The Missouri State Treasurer holds some of Missouri's unclaimed savings bonds, mainly paper bonds from abandoned safe deposit boxes, and lists them in a free name search. Bonds that exist only in Treasury's records are claimed from Treasury with FS Form 1048.
Missouri's savings bond law, RSMo 447.534 (effective July 8, 2014), and the Cole County case No. 15AC-CC00613 decide what can happen to bonds nobody claims. All Missouri agency facts below were checked on November 11, 2026.
ClaimMyBonds is a private, independent guide, not the Missouri Treasurer, Treasury or Treasury Hunt, and we cannot search the Treasurer's or Treasury's records for you. The Treasurer's search and the claim forms are free. Other states handle bonds differently, and the hub on savings bonds and state unclaimed property offices compares them.
Does the Missouri State Treasurer Hold Unclaimed Savings Bonds?
Yes: the Missouri State Treasurer's Unclaimed Property program holds paper savings bonds that banks delivered from abandoned safe deposit boxes. The program, called "Missouri's Largest Lost & Found", lists those bonds in the Unclaimed U.S. Savings Bonds Search. The table below summarizes it (as of November 11, 2026).
| Attribute | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Program | Missouri State Treasurer, Unclaimed Property ("Missouri's Largest Lost & Found") | treasurer.mo.gov |
| Bond search | Unclaimed U.S. Savings Bonds Search, live on November 11, 2026 | Missouri State Treasurer |
| Where the bonds come from | Abandoned safe deposit boxes delivered by banks | Missouri State Treasurer |
| Claim | E-mail claim form; expect to hear back within 15 working days | Missouri State Treasurer |
| Claim deadline | None, per the Treasurer's FAQ | Missouri State Treasurer |
| Cost | Free | Missouri State Treasurer |
| General statute | RSMo 447.500 to 447.595 | revisor.mo.gov |
| Savings bond statute | RSMo 447.534, effective July 8, 2014 | revisor.mo.gov |
| Court case | Cole County No. 15AC-CC00613 | Missouri State Treasurer |
| Federal cases | Third Circuit appellant (No. 10-1963, 2012); Estes amicus (2016) | Court records |
| Agreement with Treasury for bond records | None publicly known | No state or Treasury source (checked November 11, 2026); agreement required by 31 CFR 323.11(b) |
The search shows only bonds the Treasurer holds, not Treasury's records, and no national name search for unclaimed savings bonds exists. Missouri is the only state with a verified live bond name search (as of November 11, 2026).
Where Missouri's Unclaimed Savings Bonds Come From: Abandoned Safe Deposit Boxes
Missouri's held savings bonds come from abandoned safe deposit boxes that banks turned over to the Treasurer. The Treasurer's search page says: "Though the Treasurer has these bonds, you can claim them at any time" (as of November 11, 2026).
A bond therefore appears in the list only if it sat in a Missouri box that was turned over. Electronic bonds, which live in a TreasuryDirect account, and paper bonds kept at home never reach the Treasurer.
How to Search Missouri Unclaimed Savings Bonds by Name
Search by entering the owner's name in the Treasurer's Unclaimed U.S. Savings Bonds Search, then file the e-mail claim form if a bond matches. The 4 steps are below.
- Open the search yourself at treasurer.mo.gov/UCP/SavingsBondsSearch.aspx, never through a link in a letter or an ad.
- Search the name exactly as printed on the bond, plus former and married names; how to read a paper savings bond shows where the name sits.
- Repeat the search for each co-owner or POD beneficiary named on the bond, and for a deceased owner.
- Complete the e-mail claim form for each match.
How to Claim a Savings Bond From the Missouri State Treasurer
The Treasurer's Unclaimed Property division tells you to expect to hear from it within 15 working days of the e-mail claim form, and no deadline applies. Its FAQ says: "You can begin the process of claiming your U.S. savings bond from the Treasurer at any time. There is no deadline."
Claiming from the state program costs nothing. Ask the division what proof it needs before you send anything.
Missouri State Treasurer, Unclaimed Property
Savings bond search: treasurer.mo.gov/UCP/SavingsBondsSearch.aspx
P.O. Box 210, Jefferson City, MO 65102
Phone: (573) 751-0123, 11 AM to 2 PM; fax (573) 526-6027
Source: Missouri State Treasurer, checked November 11, 2026. ClaimMyBonds is not affiliated with the Treasurer.
