Treasury Hunt, TreasuryDirect's online lookup for matured, unredeemed U.S. savings bonds, ended Sept. 30, 2025.
In 2026, owners must search state unclaimed-property systems and file paper-bond claims directly with Treasury. That shift matters because millions of paper EE and I bonds stopped earning interest at final maturity but were never cashed. According to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service on TreasuryDirect's Treasury Hunt page, visitors with suspected lost, stolen, or destroyed bonds should now use its forms page for claims.
Table of Contents
- What ended on Sept. 30, 2025?
- What does federal law now require?
- How large is the unredeemed pile?
- Where should you search in 2026?
What ended on Sept. 30, 2025?
TreasuryDirect closed its Treasury Hunt search tool on that date. The page now routes users toward claim forms instead of a name-based bond search.
For unclaimed-money seekers, the practical effect is simple. There is no federal name-search box for savings bonds anymore. You must prove ownership through records, serial numbers, and a formal claim.
What does federal law now require?
Congress addressed the gap in the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022. It directs Treasury to share data on bonds more than three years past final maturity with states, including owner name, address, and serial number, so states can help locate owners.
Treasury implemented that data-sharing duty in a final rule issued in December 2024, described in the December 2024 final rule record. The Federal Register record says the rule does not override existing redemption rules. States generally cannot take over, or escheat, bonds they do not physically hold, and owners keep the right to redeem.
How large is the unredeemed pile?
The sums are large and still growing. About 100 million matured bonds worth about $36.27 billion sat unredeemed, according to Bureau of the Fiscal Service data from March 2025 cited by Sen.
Kennedy in Detroit Free Press reporting on Fiscal Service data. That figure affects owners, heirs, and veterans who forgot paper bonds or inherited them without records. A later 2026 estimate put the total near $39 billion, up from about $27 billion covering 75 million bonds in a 2020 executive order.
Where should you search in 2026?
Start with every state where you or a deceased relative lived, worked, or bought bonds. State unclaimed-property sites remain the main public search layer, through the National Association of State Treasurers' multistate search at MissingMoney.com and its directory at unclaimed.org, plus Treasury's savings-bond datasets and calculator for issue, redemption, and maturity values. Then file directly with Treasury if you suspect a lost paper bond.
TreasuryDirect guidance requires owners of lost, stolen, or destroyed bonds to file FS Form 1048 with bond details and certified signatures, choosing cash payout or electronic replacement EE or I bonds. As of July-August 2026, Detroit Free Press reporting said Treasury had not yet operationalized state bond-data sharing and state sites offered no bond lookup. File Form 1048 now rather than waiting for a state list, because processing can take nearly a year.
- List full names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and approximate issue dates
- Add serial numbers when available, plus who bought and who received each bond
- Get signatures certified as instructed before mailing the form
- Keep copies and track the mailing date for follow-up