Type of death certificate required
Thursday, January 6th, 2005
Categorized as: Inheriting and bequeathing US Savings Bonds • Savings Bond registration changes
My mother died and left her Series EE Bonds, which are registred in her name only, to her grandchildren. Do they each need an original of her death certificate to have the registration changed or would a copy of the original suffice?
Tom’s response
If you send all the bonds and re-registration forms in together, you’d need just one copy of the death certificate. The copy should be certified to be true and correct by the issuing office or official. The office’s or official’s seal should be visible on the copy.
(Average rating: 3.00 stars)
Loading...6 Comments
Comments Closed
After six years, over 400 posts, 3,680 real comments, and over 90,000 spam comments (thank you, Akismet, for making managing a blog with comments possible), I am closing public comments on Savings-Bond-Advisor.com. I will contine to update the main articles on this site, but not the comments.
Virtually every question about Savings Bonds has been asked and answered on this site multiple times. Use the search feature (see the box in the gray area near the top of this page) or the detailed menu on the lower part of the home page to find the information you're looking for.
Tom Adams
My father died leaving savings bonds in his name. an adopted sister picked up death certificates and we think had all bonds re-issued in her name. The bonds were in my fathers trust. Is this possible? How could she have the bonds re-issued or cashed?
Mike - If the bonds were in the name of a trust and your sister wasn’t the named Trustee of the trust, there’s no way she could cash the bonds.
Tom Adams
I found several series EE savings bonds in my father’s things. They are in his name and his brother’s name, both are deceased, how do I cash them in? I do have their death certificates. My Uncle had no children and there is only my brother and I.
Thank You
Sharon - if your uncle died before your father and if your father’s estate wasn’t handled by a probate court, you can use this form and the death certificates to cash the bond.
If your father died first or if there was probate court involvement it’s much more complicated. You can either get a copy of my book, which has the details, or use the Ask the Treasury link on this page to begin the process.
Tom Adams
I have a series E bond which was issued to my grandmother, who is dead, payable on death to me. I do not have her death certificate. How can I redeem this bond? There is no way to obtain a death certificate. Thank you.
Irving - I’m not sure how the Treasury handles situations where it isn’t possible to obtain a death certificate. They may simply refuse to cash the bond or they may have an alternative procedure. I suggest you email the Treasury and ask. Things will move faster if you go into detail with them about why there is no way to obtain a death certificate.
Tom Adams