U.S. savings bonds offer three registration types for individuals — single ownership, co-ownership, and beneficiary (also called payable-on-death or POD) — plus entity formats for trusts, estates, and businesses. The registration you pick at purchase decides who can cash the bond, who reports the interest on their tax return, and whether the bond passes through probate when the owner dies. Fixing a registration later is possible but takes paperwork, so the choice is worth making deliberately the first time.
Single Ownership
One name, one Social Security Number, full control. The sole owner can redeem the bond, change the registration, or leave it alone to keep earning interest. No one else has any claim while the owner is alive.1TreasuryDirect. Registering Your Savings Bonds
The catch is what happens at death. A bond held in a single name with no beneficiary becomes part of the owner’s estate. It goes through probate, and the estate’s representative has to produce legal documentation to the Treasury before anyone can cash or transfer it. If you want the bond to move quickly to someone else when you die, pick co-ownership or beneficiary registration instead.
Co-Ownership
Co-ownership puts two individuals on the same bond. On a paper bond, the names are joined by “OR.” In TreasuryDirect, the designation reads “WITH,” and the person listed first is the primary owner while the other is the secondary owner.1TreasuryDirect. Registering Your Savings Bonds Federal rules authorize the format under 31 CFR § 353.7, which allows two individuals to be registered as co-owners in the alternative.2eCFR. 31 CFR 353.7 – Authorized Forms of Registration
The paper-versus-electronic difference matters. Either name on a paper bond can walk into a bank and cash it independently. On an electronic bond in TreasuryDirect, the primary owner controls the account and initiates transactions; the secondary owner’s practical access depends on whether the bond also appears in their own TreasuryDirect account.
When one co-owner dies, the survivor automatically becomes the sole owner, with no probate. The survivor just submits proof of death to have the registration updated.3eCFR. 31 CFR Part 315 Subpart L – Deceased Owner, Coowner or Beneficiary Both co-owners must be individuals; an entity cannot hold this slot.
Creditor Exposure
Adding a co-owner can expose part of the bond’s value to that person’s creditors. A creditor holding a judgment against one co-owner can force payment of the bond, but only to the extent of that co-owner’s interest. The Treasury will pay (not reissue) under a levy or court-authorized sale, and the co-owner’s share has to be established either by an agreement between the two of them or by a court order in a proceeding where both are parties.4eCFR. 31 CFR 315.21 – Payment to Judgment Creditors The payout is capped at the bond’s redemption value 60 days after the court proceedings end.
Beneficiary (POD) Registration
Beneficiary registration names one owner and one payable-on-death beneficiary. The owner has exclusive control during life: they can cash the bond, change the beneficiary, or remove the beneficiary entirely. The beneficiary has no rights while the owner is alive, cannot use the bond as collateral, and cannot make any changes.5eCFR. 31 CFR 353.7 – Authorized Forms of Registration
When the owner dies, the beneficiary becomes the sole owner by submitting proof of death to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service and requesting reissue. The bond skips probate. The beneficiary has to be an individual, not a trust or business.1TreasuryDirect. Registering Your Savings Bonds
The practical choice between co-ownership and POD comes down to control. Co-ownership gives the other person independent access right now. Beneficiary registration keeps the owner in sole control until death. If the point is to pass the bond on without letting anyone touch it while you’re alive, POD is the right pick.
Entity Registration
Businesses, trusts, and estates can also hold savings bonds. TreasuryDirect offers entity registration for sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, LLCs, trusts, decedent’s estates, and estates of living persons such as minors or people who are legally incompetent.6eCFR. 31 CFR 363.20 – Forms of Registration for TreasuryDirect
Each entity type has its own documentation. Trust registration must include the trust’s name, the date the trust document was signed, and the name of at least one trustee authorized to act for the trust. Corporate registration requires a reference to corporate status, and the account manager must be an officer or authorized employee who certifies they can act alone for the corporation. Estate registration requires a court-appointed representative.6eCFR. 31 CFR 363.20 – Forms of Registration for TreasuryDirect Entity accounts in TreasuryDirect are separate from individual accounts.
