Hello and welcome to TreasuryDirect.
Let's talk through the FS Form 1048: The Claim for Lost,
Stolen or Destroyed United States Savings Bonds.
This form can be used to officially request replacement
for unredeemed United States Paper Savings Bonds
that you no longer have in your possession.
Options include redemption of all series of Paper Savings Bonds,
reissue of unmatured HH Savings Bonds,
or electronic reissue of Unmatured Series EE or I
The first step in the process is to determine
if you know the serial numbers for the lost Bonds or not.
If you know the serial numbers, if the Bonds are dated prior to 1974,
or if it is related to a disaster declaration,
you can print the form on the TreasuryDirect.gov website
by searching the forms page for the FS Form 1048.
If, however, you do not know the serial numbers
but believe that there are missing bonds belonging to you,
you will need to search for them using the Treasury Hunt tool.
We no longer will search for missing bonds if the serial numbers are not provided
and a Treasury Hunt search has not been completed.
The Treasury Hunt tool allows you to search for missing Bonds
using either the Social Security Number or Employer Identification Number
that is listed on the bond or by the name
and state of one of the persons listed on the Bond.
Keep in mind that with the Social Security Number search,
it will be the Social Security Number or Employer
Identification Number of the person who purchased the Security,
not necessarily the person listed on the Security.
With the Name Search, put in any version of the name that might appear on the Bond,
including with and without middle name or initial.
Finally, the
state will be the state that the Bond was initially mailed to,
not necessarily the state that the customer lives in
If Bonds are found during the search, a claim Form
1048 will be provided with a special Treasury Hunt code
allowing us to search for the details of your missing Securities.
If no information is found, you can try again later
as we update the data every month.
Once you have opened the form, you will start
by providing a description of the Bonds in section one.
List as much information as you have about the missing Bonds.
The more information you provide, the more in-depth the search can be.
If you know the Serial Numbers of the missing
Bonds, enter those in the Bond Number column.
The table provided allows you to list up to five Bonds.
If you are missing more than five Bonds, you can attach a list of additional Bonds
or utilize the Form 3500 to add additional Bonds to the claim form.
If you are unsure of the Bond
Serial Numbers, then provide a date range of when the Bonds were issued,
the face amount and who was named on the Bonds.
The second section is where you will provide details of the loss,
whether lost, stolen, or destroyed.
If the Bonds were stolen attached to the police report, if available.
Section three asks you to describe your authority
over the Bonds, whether you are named on the Bonds
or are appointed by the Court to act upon the missing Bonds.
In section four, you will add information, only
if there is a current minor named on the Bonds.
Section five asks what you would like to do
with the Bonds, either requesting a replacement or payment.
In section six, you will indicate how you wish to receive
the bonds or payment, depending on what you selected in section five.
If you are requesting replacement of series EE or I Bonds,
you will need to have a TreasuryDirect account set up
so that you can provide your TreasuryDirect account number.
If you request payment,
provide the Taxpayer Identification Number that is being used for the redemption,
either a Social Security Number or Employer Identification Number.
You must ensure that your bank account used for direct
deposit is set up to receive electronic payments.
Your routing number cannot start with a number five
as that is used for electronic wire transfers.
Once you have entered all of the information required,
all people named on the Bonds will sign the form in the presence of a notary
or certifying officer at their local financial institution.
They will verify your identity, observe you sign,
and affix an approved stamp or seal, typically
a signature guaranteed stamp.
Once the form is complete, you will mail it into the P.O.
box, listed on page six of the form.
And that's it.
That's how to fill out the form 1048 Claim for Lost,
Stolen, or Destroyed United States Savings Bonds.