FS Form 1455: Request by Fiduciary for Distribution of United States Treasury Securities (Savings Bonds to Heirs)

FS Form 1455 (Revised April 2026) is the 5-page Treasury form that an executor, administrator, trustee or guardian mails to pass savings bonds, whole, to the people entitled to them. Each fiduciary signs before a certifying officer, never a notary, and encloses letters of appointment dated within one year.

ClaimMyBonds is an independent private guide, not the government. The form is free from TreasuryDirect, Treasury's savings bond website, and Treasury charges no fee.

What Is FS Form 1455 Used For?

FS Form 1455 is the request one or more fiduciaries, individual or corporate, sign to have Treasury distribute savings bonds and other Treasury securities to the person lawfully entitled. It applies after an estate or trust is distributed, or after another event ends the fiduciary's role.

The official title is "Request by Fiduciary for Distribution of United States Treasury Securities," and the form carries OMB control number 1530-0035, the federal approval number printed on it. Every revision is listed in our guide to savings bond forms.

The basis is 31 CFR 353.71(a), which lets an administered estate distribute to the persons entitled, and 31 CFR 353.76, which covers payment or reissue to the person entitled when a fiduciary estate ends.

The form does not cash or reissue anything by itself. The heir's own form does that, as the section on heirs below explains.

Source: FS Form 1455 (Revised April 2026); TreasuryDirect, as of November 11, 2026.

The 5 Reasons a Fiduciary Files FS Form 1455

The FS Form 1455 instructions list 5 reasons for a distribution: termination of a trust, distribution of an estate, attainment of majority, restoration to competency, or another reason.

Part A of the form itself has only 2 check boxes: distribution of an estate or trust to the persons entitled, and "Other reason for distribution." The five reasons in the instructions are listed below.

• Termination of a trust
• Distribution of an estate
• Attainment of majority
• Restoration to competency
• Other reason

Estates and trusts use the first box. A guardian handing bonds to the former ward marks "Other" and writes in the reason, as the Part A instructions say.

Who Signs FS Form 1455? Every Fiduciary, Unless One May Act Alone

Every fiduciary named in the appointment signs FS Form 1455, unless a statute, the court decree or the trust instrument lets one act alone. A corporate fiduciary signs through an authorized officer. With two co-executors, both sign.

31 CFR 353.75(a)(1) sets the same all-sign rule for requests before maturity, and the form has no exception for matured bonds. Each signer signs before a certifying officer, as the notary section below explains. Heirs sign their own forms, not this one.

When FS Form 1455 Is the Right Form for an Estate's Savings Bonds

FS Form 1455 fits when a court-appointed representative of an open estate, or another fiduciary, distributes specific bonds to heirs instead of cashing them into the estate. TreasuryDirect describes this route on its page for court-appointed representatives.

No estate form is needed when a person survives on the bond. A surviving co-owner or POD beneficiary owns the bond outright (31 CFR 353.70(b)(1) and (c)(1)). A court must administer the estate when the decedent's Treasury securities exceed $100,000 in redemption value at the date of death (31 CFR 353.71(d)).

To cash into the estate instead, the representative signs FS Form 1522 with a title. Closed estates and state small-estate cases use FS Form 5394, and estates without administration at $100,000 or less use FS Form 5336.

The executor's three options for savings bonds in probate include these routes, and the estate's attorney decides the route.

FS Form 1455 Instructions: What to Send With the Form

An FS Form 1455 package has 4 parts: the completed form signed before a certifying officer, certified letters of appointment dated within one year, a certified death certificate for each deceased registrant, and one distributee entry per person receiving bonds. A distributee is a person who receives bonds.

Source: FS Form 1455 (Revised April 2026); 31 CFR 353.71(a); FS Publication 0064 (Revised January 2025).

