FS Form 4000: Request to Reissue Savings Bonds

FS Form 4000 (Revised April 2026) is the 9-page Treasury form you mail to change who is named on a paper Series EE or I savings bond without cashing it.

The bond comes back as an electronic bond in TreasuryDirect, Treasury's online account system for savings bonds. You sign the form in ink before a notary or certifying officer and mail it with the paper bonds to Treasury Retail Securities Services, P.O. Box 9150, Minneapolis.

ClaimMyBonds is an independent private guide, not the government, and the form is free from TreasuryDirect. This page follows FS Form 4000 from the reissue reason to the electronic bond.

What Is FS Form 4000 Used For?

FS Form 4000 is the request to reissue paper Series EE and I savings bonds, Retirement Plan Bonds and Individual Retirement Bonds in a new registration, for reasons such as a name change, a beneficiary change, removing a co-owner or a divorce.

The registration is the set of names printed on the bond. Reissue means Treasury replaces the bond with one registered differently, and the bond keeps earning interest under the new registration until its final maturity.

The form's official title is "Request To Reissue United States Savings Bonds." It does not pay bonds. The form itself says: "To request payment, submit form FS Form 1522 (see www.treasurydirect.gov) instead of this form."

It also carries OMB control number 1530-0025, the federal approval number printed on the form. Every FS form and its current revision appears in our guide to savings bond forms.

The table below collects the key facts about FS Form 4000.

Source: FS Form 4000 (Revised April 2026); TreasuryDirect forms and Contact Us pages, as of November 11, 2026.

Which Savings Bonds FS Form 4000 Can Reissue

FS Form 4000 covers 4 kinds of paper bonds: Series EE, Series I, Retirement Plan Bonds and Individual Retirement Bonds. Final maturity, the date a bond stops earning interest, decides whether one can still be reissued.

Treasury does not reissue a bond if it receives the request less than one full calendar month before final maturity (31 CFR 353.45(b)). The table below shows each group's status in November 2026.

Source: Fiscal Data, Savings Bonds Value Files, redemption month November 2026; 31 CFR 353.45(b); TreasuryDirect.

Final maturity by series, including the 30-year EE term behind rows (a) to (c), is explained on our page about when savings bonds mature.

A $100 Series EE bond issued January 1997 shows how close the cutoff can be. Its face value, the amount printed on the bond, is $100, and its current redemption value (what it is worth today, interest included) is $126.60 in redemption month November 2026.

It still earns interest until its final maturity on January 1, 2027, and Treasury must receive a reissue request at least one full calendar month before that date. The regulation prints no calendar deadline, so call Treasury Retail Securities Services at 844-284-2676 before mailing a request this late.

Reissue Reasons on FS Form 4000: Who Signs and What to Send

Each reissue reason on FS Form 4000 has its own signer, and the form names 8 kinds of signers.

They are the owner, both co-owners, a surviving registrant (a living person named on the bond), the purchaser, an entitled person, a legal guardian, a legal representative and a successor trustee. A co-owner is one of two people named with "OR" on a bond.

Naming a completely new owner is narrower. An EE owner may name a new owner only in 3 cases (31 CFR 353.47(a)). The person is related by blood, adoption or marriage, is a party to a divorce or annulment, or is the trustee of a qualifying personal trust.

An I bond owner may name a new owner only for a divorce or annulment, or a personal trust that the owner created or that names the owner as beneficiary (31 CFR 360.47(a)). The table below sorts the reasons into 10 rows of our own, with the signer and evidence for each.

Notes: (1) 31 CFR 353.51 and 360.51. (2) One co-owner may sign alone to remove only his or her own name (353.51). (3) A decree over 6 months old needs a clerk's certificate dated within 6 months (353.23(a)); payment instead of reissue on request (353.22). (4) A reissue may not adversely affect the interest of a minor who cannot make the request, or of a person under legal disability (353.65). (5) A Certification of Trust or the full trust agreement.

Source: FS Form 4000 (Revised April 2026); 31 CFR 353.22, 353.23, 353.47 to 353.51, 353.65, 360.47, 360.51.

Adding or Changing a Beneficiary With FS Form 4000

To add, change or remove a beneficiary on a paper EE or I bond, the owner signs FS Form 4000, and Treasury needs no consent from the beneficiary (31 CFR 353.51, 360.51). A POD beneficiary is the person named to receive the bond when the owner dies ("payable on death").

Reissued bonds come back in one name, so Treasury reissues the bond in the owner's name and the owner adds the beneficiary inside TreasuryDirect afterwards. SmartExchange can make a beneficiary change too, as the comparison further down shows.

Removing a Co-Owner or a Deceased Registrant

Both co-owners sign to remove a living co-owner, but one co-owner may sign alone to remove only his or her own name (31 CFR 353.51). The form also warns: "You cannot add a new coowner, but you can add a secondary owner."

