You can cash a deceased relative’s savings bonds without probate if the total value of all Treasury securities in the estate is $100,000 or less as of the date of death, no court has appointed an executor, and no state small-estate procedure has been used. Federal regulations let an eligible family member step in as a “voluntary representative,” file a single form, and collect the proceeds on behalf of the heirs. The tradeoff is real legal responsibility: you sign a binding statement that you will distribute the money correctly, and you are personally on the hook up to the amount you receive if you get it wrong.
When This Route Is Available
Three conditions must all be true. No legal representative has been appointed, no probate is pending or planned, and no state small estate procedure (such as a small estate affidavit or summary administration) has been used. The combined redemption value of the deceased’s Treasury securities, measured on the date of death, is $100,000 or less. And an eligible person, at least 18 and legally competent, is available to serve.1TreasuryDirect. FS Form 5336 – Disposition of Treasury Securities Belonging to a Decedent’s Estate Being Settled Without Administration
The $100,000 ceiling covers all Treasury securities belonging to the estate combined, including Series E, EE, I, and HH savings bonds along with Treasury notes and bills held directly on Treasury records. If the total exceeds $100,000, the estate has to go through formal court administration and FS Form 5336 cannot be used.2eCFR. 31 CFR 306.65 – Decedent’s Estate Note that redemption value is not face value. A $50 bond bought decades ago may now be worth several times that.
Before you assume the bond needs to go through this process at all, check the registration. If a paper bond names a surviving co-owner or a “payable on death” beneficiary, that person already owns it and can claim it directly without any of this. The voluntary representative route only applies when all named owners have died and no living beneficiary is listed, so the bond falls into the estate of the person who died last.3TreasuryDirect. Non-Administered Estates
Electronic bonds held in a TreasuryDirect account follow a different path. Contact TreasuryDirect directly so they can place a hold on the account and give case-specific instructions.4TreasuryDirect. Death of a Savings Bond Owner
One more boundary. This is a federal payment procedure, not a rule about who owns the money. Who is actually entitled to the proceeds is decided by the inheritance laws of the state where the deceased lived, and as voluntary representative you are obligated to distribute accordingly.5eCFR. 31 CFR 360.71 – Decedent’s Estate
Who Can Serve
Federal regulations set a fixed order of precedence. You are eligible only if no one ahead of you on this list is available and competent:
- Surviving spouse
- Child of the deceased, including legally adopted children
- Descendant of a deceased child (a grandchild whose parent predeceased the bondholder, for example)
- Parent of the deceased
- Brother or sister of the deceased
- Descendant of a deceased brother or sister
- Next of kin under the inheritance laws of the deceased’s state
Only blood relatives, legally adopted children, and surviving spouses qualify. In-laws, stepchildren who were never adopted, and unrelated close friends are not eligible regardless of how involved they were in the deceased’s affairs.1TreasuryDirect. FS Form 5336 – Disposition of Treasury Securities Belonging to a Decedent’s Estate Being Settled Without Administration
What to Gather Before You File
You need a certified copy of the death certificate from your county registrar or state vital records office. A photocopy will not work. You also need the deceased’s Social Security number and a complete list of every Treasury security in the estate: series type, issue date, face amount, serial number, and the exact registration (whose names appear on the bond).
Take the time to get serial numbers exactly right. Incomplete or mismatched information gets sent back for correction and adds weeks to the process.1TreasuryDirect. FS Form 5336 – Disposition of Treasury Securities Belonging to a Decedent’s Estate Being Settled Without Administration
Filing FS Form 5336
FS Form 5336 does two things at once: it establishes you as the voluntary representative and requests payment. You can download it from the forms section of TreasuryDirect.gov.1TreasuryDirect. FS Form 5336 – Disposition of Treasury Securities Belonging to a Decedent’s Estate Being Settled Without Administration
You will identify the deceased and list each security, declare your position in the order of precedence, and certify that no court has appointed a representative and no state small-estate procedure has been used. Then choose how you want the proceeds handled: paid to you as voluntary representative on behalf of all heirs, or distributed directly to named heirs. Direct payment can go by check or bank direct deposit.
Getting Your Signature Certified
Do not sign the form at your kitchen table. You must sign in front of an authorized certifying officer who verifies your identity and applies an official seal or stamp.