Cashing a Savings Bond Missouri Returns to You
Cash a paper bond that the Treasurer returns like any other paper bond: at a bank that offers the service, or by mail to Treasury with FS Form 1522 (Rev. April 2026). Banks may cash paper bonds but are not required to (FS Publication 0022, Rev.
October 2022). FS Form 1522 needs a notary or certifying officer, a person authorized to verify your signature, only when the bonds' total current redemption value (what they are worth today, including interest) is more than $1,000.
Missouri does not set the bond's value; the series and issue date do. The full steps are in our guide on how to cash savings bonds, by bank or by mail.
If Missouri Does Not Hold Your Savings Bond: Claim From Treasury With FS Form 1048
File FS Form 1048 (Rev. March 2026) with Treasury when the Missouri search shows no match: Treasury searches its own records for lost, stolen or destroyed paper bonds, and charges no fee. The form is free from TreasuryDirect.
Mail the FS Form 1048 claim for lost savings bonds to Treasury Retail Securities Services, P.O. Box 9150, Minneapolis, MN 55480-9150. A claim filed 6 years or more after a bond's final maturity, the date it stops earning interest, is not entertained without the bond's serial number (31 CFR 315.29(c), 353.29(c)).
The Treasurer's savings bond FAQ still tells owners to search Treasury Hunt by Social Security number. TreasuryDirect states: "As of September 30, 2025, the Treasury Hunt® tool is no longer available."
RSMo 447.534: Missouri's Savings Bond Escheat Law
RSMo 447.534 deems a savings bond abandoned once it has been unclaimed for more than three years after its "date of maturity", and the bond escheats to Missouri three years later. Escheat means the state takes ownership of unclaimed property.
The Treasurer must then bring a civil action in the circuit court of Cole County, after 180 days following the second three-year period, if no claim has been approved, and may postpone it until enough bonds have accumulated.
The law took effect July 8, 2014 (L. 2014 H.B. 1075 and S.B. 621; the H.B. 1693 version took effect June 27, 2014).
Treasury's 2015 rule notice (80 FR 80259, December 24, 2015) lists Missouri among 7 states that enacted such statutes in 2014, with Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Dakota. The statute text is on revisor.mo.gov. The table below gives the steps.
| Step | What the statute says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bond unclaimed for more than three years after its date of maturity: deemed abandoned | RSMo 447.534 |
| 2 | Three years after becoming unclaimed property: escheats to Missouri (bonds in the Treasurer's possession or with an owner whose last known address is in Missouri) | RSMo 447.534 |
| 3 | After 180 days following the second three-year period, with no approved claim: the Treasurer must bring a civil action in the circuit court of Cole County (and may postpone it until enough bonds have accumulated) | RSMo 447.534 |
| 4 | Federal limit: Treasury pays a state only for a paper bond at final maturity in its possession, with title by judgment, at its discretion | 31 CFR 315.88, 353.88; LaTurner (2019) |
Missouri's savings bond escheat law, RSMo 447.534 (effective July 8, 2014), with the federal limit, as of November 11, 2026.
The law reaches bonds in the Treasurer's possession or owned by a person whose last known address is in Missouri. The Treasurer states that an owner can start a claim at any time, whatever stage the law has reached.
Missouri's Savings Bond Lawsuit in Cole County (No. 15AC-CC00613)
Circuit Court of Cole County No. 15AC-CC00613 is the Missouri Treasurer's escheat case over savings bonds unclaimed more than six years past maturity.
Its title is In re Escheatment of Matured, Unredeemed and Unclaimed United States Savings Bonds, and the Missouri Attorney General represents the Treasurer. The court sits at 301 E High St, Jefferson City, Missouri 65101.
The Treasurer publishes a defendant list of owners named in the case. Its text says that if you claim a bond, "you will be removed from the lawsuit for the purposes of any claimed bonds".
We have not established a filing date, judgment or any Treasury payment in the case, so this page states none. Ask a Missouri attorney about your own position in the case.
What Federal Courts and Treasury Rules Allow Missouri to Do
Federal law lets Missouri be paid only for a paper savings bond it physically holds. Treasury may, at its discretion, pay a state for a bond at final maturity in its possession whose title the state holds by court judgment (31 CFR 315.88, 353.88; 80 FR 80258, December 24, 2015).
The courts set the same limit. Missouri's Attorney General was an appellant in Treasurer of New Jersey v. U.S. Department of the Treasury, 684 F.3d 382 (3d Cir. June 27, 2012), No. 10-1963, which held custody escheat of matured bonds preempted by federal law (certiorari denied 2013).
