FS Form 1050: A Creditor's Claim on a Deceased Owner's Bonds
FS Form 1050 lets an unpaid creditor ask Treasury to pay a debt from a decedent's securities when no estate is administered. Limits, exclusions, evidence.
Most of Treasury’s paperwork for a dead owner’s savings bonds is filed by the family, the people entitled to the estate or the estate’s representative. FS Form 1050 is the one form on TreasuryDirect’s savings bond forms page written for a creditor: someone the decedent owed money who wants to be paid out of the securities. The revision I read is dated March 2026, and it is titled “Creditor’s Request for Payment of Treasury Securities Belonging to a Decedent’s Estate Being Settled Without Administration.”
What the form is, and who it is for
The statement under the form’s title sets the scope: “An unpaid creditor must complete this form to request payment of United States Securities and/or related payments belonging to a decedent’s estate that is not being administered.” Part A identifies the decedent: name (the person who died last, if more than one person is named on the securities), Social Security number and jurisdiction of legal residence. It also asks for certified copies of the death certificates for all deceased registrants.
By signing, the creditor certifies having read the instructions and being “entitled to make this claim.” The form adds a direction that is easy to skip over. If that statement does not apply, do not complete the form; send the securities and all evidence and documentation about the estate to the processing address instead.
This is the creditor’s form, not the family’s. A blood relative, legally adopted child or surviving spouse who applies to act as voluntary representative of an estate that is not being administered uses a different one, which I cover in the guide to FS Form 5336 for a deceased owner without probate. The two filings serve different people and are not interchangeable.
Five situations where you should not use it
The instructions open with a “Use of form” paragraph built around a list of exceptions, and those exceptions decide whether the form is available at all. A creditor must file FS Form 1050 “unless”:
- a legal representative has been or will be appointed through the court;
- the estate will be settled in accordance with the law of the decedent’s domicile, with Summary Administration, the Small Estates Act, Texas Muniment of Title and Louisiana Judgment of Possession given as examples;
- the debt has been barred by any applicable law;
- the total of all securities and/or related payments owned by the decedent as of the date of death exceeds $100,000 redemption and/or par value; or
- there is an individual entitled to the estate according to the law of the decedent’s domicile.
If any of these circumstances applies, the form says not to complete it. Send the securities and all evidence or documentation concerning the estate to the address under “Where to send,” and Treasury says that after reviewing the submission it will provide additional instructions, if necessary.
Two of those exclusions deserve a closer look. The $100,000 test is applied to everything the decedent owned in Treasury securities and related payments, not only to the bonds the creditor happens to know about. The last exclusion, an individual entitled to the estate under the law of the domicile, needs the closest reading. It makes the form’s availability depend on state law, and the form does not explain how a creditor is supposed to establish who is entitled. A creditor in doubt has the form’s own fallback: send the securities and the evidence to Treasury and wait for instructions.
The first two exclusions lead to other Treasury forms. An estate being settled under a state procedure such as Summary Administration or a Small Estates Act, or one that was administered and is now closed, goes through FS Form 5394, and a fiduciary such as a court-appointed executor distributing the securities to the people entitled uses FS Form 1455. Those are the heirs’ and representatives’ forms, not the creditor’s, and I am not suggesting that a creditor can file them.
What you ask for, and what you get
Part B is short. The creditor states the amount owed and the nature of the claim (“how the debt was incurred”), and certifies that the amount owed “has not been paid and is still justly due and owing” to the named creditor and that the debt “has not been barred by any applicable law.” The creditor then requests payment of the decedent’s Treasury securities and/or related payments “to the extent entitled.” The payee block asks for a name, phone number, mailing address and, if the creditor has one, an e-mail address.
Attached to Part B should be “any supporting documentation (e.g. receipts, statements, invoices).” That is the heart of the claim, because payment is limited to the debt the documentation shows.
The instructions put the limit plainly: “Payment will be limited to the amount of the debt as shown in the documentation submitted and will not exceed the value of the securities. (Reissue is not permitted.)” Two consequences follow. A creditor owed $2,000 does not collect a $5,000 bond’s worth just because the bond is the asset on hand; and a creditor owed more than the securities are worth cannot collect the excess from Treasury. And because reissue is not permitted, the form is a payment request only: it offers no way to have the securities reissued in the creditor’s name.
Describing the securities
Item 4 asks the creditor to describe the securities and any related checks. The instructions are specific about how.
| Column | What to write |
|---|---|
| Title of security | Series, interest rate, type, CUSIP, and call and maturity date, as appropriate; for a check, the word “check” |
| Issue date | The issue date of each security or check |
| Face amount | The par value or denomination |
| Identifying number | The serial number, confirmation number or check number, if applicable |
| Registration | The registration of each security, check or account, plus the account number, if any |
The form includes examples for a paper marketable security, an electronic marketable security, an electronic Series I bond, a paper Series EE bond and a check. It also says: “If unsure what to provide in each of the areas, furnish all identifying information in the space for REGISTRATION.” One more instruction is worth underlining: “You must use only one form and describe all of the securities.” Do not file a separate FS Form 1050 for each bond.
