To find lost U.S. savings bonds, file FS Form 1048 with the Bureau of the Fiscal Service and search your state’s unclaimed property database, which now receives bond records directly from the Treasury under the SECURE 2.0 Act. Billions of dollars in paper bonds sit unredeemed because certificates were lost in moves, fires, or forgotten safe deposit boxes. You can recover them without the serial numbers, though the process moves faster when you have the owner’s Social Security Number and a rough idea of when the bonds were bought.
Gather What You Know About the Owner
Before contacting anyone, pull together whatever identifying details you have. The Social Security Number of the person named on the bond is the single most useful piece of information, because Treasury records are indexed to it. Also collect the owner’s full legal name, including maiden and middle names, along with any co-owner or beneficiary who may have appeared on the bond.
Approximate purchase dates help a great deal. Even the month and year within a range lets the Bureau sort through people with similar names. Note the bond series if you can — Series EE, Series I, or the older Series E, which was last issued in 1980. Serial numbers speed the claim, but you can file without them.
If you don’t have a Social Security Number, you can still search state unclaimed property databases by name and last known address. The results are less precise, but states are now receiving bond data from the Treasury specifically to reconnect owners with forgotten bonds.1TreasuryDirect. Treasury Hunt — TreasuryDirect
Search State Unclaimed Property Databases
The Treasury’s own search tool, Treasury Hunt, was shut down on September 30, 2025.1TreasuryDirect. Treasury Hunt — TreasuryDirect Under the SECURE 2.0 Act, the Treasury is now required to share information about unclaimed savings bonds directly with each state’s unclaimed property program, including the registered owner’s name and last known address.2TreasuryDirect. 2024 Report to Congress Under the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 The final rule implementing this data-sharing was published in December 2024, so states are still building out their databases.
Start at unclaimed.org, which is run by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators and links out to each state’s official portal. Many states also participate in MissingMoney.com for a broader multi-state search. Check every state where the bond owner ever lived or received mail. If a state turns up a match, that state will have its own claim forms and identity verification steps to release the funds.
States sometimes hold the proceeds of a bond rather than the bond itself. That happens, for instance, when a matured bond was previously cashed but the payment check was returned as undeliverable. Under state unclaimed property laws, those funds eventually transfer to the state treasurer’s office for safekeeping.3National Association of State Treasurers (NAST). Unclaimed Bonds
File FS Form 1048 With the Bureau of the Fiscal Service
FS Form 1048, “Claim for Lost, Stolen, or Destroyed United States Savings Bonds,” is the formal petition you send to the Treasury to replace or cash a bond you no longer physically hold. Download it from TreasuryDirect. There are two versions: one for when you know the serial numbers and a separate version for when you don’t.4TreasuryDirect. Get Help for Lost, Stolen, or Destroyed EE or I Savings Bond
On the form, you provide the owner’s identifying information and explain how the bond was lost. A house fire, a theft, decades of moving. The explanation doesn’t need to be elaborate, just honest. If the bond was issued to a minor or purchased as a gift, including the purchaser’s information helps narrow the Treasury’s search.
Getting Your Signature Certified
Before you mail FS Form 1048, sign it in front of someone authorized to certify your identity. The form itself lists acceptable seals from both notaries and financial institution officials.5TreasuryDirect. Claim for Lost, Stolen, or Destroyed United States Savings Bonds – FS Form 1048 Any of the following works:
- A notary seal or stamp.
- A bank or credit union official seal, including a corporate seal, signature guarantee, endorsement guarantee, or issuing/paying agent stamp.
- A Treasury-approved Medallion Program stamp.
A bank will often certify the signature for free if you’re a customer. A notary public charges a small fee that varies by state.
Mailing and Processing
Send the completed, certified form to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service at P.O. Box 7012, Parkersburg, WV 26106-7012.5TreasuryDirect. Claim for Lost, Stolen, or Destroyed United States Savings Bonds – FS Form 1048 There is no electronic submission option. Keep copies of everything you send.
