Elderly relative has many U.S. EE bonds titled to her as trustee of her revocable trust. No taxes have been paid on accumulated earnings. My understanding is that the bonds will need to be cashed in and the earnings reported and taxes paid by the estate after she passes and that the tax rate paid by an estate is much higher than her rate as an individual. (Her taxable income is quite low.) Have been told (by treasurydirect.com telephone rep) that to retitle the bonds to her as an individual with POD to heirs would be a taxable event. Don't understand why it's NOT a taxable event to retitle bonds from an individual into a trust but IS a taxable event to change them from the trust back to just an individual with POD. Should we just leave the bonds as-is, or start cashing them in each year in such a way as to keep her in the lowest tax bracket possible?