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Savings Bond Registration: Owners, Beneficiaries, and Survivorship

The names registered on a savings bond affect who can act during the owner's life and who may be entitled to the bond after a death. A co-owner and a beneficiary are not interchangeable labels. This guide explains registration choices and the Treasury's instructions for a named survivor. It connects the wording on the bond with the practical choices to keep, cash, or reissue it, including the separate question of tax reporting.

Adapted from public-domain educational material published by U.S. Treasury. Fynoptic has organized and edited the material and added introductory and practical guidance. Sources were reviewed on October 28, 2026; original publication dates, where available, are listed below.

Registering your savings bonds

When you buy a savings bond, you must declare who owns the bond. We call that "registering the bond."

The registration determines who gets the interest on the bond, who can cash the bond, who can change the registration later, who can do other tasks with the bond, and what happens if the owner dies.

Paper bonds: You see the registration information on the bond.

Electronic bonds: You see the registration information in your TreasuryDirect account.

This page is for individual owners (not entities like estates, trusts, corporations, and so on). For estates, trusts, corporations, and other entity registrations: About entity accounts

Registrations for individuals

You have 3 options for registering your savings bonds for people (not entities).

These options also apply to savings bonds you buy for a child under 18 and to savings bonds you buy as gifts for people.

Before you decide:

A note about paying for college or other higher education

You may be able to save on federal taxes by using the interest from a savings bond you cash when you, your spouse, or your child goes to an eligible college or other higher education institution.

However, the IRS rules are that the owner of the bond must be 24 years or older when buying the bond.

So, if you plan to use this tax exclusion, don’t register the bonds with the child as an owner. You must be the owner or, if you are married, you may make yourself and your spouse the owners. To use the exclusion, the child may be a beneficiary but cannot be the owner or co-owner of the bond.

For more information: Using savings bonds for higher education

The 3 options for individual registrations

The option	What it means
One owner	That person is the only one who gets the interest, may cash in the bond, may make other changes. If that person dies, the bond becomes part of their estate. Our names for this type of ownership: Paper bonds: "single ownership" Electronic bonds: "sole ownership" Example: LESLIE DOE
Owner and beneficiary	Just as with a single or sole owner, only the owner — in this case, the person named first — gets the interest, may cash in the bond, may make other changes. However, if the owner dies, instead of the bond going into the person's estate, the beneficiary automatically becomes the single or sole owner. The beneficiary must be a person, not an entity. The registration says "POD" standing for "PAYABLE ON DEATH." Example: LESLIE DOE POD DANA DOE. Leslie is the owner and Dana is the beneficiary.
Two owners	Two owners co-own the bond. If one owner dies, the other becomes the single or sole owner. Neither owner can be an entity. What co-owning means differs for electronic and paper bonds: Co-owned electronic bonds The first-named owner is the primary owner. The second-named owner is the secondary owner. The registration says "WITH." Example: LESLIE DOE SSN xxx-xx-6789 WITH DANA DOE SSN xxx-xx-4321 Co-owned paper bonds Either owner may cash the bond without the knowledge or approval of the other. Both owners must sign for most other transactions. The registration says "OR." LESLIE DOE OR DANA DOE

The option

What it means

One owner

That person is the only one who gets the interest, may cash in the bond, may make other changes.

If that person dies, the bond becomes part of their estate.

Our names for this type of ownership:

Paper bonds: "single ownership"

Electronic bonds: "sole ownership"

Example: LESLIE DOE

Owner and beneficiary

Just as with a single or sole owner, only the owner — in this case, the person named first — gets the interest, may cash in the bond, may make other changes.

However, if the owner dies, instead of the bond going into the person's estate, the beneficiary automatically becomes the single or sole owner.

The beneficiary must be a person, not an entity.

The registration says "POD" standing for "PAYABLE ON DEATH."

Example: LESLIE DOE POD DANA DOE. Leslie is the owner and Dana is the beneficiary.

Two owners

Two owners co-own the bond.

If one owner dies, the other becomes the single or sole owner.

Neither owner can be an entity.

What co-owning means differs for electronic and paper bonds:

Co-owned electronic bonds

The first-named owner is the primary owner. The second-named owner is the secondary owner.

The registration says "WITH."

