Claiming savings bonds from Treasury and from state programs costs nothing, and the forms are free. This savings bond help request asks ClaimMyBonds to call or email you about paid help with the paperwork, tracing and follow-up. The request takes 5 questions, asks for no payment and commits you to nothing.
ClaimMyBonds is a private company that writes about US savings bonds, not the government, Treasury, TreasuryDirect or a state.
Our help costs a flat fee plus a success fee, both invoiced only after you have been paid, with amounts on request; the free route for your situation comes first, below. This page belongs to an independent guide to US savings bonds.
The Free Route for Each Situation
Each of the 4 situations on the form has a free route through Treasury or a state program, and you can follow it without us. The table lists the free route, the form and its current revision for each situation.
| Situation | Free route and form | Who charges nothing | Guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| My own bonds are lost, stolen or destroyed | claim from Treasury Retail Securities Services with FS Form 1048 (Rev. March 2026) | Treasury lists no fees; the form is free | FS Form 1048 |
| A relative died | a surviving co-owner or POD beneficiary cashes as owner; otherwise FS Form 5336 (Rev. April 2026) or FS Form 5394 (Rev. May 2026) (note 1) | Treasury lists no fees; the forms are free | savings bonds after death |
| I found paper bonds | bonds in your name: a bank that cashes savings bonds, or FS Form 1522 (Rev. April 2026) by mail (note 2) | a bank may not charge for redeeming; Treasury lists no fees | how to cash savings bonds |
| A state holds my bonds or wrote to me | claim directly with the state's unclaimed-property program (note 3) | the official state program charges nothing (NAUPA) | unclaimed savings bonds |
The free route for each situation on the ClaimMyBonds help request form (as of November 11, 2026). Sources: TreasuryDirect forms and contact page; 31 CFR 321.23(c), 353.70; state unclaimed-property programs (NAUPA).
- A co-owner (the second name joined by "OR") or a POD beneficiary (the "payable on death" name) becomes sole owner when the owner dies (31 CFR 353.70, Series EE and HH). Otherwise, FS Form 5336 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 court administration, no living person named on the bond and no state small-estate procedure used (31 CFR 353.71(e)). FS Form 5394 fits after a state small-estate procedure or a closed court-administered estate.
- Banks may not pay Series F, G, H, HH, J or K; those go to Treasury by mail with FS Form 1522 (31 CFR 321.7(a), 321.9(b)). Bonds in someone else's name are cashed by that person (31 CFR 353.39(b)); a deceased relative's bonds follow the row above.
- A state that locates you through Treasury records under 89 FR 102735 receives only your name and address, and Treasury still pays the owner.
Treasury Retail Securities Services, the Treasury office for paper bonds by mail, lists "no fees" on the TreasuryDirect contact page. It answers at 844-284-2676, Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm ET (as of November 11, 2026).
Every owner and heir form goes to P.O. Box 9150, Minneapolis, MN 55480-9150. A bank that cashes savings bonds may not charge for redeeming them (31 CFR 321.23(c)), but banks may decline paper bonds (FS Publication 0022, Rev. October 2022).
The Savings Bond Help Request Form
The savings bond help request form asks 5 questions: your situation, the series and approximate issue years, your state, how to reach you and your consent. Only situation, state, name, email and consent are required; "Not sure" is a valid answer for series and years.
The form checks each series against its issue window (paper Series EE: January 1980 to December 2011) and shows a hint, never a block, for a year outside it. It refuses a phone entry that looks like a Social Security number.
What the Form Never Asks For
The form never asks for your Social Security number, bond serial numbers, scans or photos of bonds, ID documents or payment details. The 6 things below never belong in the form or in an email to us.
- Social Security number
- Bond serial numbers
- Scans or photos of bonds
- ID documents (driver's license, passport)
- Bank, card or other payment details
- TreasuryDirect login details or birth certificate numbers
Treasury pays a savings bond only to the registered owner or another person entitled to payment (31 CFR 353.39(b); 315.39(b), 360.39(b)), so no helper needs your bond numbers. A site asking for a birth certificate number to "unlock" bonds makes a claim TreasuryDirect calls false.
What Happens After You Send Your Request
Sending the form starts one thing: we call or email you about your request, and nothing is filed with Treasury or any state. The 5 steps are listed below.
