353.50 Change of name. 353.51 Requests for reissue. Subpart J-Certifying Officers 353.55 Individuals authorized to certify. 353.56 General instructions and liability. 353.57 When a certifying officer may not certify. 353.58 Forms to be certified. AUTHORITY: 5 U.S.C. 301; 12 U.S.C. 391; 31 U.S.C. 3105, 3125. SOURCE: 44 FR 76441, Dec. 26, 1979, unless otherwise noted. Subpart A-General Information § 353.0 Applicability. The regulations in this circular, Department of the Treasury Circular, Public Debt Series No. 3-80, govern United States Savings Bonds of Series EE and Series HH. These bonds bear issue dates of January 1, 1980, or thereafter. The regulations in Department of the Treasury Circular No. 530, current revision (31 CFR part 315), govern all other United States Savings Bonds and Savings Notes. § 353.1 Official agencies. (a) The Bureau of the Public Debt of the Department of the Treasury is responsible for administering the Savings Bonds Program. Authority to process transactions has been delegated to Federal Reserve Banks and Branches in (ii) Until March 1, 1996, other Federal Reserve Offices may continue to provide some savings bond services, but such services will be phased out over the period prior to that date. (c) Notices and documents must be filed with the agencies referred to above and as indicated in these regulations. [44 FR 76441, Dec. 26, 1979, as amended at 59 FR 10541, Mar. 4, 1994] § 353.2 Definitions. (a) Bond means a United States Savings Bond of Series EE or HH, unless the context indicates otherwise. (b) Incompetent means an individual who is incapable of handling his or her business affairs because of a legal, mental or medical disability, except that a minor is not an incompetent solely because of age. (c) Issuing agent means an organization that has been qualified under the provisions of Department of the Treasury Circular, Public Debt Series No. 467, current revision (31 CFR part 317), to issue savings bonds. (d) Paying agent means a financial institution that has been qualified under the provisions of Department of the Treasury Circular No. 750, current revision (31 CFR part 321), to make payment of savings bonds. (e) Payment means redemption, unless otherwise indicated by context. (f) Person means any legal entity including, but without limitation, an individual, corporation (public or private), partnership, unincorporated association, or fiduciary estate. (g) Personal trust estates means trust estates established by natural persons in their own right for the benefit of themselves or other natural persons in whole or in part, and common trust funds comprised in whole or in part of such trust estates. (h) Reissue means the cancellation and retirement of a bond and the issuance of a new bond or bonds of the same series, same issue date, and same total face amount. (i) Representative of the estate of a minor, incompetent, aged person, absentee, et al. means the court-appointed or otherwise qualified person, regardless of title, who is legally authorized to act for the individual. The term does not include parents in their own right, voluntary or natural guardians, or the executors or administrators of decedents' estates. (j) Surrender means the actual receipt of a bond with an appropriate request for payment or reissue by either a Federal Reserve Bank or Branch, the Bureau of the Public Debt, or, if a paying handle the agent is authorized to transaction, the actual receipt of the bond and the request for payment by the paying agent. (k) Taxpayer identifying number means a social security account number or an employer identification number. (1) Voluntary guardian means an individual who is recognized as authorized to act for an incompetent, as provided by § 353.64. Subpart B-Registration §353.5 General rules. (a) Registration is conclusive of ownership. Savings bonds are issued only in registered form. The registration must express the actual ownership of, and interest in, the bond. The registration is conclusive of ownership, except as provided in § 353.49. (b) Requests for registration. Registrations requested must be clear, accurate and complete, conform substantially with one of the forms set forth in this subpart, and include the taxpayer identifying number of the owner or firstnamed coowner. The taxpayer identifying number of the second-named coowner or beneficiary is not required but its inclusion is desirable. The registration of all bonds owned by the same person, organization, or fiduciary should be uniform with respect to the name of the owner and any description of the fiduciary capacity. An individual should be designated by the name he or she is ordinarily known by or uses in business, including at least one full given name. The name may be preceded or followed by any applicable title, such as Miss, Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr., Rev., M.D., or D.D.. A suffix, such as Sr. or Jr., must be included when ordinarily used or when necessary to distinguish the owner from another member of his family. A married woman's own given name, not that of her husband, must be used; for example, Mary A. Jones or Mrs. Mary A. Jones, NOT Mrs. Frank B. Jones. The address must include, where appropriate, the number and street, route, or any other local feature, city, State, and ZIP Code. (c) Inscription of bonds purchased as gifts. If the bonds are purchased as gifts, awards, prizes, etc., and the taxpayer identifying number of the intended owners is not known, the pur chaser's number must be furnished. Bonds so inscribed will not be associated with the purchaser's own holdings. A bond registered in the name of a purchaser with another person as coowner or beneficiary is not