Updated November 8, 2026. Quick answer: FS Form 1851 moves paper savings bonds into a personal trust. The bonds are reissued as electronic bonds in a TreasuryDirect trust account, and the form makes the owner choose in writing whether the previously deferred interest stays the owner’s income (box a) or is reported to the IRS for the year of the reissue (box b). It needs the trust’s TIN, every grantor and trustee, a signature certified by a notary or certifying officer, and goes to Treasury Retail Securities Services, PO Box 9150, Minneapolis, MN 55480-9150. Revised April 2026, OMB No. 1530-0036.
What FS Form 1851 does
The form is used to reissue paper United States Savings Bonds to a personal trust. As the form uses the term, a personal trust is one established by natural persons in their own right for the benefit of themselves or other natural persons, and common trust funds made up of such estates are covered too.
The form is for paper bonds only. For bonds already electronic, “you must open an entity trust account in TreasuryDirect and submit FS Form 5511 to transfer the bonds to the account.” See FS Form 5511.
EE and I bonds do not return as paper: “If you reissue Series EE or Series I savings bonds, the substitute bonds won’t be in paper form. They will be electronic, in our online system TreasuryDirect.” “Series EE and Series I savings bonds may not be reissued within one month of final maturity.”
What the trust information must show
Item 2 asks for the trust’s identifying details. The instructions: “Provide the Taxpayer Identification Number assigned to the trust, the name of the grantor, the name of the trustee, the date the trust was created, and the name of any beneficiary of the trust (if the trust is an FBO trust).” For EE and I bonds the trust must have a TreasuryDirect account number. The registration names the trustee or trustees, the grantor and the date the trust was created, and the form gives sample registrations for a bank trustee, for co-trustees, and for a trustee of a declaration of trust held for a named beneficiary.
For the trust side of the decision, see what a living trust costs and how to fund a living trust.
Item 5: the tax liability statement
Item 5 must be completed. The notice that precedes it says “Upon the reissuance of savings bonds to a trust, you must include in your gross income any accumulated interest on the bonds, if you have not already reported it, unless, under the grantor trust provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, you are treated as the owner of the portion of the trust represented by any tax-deferred accumulated interest on the reissued bonds.” The two boxes:
| Choice | What the owner certifies |
|---|---|
| Box a | “I certify that I will be treated as owner of the portion of the trust represented by the tax-deferred accumulated interest on the bonds being reissued.” The interest stays tax-deferred and is not reported to the IRS at the reissue. |
| Box b | “I certify that I will not be treated as owner of the portion of the trust represented by the tax-deferred accumulated interest on the bonds being reissued.” The interest is reported to the IRS for the taxable year of the reissue, and a 1099-INT is generated for the Social Security Number specified. |
Treasury gives three illustrations of when the owner is treated as owner of the trust: an unconditional power to revest title in yourself (a trust you can revoke); a trust whose terms require the bonds or proceeds to go to you or your spouse; and a retained, immediately exercisable power to decide who receives them. It adds “The examples outlined above are illustrative only and they are not intended to cover all possible situations in which you could be treated as the owner of a trust or a portion of a trust.” “This statement will also apply to all future transactions requested by the same owner(s) or person(s) entitled to the same trust.”
If the owner is unsure, “you may request a letter ruling from the Internal Revenue Service”. For the reporting side see I bond interest reporting and Form 1099-INT box 3.
Signatures, certification and mailing
“The completed form must be signed by the owner or both coowners and acting trustee.” If a signer has died, send “a certified copy of the death certificate”. “Only the trustee listed as the account manager of the TreasuryDirect trust account must sign the form agreeing to electronic reissue into the TreasuryDirect account.”
Certification: “Sign in ink in the presence of a notary or certifying officer and provide the requested information.” The stamp is an official seal or stamp of a financial institution (Signature Guaranteed, Endorsement Guaranteed, Corporate, or Issuing or paying agent), or the seal or stamp of a Treasury-recognized Signature Guarantee Program or other Treasury-approved Medallion Program. See refused Medallion guarantees.
Send it to Treasury Retail Securities Services, PO Box 9150, Minneapolis, MN 55480-9150, with the securities, if any, and any additional information. If the trust was created by someone other than the owner, the trustee supplies an IRS Form W-9. The form states no processing time; its estimate is “We estimate it will take you about 15 minutes to complete this form.”
Who qualifies as the trust’s creator
The form lists who may have created the trust: the owner, both coowners, or either coowner; some other person, provided the owner or a coowner is a beneficiary of the trust; or, for Series EE bonds only, some other person, provided a beneficiary of the trust is related by blood (including legal adoption) or marriage to the owner or a coowner.
A bank or trust company serving as trustee of a common trust fund submits FS Form 1455 with this form.
Common mistakes
- Sending electronic bonds on this form. Electronic bonds move with an entity trust account in TreasuryDirect and FS Form 5511.
- Leaving Item 5 blank. The tax liability statement must be completed and checking box a or b is required.
- Choosing box a without being the owner of the trust portion for tax purposes. The owner of a revocable trust usually is, but the form’s examples are illustrative, not exhaustive.
- Omitting a grantor or trustee from the registration. Every one must be listed.
- Forgetting that the TreasuryDirect trust account manager must sign for electronic reissue.
Related: I bond interest reporting, what a living trust costs, and how to fund a living trust.
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Answer againSources
- FS Form 1851 (Revised April 2026), Request to Reissue United States Savings Bonds to a Personal Trust: treasurydirect.gov PDF
- TreasuryDirect, Forms for Savings Bonds (current list of forms): treasurydirect.gov page
Source: the Fiscal Service form and forms list linked above, read on November 8, 2026. General information, not legal or tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, an attorney or a tax preparer is the right place to confirm anything consequential.