Example:

LESLIE DOE SSN xxx-xx-6789 WITH DANA DOE SSN xxx-xx-4321

Co-owned paper bonds

Either owner may cash the bond without the knowledge or approval of the other. Both owners must sign for most other transactions.

The registration says "OR."

LESLIE DOE OR DANA DOE

Inheriting as a co-owner or beneficiary

Electronic savings bonds

If the person who died has an online TreasuryDirect account, contact us.

We will put a hold on the account and tell you what to do.

Paper savings bonds

This page tells you what to do with paper savings bonds that you inherit directly because your name is on the bond as a co-owner or beneficiary.

Options for different savings bonds

If you now own savings bonds as the named survivor, your options depend on which savings bonds you have.

The paper savings bonds you have	Your options
EE or I savings bonds that are still earning interest (EE and I bonds earn interest for 30 years from their issue date.)	You have 3 options: Do nothing. Cash in the bond. Have the bond reissued in your name alone, removing the deceased person.
HH savings bonds that are still earning interest (HH bonds earn interest for 20 years from their issue date.)	Series HH bonds have all reached final maturity and are no longer earning interest. The only option is to redeem the bonds as the deferred interest, if any is shown on the bonds, will be reportable for the tax year 2024, even if the bonds have not been cashed. Deferred interest is reportable when the bonds are redeemed or when they mature, whichever comes first.
Savings bonds that are no longer earning interest	Cash in the bonds

The paper savings bonds you have

Your options

EE or I savings bonds that are still earning interest

(EE and I bonds earn interest for 30 years from their issue date.)

You have 3 options:

Do nothing.
Cash in the bond.
Have the bond reissued in your name alone, removing the deceased person.

HH savings bonds that are still earning interest

(HH bonds earn interest for 20 years from their issue date.)

Series HH bonds have all reached final maturity and are no longer earning interest. The only option is to redeem the bonds as the deferred interest, if any is shown on the bonds, will be reportable for the tax year 2024, even if the bonds have not been cashed. Deferred interest is reportable when the bonds are redeemed or when they mature, whichever comes first.

Savings bonds that are no longer earning interest

Cash in the bonds

How to...

Do nothing for savings bonds with a named survivor

EE and I bonds

Because the interest accumulates and you get all the interest when the bond matures or you cash it in, you may just hold onto a paper EE or I bond.

HH bonds

Because the owner actually gets the interest payment twice a year, doing nothing is NOT an option for HH bonds.

Cash in savings bonds with a named survivor

EE and I bonds

Find a bank or other financial institution that will pay for your bonds. Ask them what identification and other documents they need you to bring with the bonds. They may also have a limit of how much they will cash. Ask about that. Take the bonds and other documents they need and get cash for the EE and I bonds.

Also read Cashing in EE or I savings bonds

HH bonds

Note: All HH savings bonds have reached final maturity as of August 1, 2024. Deferred interest is reportable when the bonds are redeemed or when they mature, whichever occurs first. A 1099 will be sent at the end of calendar year 2024 for bonds dated 2004, even if you do not redeem your securities.

Banks are not permitted to cash HH bonds. But your bank manager can probably help you prepare to send the bonds to us for payment.

Reissue savings bonds with a known survivor

Series EE and I

When we reissue an EE or I bond, we make it an electronic bond in our free online program, TreasuryDirect.

Therefore, as the survivor (co-owner or beneficiary named on the bond of someone who died), if you want an EE or I bond to now be registered in your name alone, you must have a TreasuryDirect account. Once in your TreasuryDirect account, the bond will be registered in your name alone. You can then add either a secondary owner or beneficiary.

Once you have a TreasuryDirect account, you can convert other paper bonds you own to electronic bonds.

More about TreasuryDirect

Open a TreasuryDirect account

Converting EE or I paper bonds to electronic bonds

Series HH

What about taxes?

For information on who owes taxes in various situations involving different savings bonds, see

Tax information for EE and I savings bonds

Tax information for HH savings bonds

Putting this into practice

Check the exact registration instead of relying on a family's understanding of who the money was intended for. Keep identifying records and review designations when circumstances change. After an owner's death, determine whether a surviving person is named before assuming the bond must be handled through an estate.

Sources and further reading

Registering your savings bonds — U.S. Treasury
Inheriting as a co-owner or beneficiary — U.S. Treasury

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