What to do with 50 year old savings bonds

[mark13]

My Grandparents died about 20 years ago and left the bonds to my Father who just passed away..My Mom said he never did anything with them because there would be to much tax to pay on them so they are still in my Grandparents name..

I would like to get the bonds put in my Moms name so she can sell them since they quit drawing interest 20 years ago..Is there someone I can hire who may specialize in this ?

Believe it or not he never sold my Grandparents house either and its been sitting empty for 20 years..

 

[DaveL]

My Grandparents died about 20 years ago and left the bonds to my Father who just passed away..My Mom said he never did anything with them because there would be to much tax to pay on them so they are still in my Grandparents name..

I would like to get the bonds put in my Moms name so she can sell them since they quit drawing interest 20 years ago..Is there someone I can hire who may specialize in this ?

Believe it or not he never sold my Grandparents house either and its been sitting empty for 20 years..

My Dad had a number of old US Savings bonds when he died in '93. I took them with Mom down to the bank and cashed them in. We had to show the death certificate along with the will, though I'm not sure we really needed the will as Washington is a "community property" state.

If I were you, I'd take them down to a bank you trust and ask the manager for help. They should be able to tell you what it would take to cash them in.

 

[smkettner]

Any major money bank can cash them.

 

[mark13]

I went to Wells Fargo bank and the young girl at the sign in desk who directs who you will see next said I need to send them into U.S. goverment treasury to get the names changed on them..LOL

I would not mind paying a professional to do the paper work Im just confused on who to go to next..

 

[EVDRIVER]

Did you go to the appropriate US agency sites? There is plenty of info online and likely better there then a LEAF forum. Google is your friend!

http://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/indiv.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[palmermd]

I forgot...is that one of the three departments that's getting cut?

 

[EVDRIVER]

That and the jugular of the country. :shock:

 

[mark13]

Thanks everyone for all the help I went to the (treasury direct) They have a (treasury hunt) there and i put in my grandmothers social security number for the bonds.. They have a record of it and ask for a phone number to call us back..This may take a few days, weeks or months before they call back....

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

house sitting empty and worried about taxes? i understand your disclaimer and if you say it, i guess i believe it but my belief brings not even smidgen of understanding

 

[mark13]

Yup I know it sounds unbelievable..When my Father retired he wanted to do very little except to go out to eat and watch TV..I knew about the house and tried to push him to sell it, just in up keep, taxes and utilities he never turned off,it became a expensive empty house..He also bought a RV that just sat at a RV park..I sold it just before his death,it was 15 years old with 5k miles on it..All the tires needed to be changed because of flat spots and the gas tank needed to be purged..
When my Grandmother died my Father was a only child so there was a lot of taxes to pay from what she left him..I think he forgot about the bonds because of the tax issues and put them in a safe deposit box..It was my Mom who showed me the bonds and she had no idea in what to do with them..Since the bank was no help I thought I would come here and put out a SOS for information..
I really wanted to pay someone who specializes in old treasury bonds, instead of me making copies of all the bonds,death certificates,birth certificate and marriage license and then sending it through the mail and hoping i did correctly..This is what i guess they will be asking for when they give us a call back..

 

[Ready2plugin]

Treasury Direct should call you back in one or two days, they are actually pretty good for a government agency. You should be able to get them redeemed without too much problem. The only hitch is that most savings bonds stop collecting interest at their maturity date. Good luck.

 

[evnow]

I really wanted to pay someone who specializes in old treasury bonds, instead of me making copies of all the bonds,death certificates,birth certificate and marriage license and then sending it through the mail and hoping i did correctly..This is what i guess they will be asking for when they give us a call back..

I don't know right answer - but I'm sure you will find good help at bogleheads.

http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/index.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[mark13]

They are 45 years old and stop earning interest 15 years ago ..Once again my Father who maybe was suffering from mental thought slow down (alzheimer)could of sold them and reinvested in more bonds and made 15 years on interest on them to cover the tax....

 

[evnow]

They are 45 years old and stop earning interest 15 years ago ...

Got it - many guys in that forum understand taxation and other issues well.

 

[mark1313]

I finally got the money in the checking account from treasury direct,they do direct deposits..
About 5 months ago I found a financial planner who had done a few of them before..His cost was $150 + mailing,insurance total cost $200.00
I never did get any call-backs from Treasury Direct in which I waited months for..They did send me a few E-mails which were no help at all..

Now Ill take my time in finding a used Prius that also has a chargable battery..I might also check out the Volt but my last Prius was just so amazingly well built it might be hard to pass on it for something else..

If anyone ever needs help with Bonds through Treasury-Direct Ill be glad to help you do the paper work..

 

[Rat]

house sitting empty and worried about taxes? i understand your disclaimer and if you say it, i guess i believe it but my belief brings not even smidgen of understanding

I don't know what the law is in other states, but in California, and I think most states, if the property is held in the owner's name (typical) you have to go through probate to get it changed. Any probate attorney can do it and it's relatively cheap if that's the only property. By law here, and in most states, I think, probate attorneys are allowed only a percent of the estate according to a statutory scale. These small ones have a high percent, but lower total $ to the attorney, since it's the same amount of work. Many attorneys don't want to do it if that's all there is and the house isn't worth a lot. I'll bet a local realtor who wants the listing would know how to get this done. It's a pretty common situation. If the house was in trust, like ours is, the beneficiary/-ies (kids or spouse, normally) can just do an Affidavit of Death, get it notarized, and file it with the County Recorder along with an original death certificate and the title is changed to the beneficiary's name. Probate is not necessary, which makes it much cheaper and quicker. Just some filing fees. You can probably find an affidavit of death for your state and situation online either free or for <$10, but as I said, if the deed was in the grandfather's or father's name probate will probably be necessary.