Processing typically takes several weeks to several months, depending on how complex the search is and how backed up the Bureau is at the time. If approved, the Treasury will either deposit the bond’s value into a TreasuryDirect account as an electronic bond or mail a check for the current redemption value of a matured bond.
Claiming Bonds When the Owner Has Died
Most lost bond recoveries involve someone who has died. The path depends on whether the estate went through probate and how much the bonds are worth.
Estates Handled Through Probate
If the estate is open and being administered through a court, the executor or personal representative must provide court documentation of their authority, typically Letters of Appointment or Letters Testamentary. If the estate has already been closed and the representative discharged, use the Final Account, Decree of Distribution, or similar court order instead.6TreasuryDirect. Court-Appointed Representatives
For small estates settled under a state’s simplified probate procedures, a Small Estate Affidavit or equivalent document will satisfy the requirement. The Bureau of the Fiscal Service requires legible copies with visible stamps or seals and will not return the documents you send.
Estates Without Probate
When no probate has been opened and the total value of savings bonds and other Treasury securities is $100,000 or less as of the date of death, a family member can step in as a “voluntary representative” using FS Form 5336. You must be at least 18 and be the surviving spouse, a blood relative, a legally adopted child, or the next of kin under applicable law.7TreasuryDirect. Non-Administered Estates
The submission package for cashing bonds this way includes FS Form 5336 (filled out but signed only in front of a certifying officer), a certified death certificate for each deceased person named on the bonds, and the bonds themselves, sent unsigned. By signing FS Form 5336, you certify that you’ll distribute the money to the people legally entitled to it under the laws of the state where the deceased lived. If the bonds are lost on top of the owner being deceased, file FS Form 1048 alongside the estate paperwork.7TreasuryDirect. Non-Administered Estates
When Bonds Stop Earning Interest
Every savings bond has a final maturity date. Once it passes, the bond sits there losing purchasing power to inflation while earning nothing.
- Series EE bonds stop earning interest 30 years after the issue date.8eCFR. Subpart B – Maturities, Redemption Values, and Investment Yields of Series EE Savings Bonds
- Series I bonds also stop at 30 years, a 20-year original maturity followed by a 10-year extension.9TreasuryDirect. Questions and Answers About Series I Savings Bonds
- Series E bonds were discontinued in 1980. All of them have long since reached final maturity. If you find one, cash it.
Paper bonds sitting in a drawer earn nothing after maturity, and nothing happens automatically. The government owes the money but won’t come looking for you.
Federal Tax on Redeemed Bond Interest
Savings bond interest is exempt from state and local income tax but is fully subject to federal income tax.10TreasuryDirect. Tax Information for EE and I Bonds Most owners defer reporting the interest, so when you finally redeem a bond that has been accruing for 20 or 30 years, every dollar of accumulated interest lands on your tax return in a single year.
You’ll receive a Form 1099-INT from either the financial institution that cashed the bond or from TreasuryDirect, typically by January 31 of the following year. Report the interest with your other interest income. If your total interest income for the year exceeds $1,500, you’ll need to file Schedule B.11Internal Revenue Service. Savings Bonds 1
Decades of compound interest on multiple bonds can push you into a higher bracket for that year. If you’re recovering bonds from an estate, the tax treatment depends on who is treated as the owner and whether interest was ever reported in prior years. A tax professional is worth the cost in that situation.
One partial relief: if you use the proceeds for qualified higher education expenses for yourself, your spouse, or a dependent, some or all of the interest may be excluded from federal income tax. The bonds must be Series EE or I issued after 1989, and the owner must have been at least 24 when the bonds were issued. The exclusion phases out at higher incomes and isn’t available if you file as married filing separately. Claim it on IRS Form 8815, and check the current year’s instructions for income limits.12Internal Revenue Service. Exclusion of Interest From Series EE and I U.S. Savings Bonds Issued After 1989