A state letter about savings bonds means one of 2 things: the state holds a paper bond in your name and you claim it free from its unclaimed property program, or the state has only your name and address and Treasury pays you.
Neither the state nor Treasury charges a fee, though a notary or postage can cost money.
Eighteen states passed savings bond escheat statutes, laws that let a state ask a court for title to unclaimed bonds. Even so, a state can be paid only for a paper bond it physically holds (31 CFR 315.88, 353.88).
ClaimMyBonds is a private company, not the government, Treasury, TreasuryDirect, a state or Treasury Hunt. Our help adds paperwork, tracing and follow-up for a flat fee plus a success fee, both invoiced only after you are paid, where your state's rules allow paid help.
Amounts are on request, nothing is paid on this website, and other situations are under savings bond claim help.
What a State Letter About Savings Bonds Can Mean: 5 Situations
A state contacts savings bond owners in 5 ways, and only the first means the state itself can pay you. Check any letter, call or email first on the state's own unclaimed property website, never through a link in the message.
Two questions sort every contact: who sent it, and whether the state holds the paper bond. The table lists the 5 situations, who pays you and the free route for each.
| Contact | What it means | Who pays you | Free route | Free guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A notice from the state's unclaimed property program about a bond it holds | the state has the paper bond, usually from an abandoned safe deposit box | the state, under its own rules, or Treasury after you get the bond back | file the state's free claim form | state unclaimed property offices |
| A letter saying the state found your name as a bond owner | a state with an information-sharing agreement may receive names and addresses to locate owners; it does not hold the bond, and no state is publicly known to have an agreement (as of November 11, 2026) | Treasury | cash the paper bond at a bank or with FS Form 1522; claim a lost bond with FS Form 1048 | what states can receive from Treasury |
| Your name in a state escheat lawsuit notice or defendant list | the state asks a court to make it owner of bonds; it can be paid only for bonds it holds (31 CFR 315.88, 353.88) | the state, if it holds the bond; otherwise Treasury | claim from the state program; in Missouri, claiming removes you from the suit for those bonds | Missouri unclaimed savings bonds |
| A call, email or letter claiming to be the state or Treasury that asks for a fee, a Social Security number or a login | the FTC Impersonation Rule bars posing as any government entity (16 CFR Part 461) | nobody: do not pay | contact the state program through its own website | savings bond scams |
| A private finder's letter about bonds a state holds | a sales offer, not a state notice | the state pays you; any fee follows the state's finder rules | claim directly from the state program at no cost | savings bond recovery services and their fees |
What a state's contact about savings bonds means, who pays you and the free route, as of November 2026. Sources: 31 CFR 315.88, 353.88, 323.11 (eCFR, November 6, 2026); 89 FR 102735; Missouri State Treasurer; 16 CFR Part 461.
The Free Route: Claiming Savings Bonds From a State Program Yourself
You can claim savings bonds from a state without any helper: the state's claim form is free, and searching and claiming through the state program costs nothing. The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators says the same. The 6 steps of the free route are listed below.
- Find out who sent the letter, and reach the state's unclaimed property program through its own website, not through a link or phone number in the message.
- Search the program for your name and the names of relatives whose bonds you may inherit; Missouri also runs a separate name search for paper bonds it holds.
- Ask the program whether it holds the paper bond itself or has only your name and address.
- File the state's free claim form with the proof it lists if the state holds the bond, and sign it yourself.
- Claim from Treasury if the state does not hold the bond: cash a paper bond at a bank that cashes savings bonds (banks may, but need not, cash them) or by mail with FS Form 1522 (Rev. April 2026), and claim a lost bond with FS Form 1048 (Rev. March 2026).
- Use the survivor or estate route if the owner named on the bond has died: a surviving co-owner or beneficiary is the owner, and otherwise the estate claims.
When the State Holds the Paper Bond
When a state holds your paper bond, you claim it from that state's unclaimed property program, which returns the bond or pays the proceeds under its own rules. Most such bonds come from abandoned safe deposit boxes. South Dakota records each one under the owner named on it (SDCL 43-41B-17).
Minnesota law requires the bonds it holds to be presented to the United States for payment (Minn. Stat. 345.47 subd. 3).
Treasury may, at its discretion, pay a state for a bond that has reached final maturity if the state holds it and owns it by court judgment (80 FR 80258, December 24, 2015). A returned bond is cashed at a bank or on FS Form 1522.