considered a gift or an award. If the purchaser so requests, a bond may be inscribed to provide a "Mail to" instruction, followed by a delivery name and address. No rights of ownership are conferred on such designee. [44 FR 76441, Dec. 26, 1979, as amended at 55 FR 575, Jan. 5, 1990] § 353.6 Restrictions on registration. (a) Natural persons. Only an individual in his or her own right may be designated as coowner or beneficiary along with any other individual, whether on original issue or reissue, except as provided in § 353.7(f). (b) Residence. The designation of an owner or first-named coowner is restricted, on original issue only, to persons (whether individuals or others) who are: (1) Residents of the United States, its territories or possessions, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; (2) Citizens of the United States residing abroad; (3) Civilian employees of the United States or members of its armed forces, regardless of their residence or citizenship; and (4) Residents of Canada or Mexico who work in the United States but only if the bonds are purchased on a payroll savings plan and the owner provides a taxpayer identifying number. A nonresident alien may be designated coowner or beneficiary or, on authorized reissue, owner, unless the nonresident alien is a resident of an area with respect to which the Department of the Treasury restricts or regulates the delivery of checks drawn against funds of the United States or its agencies or instrumentalities. See Department of the Treasury Circular No. 655, current revision (31 CFR part 211). Registration is not permitted in any form which includes the name of any alien who is a resident of any restricted area. (c) Minors. (1) Minors may purchase with their wages, earnings, or other funds belonging to them and under their control bonds registered in their names alone or with a coowner or beneficiary. (2) Bonds purchased by another person with funds belonging to a minor not under legal guardianship or similar fiduciary estate must be registered, without a coowner or beneficiary, in the name of the minor or a natural guardian on behalf of a minor. (3) Bonds purchased with funds of another may be registered to name the minor as owner, coowner, or beneficiary. If the minor is under legal guardianship or similar fiduciary estate, the registration must include an appropriate reference to it. (4) Bonds purchased as a gift to a minor under a gift-to-minors statute must be registered as prescribed by the statute and no coowner or beneficiary may be named. (5) Bonds purchased by a representative of a minor's estate must be registered in the name of the minor and must include in the registration an appropriate reference to the guardianship or similar fiduciary estate. Bonds purchased by a representative of the estates of two or more minors, even though appointed in a single proceeding, must be registered in the name of each minor separately with appropriate reference to the guardianship or similar fiduciary estate. (d) Incompetents. Bonds may be registered to name as owner, coowner, or beneficiary an incompetent for whose estate a guardian or similar representative has been appointed, except that a coowner or beneficiary may not be named on bonds purchased with funds belonging to the incompetent. The registration must include appropriate reference to the guardianship or similar fiduciary estate. Bonds should not be registered in the name of an incompetent unless there is a representative for his or her estate, except as provided in § 353.64. [44 FR 76441, Dec. 26, 1979, as amended at 63 FR 64551, Nov. 20, 1998] § 353.7 Authorized forms of registration. Subject to any limitations or restrictions contained in these regulations on the right of any person to be named as owner, coowner, or beneficiary, bonds should be registered as indicated below. A savings bond inscribed in the form not substantially in agreement with one of the forms authorized by this subpart is not considered validly issued. (a) Natural persons. A bond may be registered in the names of individuals in their own right, but only in one of the forms authorized by this paragraph. (1) Single ownership form. A bond may be registered in the name of one individual. Example: John A. Jones 123-45 6789. (2) Coownership form. A bond may be registered in the names of two individuals in the alternative as coowners. The form of registration "A and B" is not authorized. Examples: John A. Jones 123-45-6789 or Ella S. Jones 987-65-4321. John A. Jones 123-45-6789 or (Miss, Ms. or Mrs.) Ella S. Jones. Ella S. Jones 987-65-4321 or John A. Jones. (3) Beneficiary form. A bond may be registered in the name of one individual payable on death to another. "Payable on death to" may be abbreviated to "P.O.D." Examples: John A. Jones 123-45-6789 payable on death to Mrs. Ella S. Jones. John A. Jones 123-45-6789 P.O.D. Ella S. Jones 987-65-4321. (b) Fiduciaries (including legal guardians and similar representatives, certain custodians, natural guardians, executors, administrators, and trustees)-(1) General. A bond may be registered in the name of any person or persons or any organization acting as fiduciary of a single fiduciary estate, but not where the fiduciary will hold the bond merely or principally as security for the performance of a duty, obligation, or service. Registration should conform to a form authorized by this paragraph. A coowner or beneficiary may be named only in accordance with the applicable provisions of §353.6 (c) and (d). A common trust fund established and maintained by a financial institution authorized to act as a fiduciary will be considered a single fiduciary estate within the meaning of these regulations. |