- Send the 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 callback asks whether you still have the serial numbers on paper. A lost-bond claim filed 6 years or more after final maturity (when interest stops) needs them (Series EE, E and older series; 31 CFR 353.29(c); 315.29(c) for older series). They never go into the form.
Treasury, not ClaimMyBonds, decides every claim and sets the pace. It lists 3 months or longer for cashing paper bonds in your name and 5 months or longer for other paper bond transactions not in your name. Lost bond searches take 11 months or longer (TreasuryDirect, as of November 11, 2026).
What Our Paid Help Covers, and What No Helper Can Do
Our paid help covers 3 things, the paperwork, the tracing and the follow-up, while you sign every form and Treasury pays you. The 3 parts are listed below.
- Paperwork: the right Treasury form, such as FS Form 1522, 1048 or 5336, and arranging its certification.
- Tracing: what your bonds, family papers and state programs show.
- Follow-up: tracking a request until Treasury or the state program answers it.
ClaimMyBonds has no special access to Treasury, TreasuryDirect or any state; TreasuryDirect says no third-party website is Treasury-approved for account access. Savings bonds are not transferable (31 CFR 353.15; 315.15, 360.15), so we never ask you to sign one over.
You sign Treasury's forms yourself. FS Form 1522, for cashing paper bonds by mail, needs a notary or certifying officer only above $1,000 of total current value. A certifying officer may not certify a request in which they have or will acquire an interest (31 CFR 353.57).
Our savings bond claim help gives no legal or tax advice: ask the estate's attorney or a tax professional. More on the paperwork, tracing and follow-up is under savings bond claim help.
Our Fees: A Flat Fee Plus a Success Fee
ClaimMyBonds charges a flat fee for the paperwork plus a success fee, invoices both only after you have been paid, and gives both amounts on request, in the callback; nothing is paid on this website.
No Treasury regulation sets, caps or approves what a private helper charges. Both fees are a separate agreement between you and us, billed to you and never taken out of the bond (31 CFR 353.39(b)).
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.
Before you agree to pay anything, you get in writing both fee amounts, the total cost, what it covers and the refund policy, and the free route stays open.
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.
Claiming directly from a state that holds your bonds costs nothing, and the state program can tell you whether it has rules on paid helpers. The same payment rule covers all savings bond recovery services and their fees: Treasury pays only you.
Questions Before You Request Help
Questions about a request you already sent, or about deleting it, go to editorial@claimmybonds.com. Under the Privacy Notice, we keep each request for 24 months. The terms for the claim help service say what sending the form does and does not start.
Help Request Questions
The 6 answers below cover status, cost, records, documents, timing and deadlines.
Is ClaimMyBonds part of Treasury or TreasuryDirect?
No: ClaimMyBonds is a private company, not Treasury, TreasuryDirect, a state or any agency, and it never calls, texts or emails claiming to be one. TreasuryDirect's own emails come from treasurydirect@lists.fiscal.treasury.gov (as of November 11, 2026), a check against savings bond scams and impersonators.
Does sending the form cost anything or commit me to anything?
No: sending the form is free, asks for no payment and does not commit you to paid help. Paid help starts only if you later accept a separate written agreement that states both fees.
Can ClaimMyBonds search Treasury records for bonds in my name?
No: ClaimMyBonds cannot search Treasury's records, and no one can search them online by name or Social Security number. Treasury's search tool has been unavailable since September 30, 2025: Treasury Hunt is closed, with no online replacement. States get only names and addresses under an information-sharing agreement and may not pass them to third parties without Treasury's advance written approval (31 CFR 323.11(c); 89 FR 102735, December 18, 2024).
Should I send serial numbers or copies of my bonds?
No: keep serial numbers, bonds and copies yourself, and never type or email them to us. You send originals and forms only to Treasury Retail Securities Services, P.O. Box 9150, Minneapolis, or to the state program, even when we help.
How long do Treasury claims take?
Cashing paper bonds in your name takes 3 months or longer, other paper bonds not in your name 5 months or longer, and lost bond searches 11 months or longer. Treasury publishes no separate time for estate forms, and no helper can shorten these times (as of November 11, 2026).
Is there a deadline to cash old savings bonds?
No: savings bonds never expire, and there is no deadline to cash them. Executive Order 13968 (85 FR 83745) says so; matured bonds only stop earning interest.
Help by Situation
The 4 situations on the form follow 4 different routes, from FS Form 1048 for lost bonds to a state's own claim form.
- 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