When the State Has Only Your Name: Claiming From Treasury
When a state has only your name and address, you claim the bond from Treasury: a paper bond at a bank or with FS Form 1522, a lost bond with FS Form 1048.
SECURE 2.0 (31 U.S.C. 3105(f), December 29, 2022) and 89 FR 102735 (December 18, 2024) let a state receive owners' names and addresses only under an information-sharing agreement with Treasury.
The names cover bonds more than 3 years past final maturity and serve only to locate owners, never to escheat bonds (31 CFR 323.11(c)). No agreement is publicly known as of November 11, 2026.
States get no serial numbers, the code on each bond, yet a lost-bond claim 6 years or more after final maturity needs one (31 CFR 315.29(c), 353.29(c)).
What Our Help Adds to a State Claim: Paperwork, Tracing and Follow-Up
On a state claim, ClaimMyBonds' help adds 3 things to the free route: paperwork, tracing and follow-up. You sign every form, and the state, Treasury or a bank pays you. The 3 parts are listed below.
- Paperwork: preparing the state's claim form and, where the bond stays with Treasury, FS Form 1522 or FS Form 1048, with the documents each asks for, ready for you to sign.
- Tracing: working through your own and your family's papers to establish which bonds existed, whose names are on them and who is entitled now; never a search of Treasury's or the state's records.
- Follow-up: keeping track of what went to the state and to Treasury, and helping you answer their requests for more documents until the claim is settled.
This help suits owners and heirs whose problem is time and paper: several bonds or heirs, a state claim plus a Treasury claim, or missing records. Disputes go to the estate's attorney, and tax questions to a tax professional.
State Rules That Limit Any Paid Helper on a State-Held Claim
Six states checked here set rules for anyone paid to help with property the state holds, and those rules bind ClaimMyBonds as much as any finder. A finder is a company that recovers unclaimed property for a fee. The table lists each rule and its source.
| State | Rule on anyone paid to help | Source | State guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | only a registered claimant representative (a Florida-licensed Class C private investigator, CPA or attorney) may act, on the state's Recovery Agreement form; fees only after a filed claim is approved; no irrevocable agreement | Fla. Stat. 717.135(4), (5), (7); 717.1400(1) | Florida unclaimed savings bonds |
| Pennsylvania | a finder registration certificate from the State Treasurer, attorneys excepted; a written, signed and acknowledged agreement showing the registration number | 72 P.S. 1301.11a(a); 1301.11(g) | Pennsylvania unclaimed savings bonds |
| Illinois | a finder's license from the Illinois State Treasurer; a waiting period applies (length not on the Treasurer's page) | Illinois Treasurer finder FAQ | none |
| New York | a written agreement, signed by the owner, notarized, with a 12-point bold notice that the owner can get the funds from the Comptroller without a fee | N.Y. Aband. Prop. Law 1416(3) | New York unclaimed savings bonds |
| Texas | a finder paid a percentage may not file or receive the claim form; the Comptroller does not pay a person holding the owner's power of attorney, except a durable power of attorney for a medically incapacitated owner | Tex. Prop. Code 74.507(b); 74.501(e)(2), (f)(2) | Texas unclaimed savings bonds |
| Georgia | staff do not discuss a claim with anyone without an interest in it unless the owner signs a power of attorney on Form UP-1061 | Georgia Department of Revenue unclaimed property FAQ | Georgia unclaimed savings bonds |
Rules on paid helpers for property a state holds, 6 states, checked November 11, 2026. Sources: the statutes named, the Illinois Treasurer finder FAQ, the Georgia Department of Revenue FAQ. Other states not verified.
Other states, including California, Ohio, North Carolina and Michigan, are not verified here. Whether these rules reach a bond that a state only located under 31 U.S.C. 3105(f) is not established. The free claim from the state program stays open everywhere.
How to Ask for Help After a State Letter
Asking for help after a state letter takes one short form and starts only a callback. Choose "A state holds my bonds or wrote to me about them", and we phone or email you, explain your state's free route first and give our fee amounts on request.
The form asks for 5 things: situation, series and years if known, state, contact details and consent, never a Social Security number, serial numbers, scans, ID or payment details.
The callback asks who wrote and whether you hold the paper bond, then says whether your state allows a paid helper; if not, you get the free route only.
Fees on a State-Held Claim: A Flat Fee Plus a Success Fee Under the State's Rules
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 or the state's payment.
