Identification

• In general, you cannot transfer U.S. savings bonds. One major exception is when you own bonds and die, making them payable upon death or through a will. You can transfer U.S. savings bonds to a revocable trust -- an estate that manages a person's assets to be bequeathed upon death. You also can transfer bonds to a charity after your death. The U.S. Treasury does not allow you to transfer savings bonds during your life because they are not meant to be negotiable instruments.
  
  

Warning

• You might see U.S. savings bonds pop up on Internet auction sites and classified ads, but these cannot be transferred either. Instead, these are sold as collector's items, purely for aesthetic reasons and possibly as a scam. Even if you purchase a savings bond on an auction listing, the original owner retains rights to the security, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
  
  

Taxes

• Even attempting to transfer savings bonds to a nonexempt entity or party generally incurs income tax. Bequeathing savings bonds may incur taxable interest income, too, at the federal level. State and local governments cannot tax interest from U.S. savings bonds. You might be able to exclude savings bond interest from income in certain situations, such as when you use the proceeds to pay for a higher education.
  
  

Tip

• If you have savings bonds from a deceased individual and cannot give them to an estate, you can still transfer them without going to a probate court by filling U.S. Treasury Form PD P 5336 E, or "Disposition of Treasury Securities Belonging to a Decedent's Estate Being Settled Without Administration." If you have more than $100,000 in U.S. savings bonds not being administered by an estate, you must go through a probate proceeding, which may require a lawyer if you cannot handle the case yourself.