Title 14. Of Miscellaneous Provisions · Chapter 2. Bonds and Undertakings · Article 5. Personal Sureties · Enacted 1982 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 995.510 sets three conditions for a personal surety -- not the principal, a court officer, or a State Bar member; a California resident owning real property or a householder; and worth the bond amount in state property beyond exempt property and debts -- while letting bonds over $10,000 with more than two sureties pool worth to twice the amount.
(a)A personal surety on a bond is sufficient if all of the following conditions are satisfied:
(1)The surety is a person other than the principal. No officer of the court or member of the State Bar shall act as a surety.
(2)The surety is a resident, and either an owner of real property or householder, within the state.
(3)The surety is worth the amount of the bond in real or personal property, or both, situated in this state, over and above all debts and liabilities, exclusive of property exempt from enforcement of a money judgment.
(b)If the amount of a bond exceeds ten thousand dollars ($10,000) and is executed by more than two personal sureties, the worth of a personal surety may be less than the amount of the bond, so long as the aggregate worth of all sureties executing the bond is twice the amount of the bond.
Plain-English Summary
Not every bond needs an insurance company standing behind it. This section lets an individual -- a personal surety -- back a bond instead, as long as three conditions hold. The surety can't be the principal on the bond, and neither a court officer nor a State Bar member may serve as a personal surety at all. The surety must live in California and either own real property or qualify as a householder. And the surety's net worth in in-state real or personal property -- after subtracting debts, liabilities, and property exempt from enforcement of a money judgment -- must reach the bond amount.
Subdivision (b) eases that math for larger bonds. When a bond exceeds $10,000 and more than two personal sureties sign it, no single surety needs to be worth the full bond amount. What matters instead is the combined worth of everyone who signs: it has to equal at least twice the bond amount.
Section 995.520's affidavit requirement puts these qualifications on the record, and § 995.310 governs how a bond gets executed once personal sureties are lined up to sign it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can't serve as a personal surety on a California bond?
Officers of the court and members of the State Bar are barred outright, and the principal on the bond can't also serve as its own surety.
What does "worth the amount of the bond" mean?
The surety's real or personal property in California, net of debts, liabilities, and property exempt from enforcement of a money judgment, must equal at least the bond amount.
Can several personal sureties split the worth requirement on a larger bond?
Yes -- bonds over $10,000 with more than two sureties allow each to be worth less than the bond amount, so long as everyone's worth together adds up to at least twice that amount.
Does a personal surety have to own property in California specifically?
Yes, both the residency and property qualification in subdivision (a)(2) and the worth requirement in (a)(3) are tied to property situated in this state.
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
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