Unclaimed and Inherited Prize Bonds

What happens to Prize Bonds after the holder dies, how to trace or claim bonds you've found or inherited, and why old bonds never simply expire.

This is general information, not legal or financial advice. Every estate is different — for anything beyond a straightforward case, speak to a solicitor or contact Ireland State Savings directly.

Prize Bonds never expire

A Prize Bond stays valid, and stays entered in every weekly draw, for as long as it's held — there's no expiry date and no cut-off after which an old bond stops counting. The same is true of prizes: an unclaimed win doesn't lapse either. This matters a lot for old certificates, because it means a bond bought decades ago, or found while sorting through a relative's paperwork, can still be actively winning money right now. You can check any bond number — however old — against every draw we hold using our Check Numbers tool.

What happens to Prize Bonds when the holder dies

Prize Bonds form part of the deceased person's estate, the same as a bank account or shares. They don't automatically pass to next of kin, and they don't get cashed in or cancelled on their own — they simply keep sitting in the weekly draw, under the original holder's name, until someone notifies Ireland State Savings of the death and completes their claims process.

If the estate held Prize Bonds only

Where Prize Bonds are the only Ireland State Savings product involved, the process is simpler than a full deceased-account claim. Send a letter notifying them of the death, together with:

An original or certified copy of the Death Certificate (or Coroner's Certificate).
If a will exists, the original or a certified copy of it, to establish who the executor(s) are.
If there's no will, evidence that you're acting on behalf of the nearest next of kin.

Send this to: Ireland State Savings, Prize Bonds, Fexco Centre, Killorglin, FREEPOST, Co. Kerry, V93 WN9T. If the estate held other State Savings products too (deposit accounts, Savings Certificates, and so on), a separate Deceased Claim Form is required instead — see the official Bereavement Guide and Support page for that process.

When a Grant of Probate is needed

Ireland State Savings requires a Grant of Probate (or Letter of Administration) only where the deceased's total sole-name State Savings holdings were €25,000 or more on the date of death. Below that threshold, the simpler prize-bonds-only or deceased-claim process above is generally enough on its own, without waiting on full probate through the courts — which can otherwise take months.

Once the claim is processed

The person inheriting the bonds typically has two options: keep them, transferred into their own name, where they stay live in the draw indefinitely, or cash them in for their face value, same as any other repayment. Neither choice affects any prizes already won before the transfer — those are handled as part of the same claim.

Found an old bond and not sure what to do with it?

If you've come across a Prize Bond certificate — your own from years ago, or one belonging to somebody else — the first step is simply to check its number against our full draw history using Check Numbers or Power Search for a longer list. If you're not the registered holder and believe it may be unclaimed from a deceased estate, Ireland State Savings can also help trace a holding from a name and address even without the certificate to hand.