Registering Bonds for Minors
Children can own savings bonds, but the registration rules depend on where the money came from. If a minor buys a bond with their own earnings, the bond can be in the minor’s name alone or with a co-owner or beneficiary. If someone else buys a bond with funds belonging to a minor who isn’t under a court-appointed guardianship, the registration must be in the minor’s name alone or with a natural parent named as guardian, and no co-owner or beneficiary is allowed.7eCFR. 31 CFR 353.6 – Restrictions on Registration
Bonds purchased as a gift under a state’s gifts-to-minors law follow that statute’s registration requirements, and again, no co-owner or beneficiary can be named. If the minor is under a legal guardianship, the registration must reference the guardianship or fiduciary estate.7eCFR. 31 CFR 353.6 – Restrictions on Registration
In TreasuryDirect, a parent or other individual custodian opens a “minor account” linked to their own primary account. The minor legally owns the securities, but the custodian controls the account until the child turns 18. Only individual custodians can open minor accounts; entities cannot.8eCFR. 31 CFR 363.10 – TreasuryDirect Account
When a paper bond registered to a minor is cashed, the Treasury looks at whether the child is old enough to understand the transaction and sign the request. If not, payment goes to the parent the child lives with, or if the child doesn’t live with either parent, to whoever provides their primary support.
How Registration Affects Who Pays the Tax
Registration drives who owes federal income tax on the interest, and the answer isn’t always the person named on the bond. The general rule is that the person who paid for the bond owes the tax. Buy a bond in your name alone, you owe tax on all the interest. Buy a bond naming yourself with a co-owner but pay the full purchase price yourself, you still owe all the tax.9TreasuryDirect. Tax Information for EE and I Bonds
When two people split the cost of a co-owned bond, each reports interest in proportion to what they paid. Spouses in community property states who file separate returns each report half the interest if the bond is community property.9TreasuryDirect. Tax Information for EE and I Bonds
One situation catches people off guard. If you buy a bond but register someone else as the sole owner — say, you buy it for your child and put only the child’s name on it — the child owes the tax, not you, even though you paid for it. When the purchaser is not named on the bond, registration controls.
The Education Exclusion Trap
Series EE and I bonds can produce a tax break when the interest pays qualified higher education expenses, but the registration rules are strict. The bond has to be registered with you as the owner, or with you and your spouse as co-owners. A bond registered in a child’s name does not qualify, even if the child later uses it for college.10TreasuryDirect. Using Bonds for Higher Education
The bond owner must also be at least 24 years old when the bond was issued. The exclusion phases out at higher incomes and is not available to married taxpayers filing separately.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 135 – Income From United States Savings Bonds Used to Pay Higher Education Tuition and Fees Planning to use bonds for a child’s education means getting the registration right at purchase; you cannot reissue a bond into your name later and retroactively claim the exclusion.
Who Can Be Named on a Bond
Not everyone is eligible. The owner (or first-named co-owner) at original issue must be a U.S. resident, a U.S. citizen living abroad, or a civilian or military employee of the United States. Residents of Canada or Mexico who work in the U.S. qualify only if the bonds are bought through payroll deduction and the buyer provides a taxpayer identification number.7eCFR. 31 CFR 353.6 – Restrictions on Registration
A nonresident alien can be named as a co-owner or beneficiary, but not as the sole owner on an original purchase, provided they don’t live in a country where the Treasury restricts delivery of U.S. government payments.7eCFR. 31 CFR 353.6 – Restrictions on Registration On a later reissue, a nonresident alien can become the owner.
Every person named on the bond has to have a Social Security Number. Bonds can also be registered to trusts, estates, corporations, partnerships, and other entities.12TreasuryDirect. Buying Savings Bonds
Changing a Registration Later
Registration is not necessarily permanent. For electronic bonds in TreasuryDirect, you can add a secondary owner, add or remove a beneficiary, name a new owner in place of a current living owner, or update a name because of marriage, divorce, or court order, all from inside your online account.13TreasuryDirect. Changing Information About EE or I Savings Bonds
For paper bonds, most registration changes require FS Form 4000, a reissue request. When the Treasury reissues a paper bond today, it comes back in electronic form in TreasuryDirect; paper bonds are no longer issued on reissue.14Department of the Treasury | Bureau of the Fiscal Service. FS Form 4000 – Request to Reissue United States Savings Bonds If two living co-owners want to make any change beyond a minor name correction, both have to sign the form.13TreasuryDirect. Changing Information About EE or I Savings Bonds
Reissue can carry tax consequences. The safer path is to double-check every digit of the SSN and every letter of each name before confirming a new purchase in TreasuryDirect, so the registration you end up with is the one you actually want.