Who signs, and in front of whom
Part C turns on the type of creditor.
| If the creditor is a… | The form must be signed by… | And you must provide… |
|---|---|---|
| Individual | The individual | N/A |
| Organization | A person authorized to sign on behalf of the organization | Evidence of the signer’s authority, his or her title, and the name and seal of the organization |
| Partnership | A general partner | The signer’s title and the name and seal of the partnership |
| Corporation | An authorized officer of the corporation | Evidence of the signer’s authority, his or her title, and the name and seal of the corporation |
Where evidence of authority is required, the instructions ask for “a resolution or other similar documentation,” and an organization, partnership or corporation without a seal marks the box provided. By signing, the creditor also certifies under penalty of perjury that the information is true and correct, binds himself or herself, heirs, legatees, successors and assigns to hold the United States harmless, and agrees to repay the United States, with interest, administrative costs and penalties, if any loss results from the request. The creditor also consents to the release of information about the transaction to any party with an ownership or entitlement interest in the securities or payments.
The certification step is where this form parts ways with several others. The form says: “You must wait until you are in the presence of a certifying officer to sign this form.” The signer must appear before the officer and establish identification to the officer’s satisfaction, and the officer must affix the seal or stamp used when certifying requests for payment. The acceptable certification is a financial institution’s official seal or stamp, such as a corporate seal, Signature Guaranteed stamp or Medallion stamp, and the form states in so many words: “Notary certification is NOT acceptable.” The instructions add that authorized certifying officers are available at most financial institutions, including credit unions. The officer must fill in the names of the people who appeared and the date, and a Medallion stamp requires an original signature.
A notarized FS Form 1050 does not meet that requirement. Our table of which Treasury forms accept a notary and which require a certifying officer does not list FS Form 1050, but it shows the contrast with the family’s form: FS Form 5336 lets the signer appear before a notary when the transaction involves only paper savings bonds. FS Form 1050 makes no such exception.
What to send and where
The instructions say: “Unless otherwise instructed in accompanying correspondence, send this form, all securities and/or related checks, and any necessary evidence to the address below. (Don’t send Instructions pages.)”
Treasury Retail Securities Services, PO Box 9150, Minneapolis, MN 55480-9150.
The package, then, holds the signed and certified form, the certified death certificates, the documentation of the debt, and the securities and any related checks themselves. The form describes no way to submit the claim first and send the securities later.
What Treasury can still ask for
The form closes with a reservation. The Commissioner of the Fiscal Service, as designee of the Secretary of the Treasury, “reserves the right in any particular case to require the submission of additional evidence and/or the formal administration of the estate.” The form is therefore not a guarantee of payment. In any particular case, Treasury can ask for more evidence or insist that the estate be formally administered.
The form states no processing time. It estimates about 6 minutes to complete and says nothing about how long Treasury’s review takes. Nothing on the form promises speed, and I would not plan around a date.
One tax detail appears in the instructions: the decedent’s Social Security number will be used to report the interest earned to the Internal Revenue Service for federal income tax purposes. The form does not say who is responsible for the tax on that interest, and I am not going to guess. A creditor who receives a payment out of bonds should ask a tax professional how it is treated.
Sources
- FS Form 1050, Creditor’s Request for Payment of Treasury Securities Belonging to a Decedent’s Estate Being Settled Without Administration (Revised March 2026), including its instructions: https://www.treasurydirect.gov/forms/sav1050.pdf
- FS Form 5336, Disposition of Treasury Securities Belonging to a Decedent’s Estate Being Settled Without Administration (rev. April 2026): https://www.treasurydirect.gov/forms/sav5336.pdf
- FS Form 5394, Agreement and Request for Disposition of a Decedent’s Treasury Securities (rev. May 2026): https://www.treasurydirect.gov/forms/sav5394.pdf
- FS Form 1455, Request by Fiduciary for Distribution of United States Treasury Securities (rev. April 2026): https://www.treasurydirect.gov/forms/sav1455.pdf
- TreasuryDirect, Forms for Savings Bonds: https://www.treasurydirect.gov/savings-bonds/forms/
Quick answers
Who can file FS Form 1050?
An unpaid creditor of the decedent, whether an individual, an organization, a partnership or a corporation. In Part B the creditor certifies that the amount owed has not been paid, is still justly due and owing, and has not been barred by any applicable law. The form is for an estate that is not being administered.
Can I use FS Form 1050 if the securities are worth more than $100,000?
No. The instructions list a total of securities and related payments above $100,000 in redemption and/or par value at the date of death among the circumstances in which you should not complete the form. Instead, you send the securities and all evidence about the estate to Treasury Retail Securities Services, which will provide additional instructions if necessary.
Will Treasury pay me the full value of the bonds?
Not necessarily. The instructions say payment is limited to the amount of the debt shown in the documentation you submit and will not exceed the value of the securities. The form states that reissue is not permitted, so a creditor cannot have the bonds put in the creditor's own name.
Does a notary work for FS Form 1050?
No. The certification box on the form says that notary certification is not acceptable. Sign only when you are in front of a certifying officer, such as one at a financial institution, who will affix its seal or stamp.
What do I send with the form?
Certified copies of the death certificates for all deceased registrants, any supporting documentation of the debt such as receipts, statements or invoices, the securities and any related checks. Do not send the instruction pages. Everything goes to Treasury Retail Securities Services, PO Box 9150, Minneapolis, MN 55480-9150.
How long does Treasury take to pay a creditor?
The form gives no processing time. It estimates only that completing it takes about 6 minutes, and it reserves the right to require additional evidence or the formal administration of the estate.
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