Minor accounts in Treasury Direct

How do I open a Treasury Direct account for my minor child? I want to put it in her name but keep the ability to manage it for her.

Tom’s response

First you have to open your own Treasury Direct account. Then, from the Manage Direct page, you click on Establish a Minor Linked Account.

You can set up your child’s account on the page that appears. You’ll need to know your child’s birthday and social security number, as well as the child’s bank account routing numbers if they are different from your own.

Once the account is set up, you access it from your own Manage Direct page by clicking on Access my Linked Accounts. Once inside the linked account, you can make all the same kinds of transactions you can from own account until your child’s 18th birthday. After that, all you can do is continue to purchase new Savings Bonds on your child’s behalf.

After your child is 18, she can open her own Treasury Direct account. At that point, in your account, go to the Manage Direct page and click De-Link a Linked Account. You will have to provide your child’s new Treasury Direct account number. Completing the transaction transfers the Savings Bonds in the linked account to your child’s new stand-alone account.