FS Form 1851: Request to Reissue United States Savings Bonds to a Personal Trust

FS Form 1851 (Revised April 2026) is the Treasury form you mail to move paper savings bonds into a personal trust, and Treasury reissues paper Series EE and I bonds as electronic bonds in the trust's TreasuryDirect account.

The owner (both owners, on a co-owner bond) and the acting trustee sign before a notary or certifying officer. Treasury quotes ten months or longer for trust requests (as of November 11, 2026).

ClaimMyBonds is an independent private guide, not the government. The form is free from TreasuryDirect, and the page below follows it from eligibility to mailing.

What Is FS Form 1851 Used For?

FS Form 1851 is the request to reissue paper US savings bonds to a personal trust created by the owner or a co-owner, or by another person when the owner or a co-owner is a beneficiary.

A reissue changes the registration of a bond without cashing it, and the form defines a personal trust as one established by natural persons in their own right for the benefit of themselves or other natural persons.

The official title is "Request To Reissue United States Savings Bonds to a Personal Trust." The form rests on 31 CFR 353.47(a)(2)(iii) and (b)(3), and Treasury explains trust transactions in FS Publication 0106 (Rev. June 2022). Every FS form and where to get it appears in our list of savings bond forms.

The table lists the key facts about the form.

Source: FS Form 1851 (Revised April 2026); TreasuryDirect, as of November 11, 2026.

Which Savings Bonds Can Still Be Reissued to a Trust

Paper Series EE and I bonds that still earn interest can be reissued to a trust, but a bond at final maturity, or within one full calendar month of it, can only be cashed (31 CFR 353.45(b), 360.45; FS Publication 0063).

Final maturity is the date a bond stops earning interest. Paper reissue ended on February 14, 2014 (31 CFR 353.48; 79 FR 8859), so the bonds go in as electronic bonds.

• Series EE savings bonds: paper issues run January 1980 to December 2011. Issues from January 1980 to November 1996 are at final maturity and cash only. December 1996 issues reach it on December 1, 2026, already inside the cut-off. January 1997 issues qualify only if Treasury receives the request at least one full calendar month before January 1, 2027; later issues qualify.
• Series I savings bonds: paper I bonds were first issued in September 1998 and the first final maturity is September 2028, so every paper I bond still earns interest.
• Series E savings bonds: every one stopped earning by June 2010, so cash only.
• Series HH savings bonds: every one has been at final maturity since August 1, 2024, so cash only.
• US Savings Notes: final maturity fell between May 1997 and October 2000, so cash only.

The cut-off runs to the day Treasury receives your request, so check the issue date printed on each bond before you mail it. For a January 1997 bond this late, call Treasury at 844-284-2676 first.

Which Trusts Qualify Under FS Form 1851?

FS Form 1851 accepts three kinds of personal trust: one created by the owner or either co-owner; one created by another person when the owner or a co-owner is a beneficiary; and, for Series EE only, one created by another person when a beneficiary is related to the owner or a co-owner by blood, adoption or marriage.

FS Publication 0049 (Rev. August 2015) describes a personal trust as one set up under a declaration of trust (U/D/T) or an agreement (U/A), revocable or irrevocable.

Whether a testamentary trust, one created by a will, qualifies under this form is not established here. Treasury handles bonds a trust already owns under separate rules, which are the wider topic of savings bonds and trusts.

The table shows the three trusts and the series each accepts.

Source: FS Form 1851 (Revised April 2026); 31 CFR 353.47(a), 360.47(a) (eCFR as of November 9, 2026). Series I: a new owner during life only for divorce or annulment or a personal trust (31 CFR 360.47(a)).

Series I is narrower because a living owner may name a new owner of a paper I bond only for divorce or annulment or a personal trust (31 CFR 360.47(a)). That is why the relative condition applies to Series EE alone.

Who Signs FS Form 1851?

Two parties sign FS Form 1851: the owner (both co-owners on a co-owner bond) and the acting trustee, the trustee who handles the trust's business. Only the trustee listed as account manager of the TreasuryDirect trust account signs the agreement to electronic reissue.

Co-trustees are registered with "AND" unless the trust instrument lets each act alone (FS Publication 0049), and on FS Form 1851 one co-trustee must be able to act individually for the trust.

The trust's registration names the grantor, the trustee or trustees, and the date of the trust instrument, the signed document that creates the trust (FS Publication 0049).

An attorney-in-fact (a person acting under a power of attorney) cannot sign for the owner. The power-of-attorney form, FS Form 5188 (Revised April 2026), states that an attorney-in-fact may not reissue paper savings bonds.

How to Fill Out FS Form 1851

FS Form 1851 asks for five things, grouped in the table below: the bonds, the trust and the condition it meets, the tax choice, the signatures with the trustee's agreement to electronic reissue, and the certification. TreasuryDirect's trusts page says to send the bonds unsigned.

Source: FS Form 1851 (Revised April 2026); TreasuryDirect trusts page and FS Publication 0049, as of November 11, 2026.

The TreasuryDirect Trust Account the Reissued Bonds Go Into

The reissued bonds are held electronically in a TreasuryDirect entity account in the trust's name, and the trustee who manages that account signs the agreement to electronic reissue.

TreasuryDirect is Treasury's website for holding electronic bonds. Entity accounts have been allowed since April 24, 2009 (74 FR 19416, published April 29, 2009), with one manager who can act alone.

The manager needs a valid Social Security number, must be 18 or older, and needs a US address and a US bank account that accepts ACH transfers (31 CFR 363.11).

Login has run only through ID.me since October 28, 2026, which verifies the manager, not the trust. Our guide to electronic savings bonds covers these accounts.

