Relief, by the issue of a substitute bond or by payment, is authorized for the loss, theft, destruction, mutilation, or defacement of a bond after receipt by the owner or his or her representative. As a condition for granting relief, the Commissioner of the Fiscal Service, as designee of the Secretary of the Treasury, may require a bond of indemnity, in the form, and with the surety, or security, he considers necessary to protect the interests of the United States. In all cases the savings bond must be identified by serial number and the applicant must submit satisfactory evidence of the loss, theft, or destruction, or a satisfactory explanation of the mutilation or defacement.

(a) Serial number known. If the serial number of the lost, stolen, or destroyed bond is known, the claimant should execute an application for relief on the appropriate form and submit it to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, Parkersburg, WV 26101.

(b) Serial number not known. If the bond serial number is not known, the claimant must provide sufficient information to enable the Bureau of the Fiscal Service to identify the bond by serial number. See § 315.29(c). The Bureau will furnish the proper application form and instructions.

(c) Defaced or mutilated bond. A defaced bond and all available fragments of a mutilated bond should be submitted to the Bureau.

(d) Execution of claims application. The application must be made by the person or persons (including both coowners, if living) authorized under these regulations to request payment of the bonds. In addition—

(1) If the bond is in beneficiary form and the owner and beneficiary are both living, both will ordinarily be required to join in the application.

(2) If a minor named on a bond as owner, coowner, or beneficiary is not of sufficient competency and understanding to request payment, both parents will ordinarily be required to join in the application.

(e) If the application is approved, relief will be granted by the issuance of a bond bearing the same issue date as the bond for which the claim was filed or by the issuance of a check in payment.

If a bond issued on any transaction is not received, the issuing agent must be notified as promptly as possible and given all information available about the nonreceipt. An appropriate form and instructions will be provided. If the application is approved, relief will be granted by the issuance of a bond bearing the same issue date as the bond that was not received.

(a) Recovery prior to granting relief. If a bond reported lost, stolen, destroyed, or not received, is recovered or received before relief is granted, the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, Parkersburg, WV 26101, must be notified promptly.

(b) Recovery subsequent to granting of relief. A bond for which relief has been granted is the property of the United States and, if recovered, must be promptly submitted to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, Parkersburg, WV 26101, for cancellation.

(a) General. The Bureau of the Fiscal Service will adjudicate claims for lost, stolen or destroyed bonds on the basis of records created and regularly maintained in the ordinary course of business.

(b) Claims filed ten years after payment. A bond for which no claim has been filed within ten years of the recorded date of redemption will be presumed to have been properly paid. If a claim is subsequently filed, a photographic copy of the bond will not be available to support the disallowance. This provision will be effective 60 days after the effective date of the Eleventh Revision of Department of the Treasury Circular No. 530 (31 CFR part 315).

(c) Claims filed six years after final maturity. No claim filed six years or more after the final maturity of a savings bond will be entertained, unless the claimant supplies the serial number of the bond.