Letters of Appointment Within One Year and Death Certificates

Letters of appointment sent with FS Form 1455 must be dated within one year of submission (FS Form 1455; 31 CFR 353.71(a)(2)). Letters of appointment are the court document that names the representative, and you send a certified copy.

FS Publication 0064 says letters are valid for one year from issue, and an older copy needs an updated one in full force. The last owner's death certificate is not needed if the letters show the date of death.

Send a certified death certificate for every deceased registrant, with a legible registrar seal or stamp. A legible photocopy is accepted. Treasury returns no evidence, so keep copies.

One Distributee per Bond: Savings Bonds Are Never Split

Treasury does not split an individual savings bond: each bond goes in its entirety to one distributee, so FS Form 1455 assigns whole bonds. The example below uses four bonds and two heirs, with values for redemption month November 2026.

All four bonds have reached final maturity and no longer earn interest. Source: Fiscal Data, Savings Bonds Value Files, redemption month November 2026.

The fiduciary picks which whole bonds go to whom under the will, trust or court order. To value other bonds, use our savings bond calculator, built on Treasury's published value files.

Does FS Form 1455 Need a Notary? No, a Certifying Officer

No: FS Form 1455 must be signed in the presence of an authorized certifying officer, and the form states "Certification by a notary isn't acceptable." A certifying officer is a person the Treasury regulations authorize to confirm your identity and signature.

Some law-firm and bank articles tell readers to notarize estate forms, and that fails on FS Form 1455. The rule differs by form.

FS Form 1522 accepts a notary or certifying officer above $1,000, and FS Form 4000 and FS Form 1851 accept a notary. FS Form 5336 accepts one only for paper-bond-only transactions, and FS Form 5394 refuses one, as FS Form 1455 does.

Who Counts as a Certifying Officer for FS Form 1455

The most common certifying officers for an FS Form 1455 signature under 31 CFR 353.55 are bank and court officers, Armed Forces officers and, abroad, US consular officers.

The first group is officers of banks, trust companies, credit unions and Federal Home Loan Bank members, and their designated employees, who use the institution's seal or paying-agent stamp.

The second is judges and clerks of US courts. The third is Armed Forces commissioned or warrant officers, only for service members, their families and civilian employees. Abroad, the fourth group is US diplomatic or consular officers or officers of foreign branches of US banks.

The officer may not have an interest in the bonds (31 CFR 353.57) and is fully responsible for identifying the signer (31 CFR 353.56(b)).

The regulation names further officers, such as some IRS and Veterans Affairs officials, so the list here is not complete. ClaimMyBonds does not certify signatures. Who may certify differs from form to form, a topic known as savings bond signature certification.

Where to Mail FS Form 1455 and How Long Treasury Takes

Mail FS Form 1455 to Treasury Retail Securities Services, P.O. Box 9150, Minneapolis, MN 55480-9150.

Treasury Retail Securities Services
P.O. Box 9150
Minneapolis, MN 55480-9150
Phone: 844-284-2676 (toll free), Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm ET
Source: FS Form 1455 (Revised April 2026); TreasuryDirect Contact Us, as of November 11, 2026

The Parkersburg, West Virginia address printed on forms takes only Paperwork Reduction Act comments, and the old P.O. Box 214 address is not used.

TreasuryDirect publishes no processing time for FS Form 1455 itself. Its contact page lists transactions not in your name (such as estate requests, in our reading) at five months or longer, and trust requests at ten months or longer (as of November 11, 2026).

From abroad, call +1 (304) 480-6464. Treasury charges no fees.

What Each Heir Files After FS Form 1455

After FS Form 1455, each distributee files 1 of 4 forms by outcome: FS 1522 to cash, FS 4000 to have EE or I bonds reissued, FS 1851 to reissue to a personal trust, or FS 5511 or 5512 for electronic securities.

Paper EE and I bonds are reissued only as electronic bonds in a TreasuryDirect account, because paper reissue ended February 14, 2014 (31 CFR 353.48(a) and 360.48(a)). Reissuing inherited savings bonds is the choice heirs make instead of cashing.

