voluntary representative for a correction. Common delays trace to incomplete bond serial numbers, unsigned certification blocks, alterations in the transfer sections, and death certificates without a registrar’s seal.

Once the review clears, the Treasury either sends cash payments by direct deposit or check or reissues the securities in the new owners’ names. The voluntary representative warrants that the distribution follows the inheritance laws of the decedent’s state. The federal government accepts no liability for an improper distribution; that responsibility sits entirely with the voluntary representative.¹

Tax Reporting for Heirs

Cashing or reissuing inherited bonds triggers income tax on the accrued interest, and the rules differ between electronic and paper bonds.

For electronic bonds held in TreasuryDirect, a Form 1099-INT is issued at the time of reissuance. It covers all interest earned up to that date and is reported under the previous owner’s Social Security number. When the new owner later cashes the bond or it matures, a second 1099-INT is issued to the new owner for interest earned after the reissuance.⁷

Paper bonds work differently. The IRS receives a single 1099-INT only when the bond is cashed or reaches final maturity, and it shows the total interest earned over the bond’s entire life, not just the portion earned after inheritance. If you inherit a paper bond and cash it, the 1099-INT you receive may overstate what you owe. To report only the interest that accrued after you became the owner, follow the instructions in IRS Publication 550 for previously accrued interest on U.S. Savings Bonds.⁷

1
eCFR. 31 CFR 315.71 – Decedent’s Estate
2
Department of the Treasury | Bureau of the Fiscal Service. FS Form 5336 – Disposition of Treasury Securities Belonging to a Decedent’s Estate Being Settled Without Administration
3
TreasuryDirect. Non-administered Estates
4
eCFR. 31 CFR 353.70 – General Rules Governing Entitlement
5
TreasuryDirect. Savings Bonds – Redemption and Reissue Instructions for Nonadministered Estates
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TreasuryDirect. Signature Certification
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TreasuryDirect. Tax Information for EE and I Bonds