Changing information about HH savings bonds (reissuing)
Note: For these special situations, you want a different page.
Living estates (where a court has appointed a legal guardian for someone who owns bonds)
Trusts (where a trustee wants to cash savings bonds)
Some changes in information result in our reissuing the savings bond. Some do not.
This page tells you whether we need to know about a change and, if we do, how you can tell us.
Note: If your savings bond will mature (stop earning interest) in the next month, we will not reissue it. HH bonds mature 20 years from their issue date.
We also do not reissue old bonds that have stopped earning interest. You may want to cash them in. See Cashing in savings bonds that no longer earn interest
What changes do NOT require reissuing HH bonds?
We do not reissue bonds in these situations. This table tells what to do instead.
| The situation | What you should do |
|---|---|
| You got married or divorced and changed your name | When you cash in a paper HH bond, sign both your name that is on the bond and your current name with the reason for the name change.
Examples: Mary Smith, Mary Jones (name changed due to marriage) Mary Jones, Mary Smith (name changed due to divorce) |
| Your name has a minor typo | When you cash in a paper HH bond, sign your correct name. |
| You moved and have a new address | The address does not affect ownership of the bond. However, we need the new address as we mail you an IRS Form 1099-INT every year.
To update your address, submit a signed request. You can send us a letter or FS Form 1980 or FS Form 5257. You can mail your request or fax it By mail: 
Treasury Retail Securities Services By fax: (612) 629-4285 |
| The bond has the wrong Social Security Number (SSN) | If the SSN on the bond shows as ***** and then the last 4 numbers, that is NOT a problem. We do that to protect your privacy.
If the SSN is really wrong – We don't reissue the bond to correct an SSN. However, please let us know. If we ever need to search our database for your bond, we search by SSN. So it's good to have the bond listed in our database with the correct SSN. To correct the SSN on a paper savings bond, do not send the bonds. Send the following.
|
When must we reissue HH bonds?
We must reissue HH bonds in these situations:
- Correct a major error
- Comply with a court-ordered change of a living owner
- Add, change, or remove a beneficiary
- Change the owner, co-owner, or beneficiary, as regulations allow
- Reissue the bond into your personal trust
Notes:
- Reissued HH bonds are paper bonds
- Reissuing a bond doesn't change the issue date of the bond
- When using FS Form 4000, be sure to look through the table on the first page to see who must sign the form for the change you are requesting.
- In all the following situations, send the forms, bonds, and other documents we need to
Treasury Retail Securities Services
P.O. Box 9150
Minneapolis, MN 55480-9150
For a major error, such as
- the first or last name of an owner, co-owner, or beneficiary is not on the bond
- a name is misspelled and it's not a minor typo
Fill out and send us FS Form 4000 and the bonds.
A court has appointed a guardian, conservator, or similar representative for the estate of a living owner. This may happen for
- a minor (child)
- a person who cannot handle his or her own finances due to age or illness
- an absentee
Fill out and send us the following:
- FS Form 4000
- FS Form 5396
- a copy of your letter of appointment or court order
- the bonds
If you want to do any of the following:
- add a beneficiary
- remove a living beneficiary
- change the name of a beneficiary because of marriage, annulment, divorce, or court order. (Note: You do not have to change the name if it is due to marriage.)
Fill out and send us FS Form 4000 and the bonds.
If you want to do any of the following:
- name a new owner or co-owner instead of the current owner or co-owner
- remove one or more co-owners
- add a co-owner
- change a co-owner's beneficiary
- change the name of an owner or co-owner because of marriage, annulment, divorce, or court order. (Note: You do not have to change the name if it is due to marriage.)
Fill out and send us the following:
- FS Form 4000
- FS Form 5396
- a copy of any evidence that supports your request, such as death certificate, divorce decree, court order, or letters of appointment
- the bonds
To reissue HH savings bonds into your personal trust
Fill out and send us the following:
- FS Form 1851
- FS Form 5396
- the bonds
Will I have to pay taxes when you reissue my HH savings bonds?
If you still own the reissued bond, you will continue to receive the interest for it; and thus, you will continue to owe federal tax on that interest.
If the reissue made someone else the primary owner of the HH savings bond, you do not owe tax on interest the bond earns for the new owner.
If you are the new owner, you will owe federal tax (but not state or local income tax) on the interest you earn from the bond.
See Tax information for HH savings bonds
Getting the IRS form about the interest your bonds earned
Each year, we tell you and the IRS about the interest you must report on your federal tax return. (IRS Form 1099-INT)
We mail your 1099-INT for paper HH bonds after the end of the calendar year in which we reissued the bond.