(a) "Bond" includes both of the following:
(1) A surety, indemnity, fiduciary, or like bond executed by both the principal and sureties.
(2) A surety, indemnity, fiduciary, or like undertaking executed by the sureties alone.
§ 995.140.Bond
Title 14. Of Miscellaneous Provisions · Chapter 2. Bonds and Undertakings · Article 1. Preliminary Provisions and Definitions · Enacted 1982 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 995.140 defines bond to cover both a surety instrument executed by the principal and sureties together and one executed by the sureties alone, but excludes from a bond "given in an action or proceeding" any bond given as a condition of a license or permit.
Full Text of § 995.140
(b) A bond provided for or given "in an action or proceeding" does not include a bond provided for, or given as, a condition of a license or permit.
Plain-English Summary
Two forms fall under the single word "bond" here. Subdivision (a)(1) covers the traditional form, executed by both the principal and the sureties. Subdivision (a)(2) covers the same thing executed by the sureties alone — which is also exactly how § 995.190 separately defines an "undertaking." The overlap is intentional: this chapter treats bonds and undertakings as functionally interchangeable, as § 995.210 confirms directly.
Subdivision (b) draws a boundary that matters throughout the rest of this chapter. Many provisions apply specifically to a bond "given in an action or proceeding" — and that phrase does not reach a bond given as a condition of a license or permit. Article 4's § 995.440, for example, deals with license-and-permit bonds on its own separate terms.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a difference between a "bond" and an "undertaking" under this chapter?
A bond executed by the sureties alone, without the principal, is essentially the same instrument this chapter separately defines as an "undertaking" in § 995.190.
Does a license bond count as a bond "given in an action or proceeding"?
No. Section 995.140(b) excludes a bond given as a condition of a license or permit from that phrase.
Why does that exclusion matter?
Many of this chapter's provisions apply specifically to bonds given in an action or proceeding; license and permit bonds instead follow their own rules, including § 995.440's continuous-coverage requirement.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 998, Sec. 1.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: bond definition california civil proceduredifference between bond and undertaking california