(a) General. Payment of a savings bond will be made to the person or persons entitled under the provisions of these regulations, except that checks in payment will not be delivered to addresses in areas with respect to which the Department of the Treasury restricts or regulates the delivery of checks drawn against funds of the United States. See Department of the Treasury Circular No. 655, current revision (31 CFR part 211). Payment will be made without regard to any notice of adverse claims to a bond and no stoppage or caveat against payment of a bond will be entered.

(b) A Series EE bond issued on January 1, 2003, or earlier, will be paid at any time after 6 months from its issue date. A Series EE bond issued on February 1, 2003, or thereafter, will be paid at any time after 12 months from its issue date. Bonds will be paid at the current redemption value shown in Department of the Treasury Circular, Fiscal Service Series No. 1-80 (31 CFR part 351).

(c) Series HH. A Series HH bond will be paid at any time after six months from issue date. A Series HH bond issued in an authorized exchange or reinvestment transaction will be paid at face value. A Series HH bond issued for cash will be paid at the current redemption value shown in Department of the Treasury Circular, Fiscal Service Series No. 2-80, Second Revision (31 CFR part 352). If the bond is redeemed at less than face value, the difference represents an adjustment of interest. In any case where Series HH bonds are surrendered to a designated Federal Reserve Bank or Branch or the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, Parkersburg, WV 26106-1328, for redemption in the month prior to an interest payment date, redemption will not be deferred but will be made in regular course, unless the presenter specifically requests that the transaction be delayed until that date. A request to defer redemption made more than one month preceding the interest payment date will not be accepted.

A savings bond registered in single ownership form (i.e., without a coowner or beneficiary) will be paid to the owner during his or her lifetime upon surrender with an appropriate request.

A savings bond registered in coownership form will be paid to either coowner upon surrender with an appropriate request, and upon payment (as determined in § 353.43), the other coowner will cease to have any interest in the bond. If both coowners request payment, payment will be made by check drawn in the form, “John A. Jones AND Mary C. Jones”.

A savings bond registered in beneficiary form will be paid to the registered owner during his or her lifetime upon surrender with an appropriate request. Upon payment (as determined in § 353.43) the beneficiary will cease to have any interest in the bond.

(a) Procedure for bonds of Series EE, in the names of individual owners or coowners only. An individual who is the owner or coowner of a Series EE bond may present the bond to an authorized paying agent for redemption. The presenter must be prepared to establish his or her identity in accordance with Treasury instructions and identification guidelines. The owner or coowner must sign the request for payment on the bond or, if authorized, on a separate detached request, and add his or her address. If the request for payment has been signed, or signed and certified, before presentation of the bond, the paying agent must be satisfied that the person presenting the bond for payment is the owner or coowner and may require the person to sign the request for payment again. If the bond is in order for payment, the paying agent will make immediate payment at the current redemption value without charge to the presenter. Paying agents are not authorized to process any case involving partial redemption or any case in which supporting evidence is required.

(b) Procedure for all other cases. In the case of bonds to which the procedure in paragraph (a) of this section, does not apply, or if otherwise preferred, the owner or coowner, or other person entitled to payment, should appear before an officer authorized to certify requests for payment, establish his or her identity, sign the request for payment, and provide information as to the address to which the check in payment is to be mailed. The bond must be forwarded to a designated Federal Reserve Bank or Branch or the Bureau of the Fiscal Service. Usually, payment will be expedited by submission to a designated Federal Reserve Bank or Branch. In all cases, the cost and risk of presentation of a bond will be borne by the owner. Payment will be made by check drawn to the order of the registered owner or other person entitled and will be mailed to the address requested.

(c) Date of request. Requests executed more than six months before the date of receipt of a bond for payment will not be accepted. Neither will a bond be accepted if payment is requested as of a date more than three months in the future.

(a) Owner's signature not required. A bond may be paid by a paying agent or a designated Federal Reserve Bank without the owner's signature to the request for payment, if the bond bears the special endorsement of a paying agent specifically qualified to place such an endorsement on savings bonds.

(b) Signature by mark. A signature by mark (X) must be witnessed by at least one disinterested person and a certifying officer. See subpart J. The witness must attest to the signature by mark substantially as follows: “Witness to signature by mark”, followed by his or her signature and address.

(c) Name change. If the name of the owner, coowner, or other person entitled to payment, as it appears in the registration or in evidence on file in the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, has been changed in any legal manner, the signature to the request for payment must show both names and the manner in which the change was made; for example, “Mary T. Jones Smith (Mary T. J. Smith or Mary T. Smith) changed by marriage from Mary T. Jones”, or “John R. Young, changed by order of court from Hans R. Jung”. See § 353.50.

(d) Attorneys-in-fact. A request for payment, reinvestment, or exchange executed by an attorney-in-fact will be recognized if it is accompanied by a copy of the power of attorney which meets the following requirements:

(1) The power of attorney must bear the grantor's signature, properly certified or notarized, in accordance with applicable State law;

(2) The power of attorney must grant, by its terms, authority for the attorney-in-fact to sell or redeem the grantor's securities, sell his or her personal property, or, otherwise contain similar authority; and

(3) In the case of a grantor who has become incapacitated, the power of attorney must conform with pertinent provisions of State law concerning its durability. Generally, in such circumstances, the power of attorney should provide that the authority granted will not be affected by the subsequent incompetence or incapacity of the grantor. Medical evidence or other proof of the grantor's condition may be required in any case.

A bond of Series EE or HH may be redeemed in part at current redemption value, but only in amounts corresponding to authorized denominations, upon surrender of the bond to a designated Federal Reserve Bank or Branch or to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service in accordance with § 353.39(b). In any case in which partial redemption is requested, the phrase “to the extent of $__ (face amount) and reissue of the remainder” should be added to the request. Upon partial redemption of the bond, the remainder will be reissued as of the original issue date, as provided in subpart I.

If a check in payment of a bond surrendered for redemption is not received within a reasonable time or is lost after receipt, notice should be given to the same agency to which the bond was surrendered for payment. The notice should give the date the bond was surrendered for payment and describe the bond by series, denomination, serial number, and registration, including the taxpayer identifying number of the owner.

The Department of the Treasury will treat the receipt of a bond with an appropriate request for payment by:

(a) A Federal Reserve Bank or Branch,

(b) The Bureau of the Fiscal Service, or

(c) A paying agent authorized to pay that bond, as the date upon which the rights of the parties are fixed for the purpose of payment.

(a) Withdrawal by owner or coowner. An owner or coowner, who has surrendered a bond to a Federal Reserve Bank or Branch or to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service or to an authorized paying agent with an appropriate request for payment, may withdraw the request if notice of intent to withdraw is received by the same agency prior to payment either in cash or through the issuance of the redemption check.

(b) Withdrawal on behalf of deceased owner or incompetent. A request for payment may be withdrawn under the same conditions as in paragraph (a) of this section by the executor or administrator of the estate of a deceased owner or by the person or persons who could have been entitled to the bond under subpart L, or by the legal representative of the estate of a person under legal disability, unless surrender of the bond for payment has eliminated the interest of a surviving coowner or beneficiary. See § 353.70 (b) and (c).