Claiming savings bonds from Treasury and from state programs costs nothing, and the forms are free. Savings bond claim help from ClaimMyBonds is optional and paid: it adds the paperwork, tracing and follow-up for owners and heirs who want that work done with them.
On September 30, 2026, 103,064,737 matured paper savings bonds of all series, bonds that have stopped earning interest, were still uncashed (Fiscal Data).
ClaimMyBonds is a private company, not the government, and it is not Treasury, TreasuryDirect, a state or Treasury Hunt.
Our help costs a flat fee for the paperwork plus a success fee, both invoiced only after you have been paid; the amounts are on request, and nothing is paid on this website. How paper and electronic bonds work is explained in our guide to US savings bonds.
Free Ways to Claim Savings Bonds Before You Ask for Help
Owners and heirs can claim every kind of savings bond themselves, with no Treasury fee, using a free Treasury form, a bank or the state's unclaimed property program. Treasury Retail Securities Services, the Treasury office that handles paper savings bonds by mail, lists "no fees" on the TreasuryDirect contact page (as of November 11, 2026).
A bank that cashes savings bonds may not charge you for redeeming them (31 CFR 321.23(c)), though banks may decline to cash paper bonds (FS Publication 0022, Rev. October 2022). A notary fee or postage can still cost money. The table lists the 4 situations on our request form and the free route for each.
| Situation | Free route and form | Who charges nothing | What our paid help adds | Free guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| My own bonds are lost | claim replacement or payment with FS Form 1048 (Rev. March 2026), mailed to Treasury Retail Securities Services | Treasury lists no fees; the form is free | listing what you held from your records, completing the form for your signature, answering Treasury's follow-up letters | FS Form 1048 |
| A relative died | a surviving co-owner or POD beneficiary is the owner; with no living named person, FS Form 5336 (Rev. April 2026) fits when the decedent's savings bonds and other Treasury securities total $100,000 or less (redemption value) at the date of death, with no administration and no state small-estate procedure used; a state small-estate procedure or a closed estate goes on FS Form 5394 (Rev. May 2026) | Treasury lists no fees; the forms are free | working out who is entitled and which form fits, collecting death certificates and estate papers, tracking the claim | savings bonds after death |
| I found paper bonds | cash them at a bank that cashes savings bonds, or by mail with FS Form 1522 (Rev. April 2026); certification by a notary or certifying officer only above $1,000 total | Treasury lists no fees; a bank that cashes bonds may not charge for redeeming (31 CFR 321.23(c)) | checking whose names are on the bonds and what each is worth, preparing the cashing request for your signature | how to cash savings bonds |
| A state holds them | claim directly with the state's unclaimed property program | searching and claiming through the official state program costs nothing (NAUPA) | preparing the state's claim papers with you, where that state's rules allow paid help | unclaimed savings bonds |
The free route for each situation on the ClaimMyBonds request form, as of November 11, 2026. Sources: TreasuryDirect forms and contact page; 31 CFR 321.23(c); 31 CFR 353.70, 353.71; state unclaimed property programs.
A POD beneficiary is the person named "payable on death" on a bond (31 CFR 353.70). Treasury Hunt, Treasury's own online search, has not been available since September 30, 2025, and no online name search replaced it. Lost bonds are claimed by mail on FS Form 1048 (Rev. March 2026).
What Our Claim Help Adds: Paperwork, Tracing and Follow-Up
ClaimMyBonds' claim help adds 3 things to the free route: paperwork, tracing and follow-up. You keep your bonds, sign every form yourself and receive every payment. The 3 parts of the help are listed below.
- Paperwork: finding which FS form fits your situation and preparing it, with the documents Treasury asks for, ready for you to sign.
- Tracing: working through your own or a relative's papers and records to establish which bonds existed and who is named on them; never a search of Treasury's records.
- Follow-up: keeping track of the claim and helping you answer Treasury's or the state's requests for more documents until it is settled.
The help suits owners and heirs whose problem is time and paper, not law: more than one bond or heir, missing records, or a letter from a state. A legal or tax decision, such as a dispute among heirs or reporting bond interest, belongs with the estate's attorney or a tax professional.
What No Savings Bond Helper Can Do, Including Us
6 limits apply to every savings bond helper, ClaimMyBonds included, because Treasury's rules give no third party special access or rights. ClaimMyBonds does not do these 6 things.
- Government status: We do not act as Treasury, TreasuryDirect, a state or any government office, and we never contact you claiming to be one.
- Treasury records: We do not search them, and we hold no list of bond owners.
- TreasuryDirect accounts: We do not log in for you; TreasuryDirect says there are no Treasury-approved third-party websites for account access.
- Your signature: We do not sign Treasury's forms for you. A certifying officer, such as a bank officer, must establish your identity and may not certify a request in which they have or will acquire an interest (31 CFR 353.56, 353.57).
- Your money: We do not receive your payment; on a Treasury claim, Treasury pays you, never us, and a state pays a claimant under its own rules.
- Advice: We do not give legal or tax advice.
Treasury's owner records stay with Treasury. Under 89 FR 102735 (December 18, 2024), a state gets bond owners' names and addresses only under an information-sharing agreement with Treasury. It may use them only to locate owners and may not release them to any third party without Treasury's advance written approval (31 CFR 323.11(c)).
No state is publicly known to have signed one as of November 11, 2026. No helper, ours included, can obtain these records, as the rules on what states can receive from Treasury show.
How to Ask for Help: From the Request Form to a Callback
Asking for help takes one short form and starts nothing but a callback: we phone or email you, explain the free route first, and give our fee amounts on request. The 5 steps from request to decision are listed below.
- Send the request form.
- Get a call or email from us.