A secondary owner is the second person on an electronic bond in TreasuryDirect. A surviving registrant removes a deceased co-owner or owner by sending a certified copy of the death certificate. A minor survivor's bond is reissued in the minor's name alone (FS Publication 0063, Rev. January 2025).

Name Changes and Registration Errors on FS Form 4000

A name change can be recorded on a paper bond by reissue, but no reissue is needed to cash the bond. To cash it, TreasuryDirect says to "sign both your name that is on the bond and your current name with the reason for the name change."

Reissue also corrects an error in the registration when Treasury receives satisfactory proof (31 CFR 353.49), and the purchaser signs that request, joined by both co-owners on a co-owner bond. Treasury does not reissue a bond only to change its denominations (31 CFR 353.48).

What You Get Back: Electronic Bonds in One Name

Treasury reissues paper Series EE and I bonds only as electronic savings bonds in a TreasuryDirect account, and it has not reissued a paper EE or I bond since February 14, 2014. The rules are 31 CFR 353.48(a) and 360.48(a), as amended by 79 FR 8859 and 8860 (February 14, 2014).

The electronic bond is registered in one name. You add a secondary owner or a beneficiary yourself in TreasuryDirect after the reissue, and the paper bond does not come back to you. Owners who already hold electronic savings bonds manage the reissued bond in the same account.

A person entitled to a bond who cannot or will not open a TreasuryDirect account is paid instead. Payment in the same transaction is allowed by 31 CFR 353.48(a), and 31 CFR 363.126 pays a person unable, unwilling or ineligible to open an account.

The TreasuryDirect Account You Need Before Filing FS Form 4000

A TreasuryDirect account needs 5 things from an individual: a valid Social Security number, age 18 or older, legal competence, a US address of record and a US bank account that accepts ACH (automatic electronic) payments (31 CFR 363.11).

Open the account before you mail FS Form 4000, because the reissued bond needs somewhere to land.

ID.me, a separate identity company, has been the only way to log in to TreasuryDirect since October 28, 2026, and TreasuryDirect states that it cannot fix ID.me problems.

Our guide for owners locked out of TreasuryDirect covers ID.me login problems and account holds. An estate's legal representative opens an account in the estate's name (31 CFR 363.44(a)).

Who Cannot Use FS Form 4000

Seven cases cannot be handled with FS Form 4000, as listed below.

• Attorneys-in-fact: Treasury does not reissue paper bonds for an attorney-in-fact, the person named in a power of attorney such as FS Form 5188 (FS Publication 0105).
• Minors as signers: FS Form 4000 says a minor may not sign an EE or I reissue request; cashing a savings bond in a child's name follows other rules.
• Series HH bonds: all reached final maturity by August 1, 2024, so Series HH savings bonds can only be cashed.
• Series E bonds: Series E savings bonds are not on the form; all stopped earning by June 2010.
• Bonds at or near final maturity: within one full calendar month of it, or past it (31 CFR 353.45(b)).
• Retirement bonds after the owner's death: FS Form 3565 bars reissue of U.S. Retirement Plan Bonds and Individual Retirement Bonds "AFTER THE DEATH OF THE REGISTERED OWNER."
• Payment or a personal trust: use FS Form 1522 or FS Form 1851.

How to Fill Out, Certify and Mail FS Form 4000

Complete an FS Form 4000 request in 5 steps, listed below: download, choose your row, gather evidence, sign before a notary or certifying officer, and mail.

1. Download sav4000.pdf (Revised April 2026) from TreasuryDirect.
2. Choose the reissue row for your situation in the reasons table.
3. Gather that row's evidence and open your TreasuryDirect account.
4. Sign in ink before a notary or certifying officer.
5. Mail the form, bonds and evidence to the address below.

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
Email: SavBonds@fiscal.treasury.gov · Fax: 612-629-4285
Source: FS Form 4000 (Revised April 2026); TreasuryDirect Contact Us, as of November 11, 2026

Treasury Retail Securities Services is the office that processes mailed savings bond requests for Treasury. The Parkersburg, West Virginia address on the form takes only Paperwork Reduction Act comments, and P.O. Box 214 is outdated.

Check these points before you seal the envelope:

• Final maturity: more than one full calendar month away.
• Account: open, with a working ID.me login.
• Address: P.O. Box 9150, never Parkersburg.

Notary or Certifying Officer for FS Form 4000

Yes, FS Form 4000 always needs a certified signature: you sign in ink before a notary or an authorized certifying officer, whatever the bonds are worth.

A certifying officer is a person the Treasury regulations authorize to confirm your identity and signature, such as an officer of a US bank or trust company (31 CFR 353.55).

FS Form 1522 needs certification only above $1,000, and FS Forms 1455 and 5394 accept no notary at all. ClaimMyBonds does not certify signatures. The notary rule is one part of savings bond signature certification that differs from form to form.