If the request involves only paper savings bonds, a notary public can certify your signature. Notary fees are set by state law and usually run $5 to $15. If any other Treasury securities are involved — notes, bills, or electronic bonds — you need a higher level of certification: a bank officer’s official stamp, a Signature Guarantee, or a Medallion Signature Guarantee from a participating financial institution. Most banks and credit unions provide Medallion Signature Guarantees free to their own account holders.1TreasuryDirect. FS Form 5336 – Disposition of Treasury Securities Belonging to a Decedent’s Estate Being Settled Without Administration
Commissioned officers of the U.S. Armed Forces can certify for military personnel and their families, and judges or clerks of a court can certify using the court seal. Anyone with a personal financial interest in the bonds cannot serve as the certifying officer.6eCFR. 31 CFR 363.43 – Procedures for Certifying Signatures
Where to Send It
Mail the completed and certified FS Form 5336, the certified death certificate, and any unsigned paper bonds to:
Treasury Retail Securities Services
P.O. Box 9150
Minneapolis, MN 55480-91501TreasuryDirect. FS Form 5336 – Disposition of Treasury Securities Belonging to a Decedent’s Estate Being Settled Without Administration
Use certified mail or another trackable service, and photocopy everything first. The Bureau of the Fiscal Service does not return the original bonds or the certified death certificate you submit.7TreasuryDirect. FS Form 1522 – Special Form of Request for Payment of United States Savings and Retirement Securities Once Treasury verifies the request, it issues payment through the method you selected.
If Bonds Are Missing or You Don’t Know Whether Any Exist
Paper bonds often turn up misplaced, water-damaged, or nowhere to be found. Treasury keeps records of every savings bond ever issued, and missing bonds can still be redeemed. File FS Form 1048, “Claim for Lost, Stolen, or Destroyed United States Savings Bonds,” with whatever bond details you have (serial numbers if possible, approximate purchase dates, denominations), a description of what happened, and a certified death certificate. Your signature on this form also needs to be certified.8TreasuryDirect. FS Form 1048 – Claim for Lost, Stolen, or Destroyed United States Savings Bonds
If you don’t even know whether the deceased owned bonds, the old Treasury Hunt search is no longer available. As of late 2025, unclaimed Treasury security inquiries are routed through state unclaimed property programs. Search by the deceased’s name and state of residence through the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators at unclaimed.org.9TreasuryDirect. Treasury Hunt
The Tax Bill Most Families Don’t See Coming
Savings bond interest is subject to federal income tax, and when bonds are redeemed after the owner’s death, someone owes tax on every dollar of interest that accumulated over the bond’s life. For bonds held for decades, that can be a large one-year hit.
Savings bond interest is treated as “income in respect of a decedent.” The tax follows the money to whoever receives it. How the interest gets reported depends on what the deceased was doing while alive. If they reported interest annually, only the interest earned from January 1 of the death year through the date of death goes on the final return, and the heir reports only interest earned after death. If they deferred reporting (which is what most bondholders do), the personal representative filing the final return can elect to include all pre-death interest on that return. If no such election is made, the entire accumulated interest becomes taxable to whoever redeems the bonds, in the year they are cashed.
That second scenario is where the large tax bills appear. A bond purchased 25 years ago might carry thousands of dollars of accumulated interest, all reported as income in a single year.10Internal Revenue Service. Publication 550 – Investment Income and Expenses
Savings bond interest is exempt from state and local income tax, and from federal estate, gift, and excise taxes. Treasury issues a 1099-INT to whoever cashes the bonds, reporting the full lifetime interest. If part of that interest was already reported by the deceased or the estate, you will need to make an adjustment when you file. IRS Publication 550 explains how.11TreasuryDirect. Tax Information for EE and I Bonds
What You Are Signing Up For
Signing FS Form 5336 is a legal act, not a formality. You warrant that you will distribute the proceeds to the people actually entitled to them under the deceased’s state inheritance law, and you agree to indemnify the United States and all creditors and heirs if the distribution is wrong.5eCFR. 31 CFR 360.71 – Decedent’s Estate
Your personal exposure is capped at what you received; you cannot be held liable for more than the bond proceeds. Within that cap, though, if a missed heir or unpaid creditor surfaces later, they come after you, not Treasury. Once the Bureau of the Fiscal Service pays at your request, the government is released from further liability as if it had paid a court-appointed executor.5eCFR. 31 CFR 360.71 – Decedent’s Estate
So before you sign, make sure you know who the heirs actually are under state law. If the deceased had children from more than one relationship, estranged family, or outstanding debts, weigh whether you want to take on that obligation personally. In complicated situations, formal probate has real costs but gives the person handling the estate better protection than this shortcut does.