LaTurner v. United States, 933 F.3d 1354 (Fed. Cir. August 13, 2019), preempts title escheat of bonds a state does not hold. Missouri was not one of the 10 states whose Court of Federal Claims suits were dismissed on November 30, 2020.
Missouri also joined the amicus brief supporting the states in Estes v. U.S. Department of the Treasury (D.D.C. No. 1:16-cv-00450, decided November 28, 2016), and the Treasurer of Missouri commented on Treasury's 2015 rule. The Unclaimed Savings Bond Act (H.R. 4085 and S. 2854, 117th Congress) would have changed these limits but was not enacted.
Missouri Savings Bonds After the Owner Dies: Federal Rules Decide Who Owns Them
Federal savings bond rules, not Missouri law, decide who owns a bond after the owner dies: a surviving co-owner or POD beneficiary becomes the sole owner, and the bond is not part of the estate (31 CFR 353.70(b)(1), (c)(1)).
A POD (payable on death) beneficiary is the person named to receive the bond when the owner dies. A will or state court order cannot defeat that result (31 CFR 353.20(a); Free v. Bland, 369 U.S. 663 (1962)). The rules for POD savings bonds apply the same way in Missouri as elsewhere.
Heirs search the deceased owner's name in Missouri's list and claim through the Treasurer's process. Once the bond is returned, Treasury's estate rules apply to cashing it.
A court must administer the estate if the decedent's savings bonds total more than $100,000 in redemption value at the date of death (31 CFR 353.71).
FS Form 5336 serves estates that are not administered, and FS Form 5394 serves closed estates and state small-estate procedures. The steps for savings bonds in probate are in our executor guide. Ask the estate's attorney about individual decisions.
Other States With Savings Bond Escheat Laws
Missouri is one of 7 states that enacted a savings bond escheat statute in 2014, and 3 sibling pages cover related laws.
- Kansas unclaimed savings bonds: first statute, 2000, and the LaTurner case
- Pennsylvania unclaimed savings bonds: fellow Third Circuit appellant, Fiscal Code 1301.10B, 2016
- Florida unclaimed savings bonds: Fla. Stat. 717.1382, 2015
More Guides for Missouri Bond Owners and Heirs
4 related guides cover situations the Missouri search does not.
- Savings bonds of a deceased parent or relative
- Found old savings bonds
- Savings bond recovery services
- Help after a state contacts you about savings bonds
Missouri Unclaimed Savings Bonds FAQ
Can I search unclaimed savings bonds by name in Missouri?
Yes, but only for paper bonds the Missouri Treasurer holds: the Unclaimed U.S. Savings Bonds Search is the only verified live state name search for savings bonds (checked November 11, 2026). No site, free or paid, searches Treasury's records by name; for other routes see our savings bond lookup guide.
Why is my name on Missouri's savings bond defendant list?
Your name is on the list because the Treasurer's Cole County escheat case (No. 15AC-CC00613) names owners of bonds unclaimed more than six years past maturity, held by the Treasurer or registered to someone with a last known Missouri address. Claiming from the Treasurer removes you from the suit for the claimed bonds.
Is there a deadline to claim a savings bond from the Missouri Treasurer?
No: the Treasurer states there is no deadline, and savings bonds never expire (EO 13968, 85 FR 83745). They stop earning interest at final maturity; see when savings bonds mature.
Can Missouri get savings bond records from Treasury?
No state, Missouri included, is publicly known to have signed the information-sharing agreement that 31 CFR 323.11(b) requires (as of November 11, 2026). Treasury shares only owner names and addresses under such an agreement, never Social Security numbers or serial numbers, and a state may use them only to locate owners, never to escheat them, and not to release them publicly without Treasury's advance written approval (89 FR 102735, December 18, 2024). The limits are set out in the guide on what states can receive from Treasury.
Where can I cash a savings bond in Missouri?
Cash a paper savings bond at a Missouri bank that offers the service or by mail with FS Form 1522; the Missouri Treasurer does not cash bonds. Banks may cash bonds but are not required to, and Series HH bonds go to Treasury only. See the banks that cash savings bonds.
Can I still use Treasury Hunt to find Missouri savings bonds?
No: Treasury Hunt has not been available since September 30, 2025, even though the Missouri savings bond FAQ still links it. Use the Missouri search for held bonds and FS Form 1048 for everything else; Treasury Hunt is closed.
Rules and Missouri agency pages checked November 11, 2026; see our methodology.