- Hear the free route for your situation first.
- Ask for our flat fee and success fee amounts if you want our help.
- Decide, with no deadline and no obligation.
The request form asks for 5 things: your situation, the series and approximate issue years if you know them, your state, your contact details and your consent.
It never asks for a Social Security number, bond serial numbers, scans or photos of bonds, ID documents or payment details. Do not send those by email either. Each request is kept for 24 months, as our Privacy Notice explains.
Our Fees: A Flat Fee Plus a Success Fee, Never Out of Your Bonds
ClaimMyBonds charges a flat fee for the paperwork plus a success fee, invoices both only after you have been paid, and neither fee comes out of your bonds.
We send the invoice no earlier than the eighth business day after the money from Treasury, the bank or the state reaches you; if you are not paid, you owe us nothing.
The amounts of both fees are given on request, in the callback. Savings bonds are not transferable and are payable only to the owners named on them (31 CFR 353.15; also 315.15, 360.15), or to another person entitled (31 CFR 353.39(b)).
Savings bonds cannot be pledged (31 CFR 353.16), and we never ask you to sign over a bond or its proceeds.
No Treasury regulation sets, caps or approves what a private helper charges, and Treasury approves or licenses no paid service, ours included. Before you agree to pay ClaimMyBonds anything, you get in writing both fee amounts, the total cost, what it covers and the refund policy.
On a claim a state holds, we take paid work only where that state's rules on paid helpers allow it, and its fee cap applies to both fees together. You can still take the free route instead.
No helper speeds up Treasury. As of November 11, 2026, Treasury lists 3 months or longer to cash paper bonds in your name, 5 months or longer for transactions not in your name, such as estates, and 11 months or longer for lost-bond searches.
We promise no result, amount or date, as our terms for the claim help service state.
Choosing Paid Help Safely: Fees, Fake Finders and Impersonators
Consider a savings bond helper only if it states the free route first, says it is not the government, never takes payment from your bond and claims no Treasury access.
Federal law bars using Treasury names, including "United States Savings Bond", in a way that suggests Treasury endorsement, and a disclaimer does not cure it (31 U.S.C. 333).
The FTC Impersonation Rule bars posing as a federal, state, local or tribal government entity or falsely claiming affiliation with one (16 CFR 461.2, effective April 1, 2024). Both rules reach the fake finders and impersonators behind savings bond scams.
Claims that a birth certificate number unlocks savings bonds are false (TreasuryDirect). A helper claiming "Treasury's list" of owners is also wrong (31 CFR 323.11(c)).
A state that holds your bonds applies its own rules on paid helpers, such as fee caps and registration, and claiming directly from that state costs nothing. State rules on savings bond recovery services and their fees differ by state.
Savings Bond Claim Help Questions
Is ClaimMyBonds part of Treasury or TreasuryDirect?
No: ClaimMyBonds is a private company, not a government website, and it is not part of Treasury or TreasuryDirect. Treasury Retail Securities Services handles paper savings bonds by mail at P.O. Box 9150, Minneapolis, MN 55480-9150, and at 844-284-2676, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm ET. Read more about ClaimMyBonds.
Can ClaimMyBonds search Treasury's records for bonds in my name?
No: ClaimMyBonds cannot search Treasury's records, and no public name search of those records exists. Owners and heirs ask Treasury directly with FS Form 1048, and we never ask for a Social Security number. Missouri runs the only verified live state name search, for paper bonds it holds (as of November 11, 2026). Other ways to find lost or missing savings bonds are in our lookup guide.
Does ClaimMyBonds replace Treasury Hunt?
No: Treasury Hunt was Treasury's own search tool, it has not been available since September 30, 2025, and no private service, ours included, replaces it. TreasuryDirect states: "As of September 30, 2025, the Treasury Hunt® tool is no longer available." Owners' options now are set out under Treasury Hunt is closed.
How long does a savings bond claim take?
Treasury lists 3 months or longer to cash paper bonds in your name and 5 months or longer when they are not in your name, as of November 11, 2026. A bond Treasury's records show as cashed is presumed properly paid if no claim came within 10 years of that redemption (31 CFR 353.29(b)).
Do I need the serial number to claim a lost bond?
Only for old claims: a claim filed 6 years or more after a bond's final maturity, when it stops earning interest, needs the serial number (31 CFR 315.29(c), 353.29(c)). Earlier claims can be filed on an FS Form 1048 claim for lost savings bonds without the serial number if you do not have it, and our request form never asks for one. Savings bonds never expire, and there is no deadline to cash them (Executive Order 13968, 85 FR 83745).
Do I have to use paid help to claim bonds a state holds?
No: you can claim directly from the state's unclaimed property program, and searching and claiming through the official state program costs nothing. That is the position of the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators. Treasury may, at its discretion, pay a state only for bonds at final maturity that the state physically holds and has taken title to by court judgment (31 CFR 315.88, 353.88). Claims go through state unclaimed property offices.
Help by Situation
ClaimMyBonds' help covers the same 4 situations as the request form: lost bonds, a relative's death, found paper bonds and bonds a state holds. The 4 situations are listed below.
- Help with lost or destroyed savings bonds
- Help claiming a deceased relative's savings bonds
- Help cashing old paper savings bonds you found
- Help after a state contacts you about savings bonds
Free Guides and Our Policies
2 free guides and 2 site pages complete this page. They are listed below.
- Savings bond calculator
- How to find savings bonds of a deceased parent
- Contact ClaimMyBonds
- Editorial policy
Ready to ask? Request help with your savings bonds; the free route comes first in every callback.
Rules and dates checked November 11, 2026, against the Treasury sources named above. Read how we check every value, date and rule.