PROBATE BONDS ARE used to protect the ward in a probate estate, the creditors of the estate, and the heirs of an estate. In some jurisdictions, they are quite common — so common that the courts permit bond producers to have desks at the courthouse to ease the process of obtaining these bonds. In other jurisdictions they are almost a foreign concept and are rarely, if ever, ordered as a condition of a fiduciary qualifying and serving in a probate estate. Probate bonds are often given very little thought until things go terribly wrong. It is then, in the event that the court requires a bond as a condition for the fiduciary to serve, the true purpose of that bond becomes evident. Bond producers and other surety professionals may not have an in-depth understanding of probate bonds and how they work, unless those producers write a large volume of them. This article is designed to provide a general introduction to and a broad overview of this important commercial surety bond.