Source: FS Form 1455 (Revised April 2026); TreasuryDirect court-appointed representatives page, as of November 11, 2026.

Series HH and Bonds Near Final Maturity Can Only Be Cashed

Series HH bonds can be distributed with FS Form 1455, but the heir can only cash them with FS Form 1522, because every HH bond reached final maturity by August 1, 2024 and can no longer be reissued.

TreasuryDirect states this on its court-appointed representatives page. Banks cannot cash Series H or HH, so these bonds go to Treasury. Heirs of Series HH savings bonds face the same date.

Any bond within one full calendar month of final maturity cannot be reissued, only cashed (31 CFR 353.45(b)). Matured bonds must be redeemed. Bonds never expire (Executive Order 13968, 85 FR 83745), so there is no deadline to cash them.

FS Form 1455 for Trustees, Guardians and Bank Fiduciaries

Trustees, guardians and bank fiduciaries use FS Form 1455 the same way as executors: the fiduciary requests the distribution, and each person entitled files the distributee form. A trustee distributing on termination of a trust files FS Form 1455, and each entitled person files FS 1522, 4000 or 1851.

Trust requests take ten months or longer (as of November 11, 2026), and the rules for savings bonds and trusts cover trustee distributions. A bank trustee moving bonds into its common trust fund files FS Form 1455 together with FS Form 1851, per the FS 1851 instructions.

A guardian of a minor's or incompetent person's estate distributes when the ward reaches majority or is restored to competency, the "Other" reason described above. Guardian letters follow the same one-year rule (31 CFR 353.60).

Guardians who cash for a living ward, and voluntary guardians using FS Form 2513 (Rev. August 2022), are covered under cashing savings bonds for someone else.

FS Form 1455 Next to the Other Estate Forms

FS Form 1455 is one of 5 routes for a decedent's savings bonds, and the right one depends on who survives and how the estate is settled. The table below matches each situation to its form.

Source: 31 CFR 353.70, 353.71(a) to (f); FS Forms 1455, 1522 (Rev. April 2026), 5394 (Rev. May 2026), 5336 (Rev. April 2026), 1050 (Rev. March 2026); TreasuryDirect court-appointed representatives page, as of November 11, 2026.

FS Form 1455 FAQ

Can You File FS Form 1455 Online?

No: FS Form 1455 is mailed, and each fiduciary's signature must be witnessed in person by a certifying officer, which no fill-in website can do.

Where Do You Get the FS Form 1455 PDF?

Download sav1455.pdf from TreasuryDirect's forms page and check that it says "Revised April 2026."

Is PD F 1455 the Same Form as FS Form 1455?

Yes: "PD F 1455" is a label under which the same form number still circulates on fill-in sites. Treasury's current version is FS Form 1455, Revised April 2026, OMB 1530-0035.

Can I Cash My Deceased Parents' Savings Bonds?

Yes, if you are the person entitled. A surviving co-owner or POD beneficiary cashes with FS Form 1522 or at a bank. The heirs of an estate receive bonds through the estate's form (FS 1455, 5394 or 5336) and then file FS 1522. The route for savings bonds after death depends on who is named on the bond.

Do Heirs Pay Tax on Bonds Distributed With FS Form 1455?

Interest the decedent deferred is either reported on the decedent's final return by election, or it is income in respect of a decedent, taxed to whoever acquires the bond (IRS Publication 550, 2025). Ask a tax professional, and read about taxes on inherited savings bonds.

Can a Bank Distribute an Estate's Savings Bonds?

No: FS Form 1455 goes to Treasury Retail Securities Services by mail, not to a bank. A bank may cash eligible series (A to E, EE, I and Savings Notes) for the estate's legal representative at its option (31 CFR 321.7(f); FS Publication 0022), and never F, G, H, HH, J or K. Dated bank policies are listed under what banks cash savings bonds.