Taxes When a Savings Bond Is Reissued

FS Form 4000 (Revised April 2026) states in its Tax Liability notice: "THE OBLIGATION TO REPORT THE INTEREST CANNOT BE TRANSFERRED TO SOMEONE ELSE THROUGH A REISSUE TRANSACTION." The owner or principal co-owner who is removed can therefore still owe the tax on interest earned up to the reissue.

When a living owner or principal co-owner is removed, that person reports the interest not yet reported for the year of the reissue. A reissue in your own name alone is not a tax event (IRS Publication 550, 2025).

When a reissue is a reportable event, such as removing the owner who paid for the bond, Treasury reports the interest earned up to the reissue on a Form 1099-INT, the IRS form for interest income, in the name of the person removed (FS Form 4000; TreasuryDirect).

How that form is read and reported is covered in Form 1099-INT for savings bonds.

Savings bond interest is exempt from state and local income tax under 31 U.S.C. 3124. Who reports what in your family's case is a question for a tax professional.

After You Mail FS Form 4000: Processing Time

TreasuryDirect publishes no processing time for FS Form 4000 by name. Its contact page lists times by request type, shown below as of November 11, 2026.

Source: TreasuryDirect Contact Us, as of November 11, 2026.

TreasuryDirect assigns FS Form 4000 to none of these rows, so the table shows only the range of published waits, from 3 to 11 months or longer.

FS Form 4000 or SmartExchange: Two Ways to Change a Paper Bond

SmartExchange, TreasuryDirect's way to convert paper savings bonds to electronic online, makes 3 of the same changes as FS Form 4000. They are a name change, a beneficiary change and removing a deceased registrant.

You fill in an online conversion manifest and mail the bonds, with no paper form. The steps and current waits are in our guide to convert paper savings bonds to electronic.

The table compares the two routes.

Source: FS Form 4000 (Revised April 2026); TreasuryDirect Convert, How Do I and Contact Us pages, as of November 11, 2026; 31 CFR 363.161, 363.164.

A converted bond can never go back to paper (31 CFR 363.164). A bond past final maturity, which includes every Series E bond, is redeemed automatically on conversion, and its interest becomes reportable for that year.

For a deceased registrant you send a certified copy of the death certificate, and the bond is converted in the survivor's name alone. Do not sign the backs of the bonds.

FS Form 4000 and the Other Savings Bond Forms

FS Form 4000 changes the registration of paper EE, I and retirement bonds, and 3 neighboring forms pay bonds, move them into a trust or settle an estate first.

Cashing Instead of Reissuing: FS Form 1522

FS Form 1522 cashes paper bonds by mail, including bonds that cannot be reissued, such as Series HH, Series E and bonds past final maturity.

Payment goes by direct deposit, and a notary or certifying officer is needed only above $1,000 on FS Form 1522.

Reissue to a Personal Trust: FS Form 1851

FS Form 1851 (Revised April 2026) reissues paper bonds to a personal trust, with EE and I bonds going into a TreasuryDirect trust account.

A successor trustee of a trust that already owns bonds uses FS Form 4000, not FS Form 1851.

Heirs and Estates: The Estate Form Comes Before FS Form 4000

When no person named on the bond survives, an estate form comes first: FS Form 5336, 1455 or 5394. Each heir then files FS Form 1522 to cash or FS Form 4000 to keep EE or I bonds.

An estate that is not administered, with Treasury securities totaling $100,000 or less at the date of death, can use the voluntary-representative route of FS Form 5336. Closed estates and state small-estate procedures use FS Form 5394 instead.

FS Form 4000 FAQ

Where Do You Get a Printable FS Form 4000 PDF?

Download sav4000.pdf from the TreasuryDirect forms page, check that page 1 reads "Revised April 2026", and print it. ClaimMyBonds does not host the form.

Can You Submit FS Form 4000 Online?

No. FS Form 4000 is mailed with the paper bonds, and fill-in websites cannot submit it. Electronic bonds are changed inside TreasuryDirect (31 CFR 363.20).

Can FS Form 4000 Get You a New Paper Savings Bond?

No. Since February 14, 2014, Treasury reissues paper EE and I bonds only as electronic bonds in a TreasuryDirect account.

Can I Name a Beneficiary on an I Bond?

Yes. A paper I bond gets a beneficiary through an FS Form 4000 reissue or through SmartExchange, and an electronic I bond can be registered as owner with beneficiary (POD) in TreasuryDirect. What the beneficiary receives is explained under POD savings bonds.

How Do You Replace a Savings Bond?

Lost, stolen or destroyed bonds are replaced with FS Form 1048 (Revised March 2026), and EE and I replacements come back as electronic bonds.

The claim and its signers are covered on our page for FS Form 1048.

Is the 2022 Version of FS Form 4000 Still Valid?

No. The current revision is April 2026, and 2022 copies on fill-in websites are superseded.

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