We invoice no earlier than the eighth business day after the money reaches you. If you are never paid, you owe nothing; amounts are on request.
Savings bonds are not transferable, are payable only to the named owners (31 CFR 353.15) or another person entitled (353.39(b)), and cannot be pledged (353.16). No Treasury regulation sets, caps or approves a helper's fee. On a state-held claim, that state's fee cap and other rules apply to both fees together.
You get both fee amounts, the coverage and the refund terms in writing before you agree.
No helper speeds up a claim: Treasury lists at least 3 months for paper bonds in your name, 5 months for bonds not in your name and 11 months for lost bonds (TreasuryDirect, November 11, 2026). The terms for the claim help service promise no result, amount or date.
Before You Answer a Letter or Call: Impersonators, Finders and "Treasury's List"
Answer a savings bond letter or call only after checking it on the state's own website, and never pay, give a Social Security number or sign over a bond to someone who claims to be the state or Treasury.
The FTC Impersonation Rule (16 CFR Part 461, since April 1, 2024) bars posing as any government entity. Schemes are listed under fake finders and impersonators.
A second law, 31 U.S.C. 333, bars using Treasury names to suggest endorsement, disclaimer or not. Treasury's paper bond office states: "we charge no fees, nor do we offer gifts for working with our office" (as of November 11, 2026).
Nobody sells "Treasury's list": a state may not pass the names it receives to a third party without Treasury's advance written approval (31 CFR 323.11(c)(3)).
New York makes a finder's agreement say in 12-point bold that the owner can claim from the Comptroller without a fee (N.Y. Aband. Prop. Law 1416(3)(d)). Fee caps are compared under savings bond recovery services and their fees.
State Letter Savings Bond Questions
Is a letter from my state about savings bonds real?
Check it first: a real state letter about savings bonds comes from the state's unclaimed property program, whose website, typed in yourself, confirms the claim. Each program appears among the state unclaimed property offices.
Can a state cash my savings bonds without me?
Only a bond the state holds: Treasury may pay a state only for a paper bond at final maturity that it possesses and owns by court judgment (31 CFR 315.88, 353.88). LaTurner v. United States (Fed. Cir. August 13, 2019) held that federal law preempts state escheat laws for bonds a state does not hold; owners claim those unclaimed savings bonds from Treasury.
Is there a deadline to answer a state about savings bonds?
No deadline applies to cashing a savings bond from Treasury, but a state escheat case runs on its own dates. Florida publishes a bond escheat suit weekly for 4 weeks, with defenses due 28 to 60 days after first publication (Fla. Stat. 717.1382). After a judgment, Kentucky, Louisiana and West Virginia pay claimants only at their discretion (KRS 393.022; La. R.S. 9:182; W. Va. Code 36-8-2a).
Will the state tell me my bond's serial number?
Not for a bond it only located: under 89 FR 102735 a state receives names and addresses, never serial numbers or Social Security numbers. A lost-bond claim 6 years or more after final maturity needs the number from your own records, on an FS Form 1048 claim for lost, stolen or destroyed savings bonds.
Do I have to sign a finder's agreement to get bonds back from a state?
No: you can claim directly from the state program at no cost, and a finder's agreement is optional. Florida lets a claimant representative be paid only after a filed claim is approved (Fla. Stat. 717.135(5)). Pennsylvania lets an owner challenge an agreement as excessive or unjust at any time (72 P.S. 1301.11(j)).
Can ClaimMyBonds search Treasury's or the state's records for me?
No: ClaimMyBonds cannot search Treasury's records or the records a state receives, and no online search replaced Treasury Hunt. TreasuryDirect states: "As of September 30, 2025, the Treasury Hunt® tool is no longer available." Alternatives are listed under Treasury Hunt is closed.
Other Help and Free Guides
ClaimMyBonds explains its help in a hub page and for 3 other situations, and 2 free guides cover what follows a state letter. They are listed below.
- Savings bond claim help for every situation
- Help with lost or destroyed savings bonds
- Help claiming a deceased relative's savings bonds
- Help cashing old paper savings bonds you found
- Savings bonds after death
- How to find savings bonds of a deceased parent
Ready to ask? Request help with your savings bonds; the free route from your state program comes first in every callback.
Rules and dates checked November 11, 2026, against the Treasury, court and state sources named above. Read how we check every value, date and rule.