There you go again, trying to trigger me with unpleasant memories. Actually, this is an unpleasant current adventure. My client just came from Bank of America, where they told her they no longer redeem savings bonds. Last I heard, Chase would do them only 10 at a time. So if you had more than that, come back again tomorrow.
But the real problem I am having is that Granny bought bonds, lots of them, for her son and then put her granddaughter's name on them as POD. Problem is, Granny wasn't quite sure how granddaughter spelled her first name. Let's say everyone called the kid Kris, but her birth certificate says Kristi and Granny thought it was Krista. At the time this happened, granddaughter was an adult and married, and Granny spelled the last name correctly.
Banks wouldn't touch that problem so we mailed off some bonds to Treasury Direct in Minneapolis. Copies of birth certificate and marriage certificate and Dad's death certificate. And affidavit by granddaughter explaining how the mistake happened.
A month later, Treasury sends a form asking for further explanation from a "disinterested person" (not defined). For various reasons there is no one else available for that, so I offer to try. This form requires a signature guarantee (like, from a bank or broker), not a notary. I go to the two banks where I have accounts. They don't do that anymore. I wait a week, until my barber gets back from a cruise, and go to Fidelity Investments. (Their office is eight miles away but my barber moved to a shop that is close to them.) After explaining the situation to two people, I get the coveted signature guarantee. All they're guaranteeing is my signature, not the contents of my statement.
(A month earlier, Fidelity had closed down my accounts with no notice, because they discovered they don't have my home address, just my office address. They said this was required by the Patriot Act, but it really stems from the Bank Secrecy Act, forerunner of the BOI legislation. But I digress.)
A few weeks later, the bonds were paid. On December 30, so the income fell into 2023, and another month's interest was avoided. Yesterday we sent off the rest of the bonds, with the same documentation, including a copy of the signature-guaranteed form I signed. My guess is that they will want an original. By then, I'll probably need another haircut.
There's a Form 8888 for what your client wants to do. Apparently they are "I" Bonds, because paper EE bonds no longer exist. Just make sure they spell the kid's name right.
