Identification

• You can cash a savings bonds without presenting identification if you are a "known customer" at your bank. Each bank has its own definition of a "known" client, but generally you are "known" if you are an established customer of the bank and are well known to bank employees. Treasury rules state you can also cash a bond if another individual can identify you, although this usually only applies in situations in which an adult identifies a minor. If you are not an established client of the bank, you can cash a bond if you present a valid form of identification such as a driver's license. However, as a non-account holder with an ID, you can only cash up to $1,000 of bonds during a visit to the bank.
  
  

Bonds

• You cannot redeem a bond within one year of the purchase date, and you pay a penalty fee equal to three months of interest if you cash in a bond within five years of purchasing it. You must sign the back of the bond in the presence of a bank employee and write your Social Security number and address on the back of the bond if that information does not appear on the face of the bond. You can cash a bond you own as an individual or a bond that you co-own.
  
  

Minor

• You can cash a bond that belongs to a minor if you are the child's legal guardian or parent as long as you live with or have custody of the child. Children with appropriate identification can cash their own bonds, but if you have a young child who cannot sign the bond or understand the cashing process, you must sign the bond. You must write a note on the back of the bond to the effect that you are the legal guardian of the bond owner and that the bond owner as a minor cannot sign the bond. You must provide the banker with the child's Social Security number and your ID unless you are a "known" customer.
  
  

Deceased Owner

• If a bond owner dies, you can cash the bond if you are listed on the front of the bond as the pay-on-death (POD) beneficiary. You must provide the bank with a certified copy of the bond owner's death certificate. You must also produce a valid form of ID unless you meet the bank's definition of a "known" customer. If the bond owner did not name anyone as the POD beneficiary, the bond forms part of the decedent's estate and must go through probate.