Each account carries one registration, with no secondary owner or beneficiary, and converted bonds take the entity registration. FS Form 5446 names a new manager. ClaimMyBonds does not open or access TreasuryDirect accounts.

The Tax Choice on FS Form 1851: Box a or Box b

FS Form 1851 makes the owner choose between two boxes: box a applies if you, the bond owner, will be treated as owner of the portion of the trust holding the deferred interest, which keeps it tax-deferred, and box b applies if you will not, so the interest is reported for the reissue year on a Form 1099-INT, the IRS interest statement. The form carries a tax-liability statement and prints an IRS address for letter rulings.

IRS Publication 550 (2025) says an owner who transfers E, EE or I bonds to a trust and gives up ownership reports the interest to the transfer date, unless treated as the owner of the trust (a grantor trust).

Savings bond interest is federally taxable at redemption or final maturity, whichever comes first (IRC 454), and exempt from state and local tax (31 U.S.C. 3124).

For a bond that reached final maturity in an earlier year, that earlier year is the year the rule names. The trust's tax professional decides which box applies, and our guide to are savings bonds taxable explains the general rule.

Does FS Form 1851 Need a Notary?

Yes, a notary is accepted: you sign FS Form 1851 in the presence of a notary or an authorized certifying officer. The rules differ by form. FS Form 1522 needs certification only above $1,000 of current redemption value, FS Form 1455 refuses a notary, and FS Form 5188 names only a certifying officer.

Source: form PDFs (Rev. 2026), as of November 11, 2026.

Who Can Certify Your Signature on FS Form 1851

31 CFR 353.55 names the certifiers, and they include officers of US-incorporated banks and trust companies, Federal Home Loan Bank members and Federal Reserve Banks, and authorized employees who sign as "Designated Employee." Armed Forces officers certify only for service members, their families and civilian employees at their posts.

Abroad, the certifiers include US consular representatives and foreign branches of US banks, and, only if none of these is available, a foreign notary whose official character is certified by a US consular officer.

The rules on savings bond signature certification make the officer and the institution answer for your identification (31 CFR 353.56), and an officer with an interest in the bonds may not certify (353.57). ClaimMyBonds never certifies signatures.

Where to Send FS Form 1851 and How Long It Takes

Mail FS Form 1851 with the paper bonds to Treasury Retail Securities Services, P.O. Box 9150, Minneapolis, MN 55480-9150. The Parkersburg address printed on forms takes only paperwork-burden comments.

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; outside the US +1 (304) 480-6464
Source: FS Form 1851 (Revised April 2026); TreasuryDirect Contact Us, as of November 11, 2026

Trusts and other TreasuryDirect requests take ten months or longer (TreasuryDirect, as of November 11, 2026). Treasury publishes no time specific to FS Form 1851. Treasury does not return death certificates or other legal evidence, and Treasury Retail Securities Services charges no fees. Before you mail, gather these:

• The paper bonds, unsigned
• The signed and certified FS Form 1851
• Proof of death, when a survivor or heir is the owner
• The trust's grantor, trustee and trust date, as in the registration

FS Form 1851 for Heirs and Estates

An heir who wants inherited bonds in a trust first becomes the person entitled through the estate route, then files FS Form 1851, because the estate forms cannot pay or distribute to a trust.

FS Form 5336 (Rev. April 2026) cannot distribute or pay to a trust, and FS Publication 0065 states: "Bonds can't be distributed to a trust." Our guide to reissuing inherited savings bonds has the steps.

The table shows the first form and the follow-up for each heir situation.

Source: FS Forms 5336, 1455, 1851 (Rev. April 2026); FS Publication 0065 (Rev. January 2025); 31 CFR 353.70, 353.71.

Each bond goes whole to one person, and bonds cannot be split. Series HH bonds and bonds within one month of final maturity are cash only. Requests not in your name take five months or longer, and trust requests ten months or longer (TreasuryDirect, as of November 11, 2026).

FS Form 1851 and the Other Savings Bond Forms

FS Form 1851 only reissues paper bonds into a personal trust, and three neighboring forms change a trustee, move electronic bonds and cash bonds.

Changing the Trustee on Trust-Owned Bonds: FS Form 4000

A successor trustee is recorded on bonds a trust already owns with FS Form 4000 (Rev. April 2026), not FS 1851. You send a resignation letter, a death certificate or court order, and either a Certification of Trust or the full trust agreement.

Electronic Bonds Into a Trust: FS Form 5511

Electronic bonds already in TreasuryDirect move into a trust's entity account with FS Form 5511 (Rev. March 2026). A transfer to a trust requires the Tax Liability Notice and Statement on its page 2.

Cashing Instead of Reissuing: FS Form 1522

To cash paper bonds instead, mail FS Form 1522 (Rev. April 2026). It needs certification only above $1,000 of current redemption value, and a trust is paid under its EIN, the employer identification number the IRS issues to the trust.

FS Form 1851 FAQ

Can You Fill Out and Submit FS Form 1851 Online?

No. You sign FS Form 1851 before a notary or certifying officer and mail it with the bonds to P.O. Box 9150, and fill-in sites cannot submit it to Treasury.

Where Do You Get the FS Form 1851 PDF?

Download sav1851.pdf from TreasuryDirect's "Forms for Savings Bonds" list and check that it reads "Revised April 2026". Fill-in sites may show older copies, and the form is free.

Can Series HH or Series E Bonds Be Reissued to a Trust?

No. Every HH bond reached final maturity by August 1, 2024, and every Series E bond stopped earning by June 2010, and bonds at final maturity can only be cashed (FS Publication 0063; 31 CFR 353.45(b)). See when savings bonds mature for each series.

Rules checked November 11, 2026, against the Treasury sources named above; see our methodology.