If a surety cancels or withdraws from a bond:
§ 996.360.Surety Cancels Or Withdraws From Bond
Title 14. Of Miscellaneous Provisions · Chapter 2. Bonds and Undertakings · Article 13. Cancellation of Bond or Withdrawal of Sureties · Enacted 1982 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 996.360 limits the effect of a surety's cancellation or withdrawal the same way § 996.150 limits a court-ordered release, keeping the bond enforceable for pre-cancellation liabilities, freeing the departing surety from anything afterward, and leaving the remaining sureties' obligations unchanged.
Full Text of § 996.360
(a) The bond remains in full force and effect for all liabilities incurred before, and for acts, omissions, or causes existing or which arose before, the cancellation or withdrawal. Legal proceedings may be had therefor in all respects as though there had been no cancellation or withdrawal.
(b) The surety is not liable for any act, default, or misconduct of the principal or other breach of the condition of the bond that occurs after, or for any liabilities on the bond that arise after, the cancellation or withdrawal.
(c) The cancellation or withdrawal does not affect the bond as to the remaining sureties, or alter or change their liability in any respect.
Plain-English Summary
This section closes Article 13 with the same three-part structure § 996.150 uses for a court-ordered release, applied here to a surety's own cancellation or withdrawal under § 996.320. Subdivision (a) keeps the bond in full force for every liability incurred, and every act, omission, or cause existing, before the cancellation or withdrawal; proceedings on those matters go forward as though nothing had changed.
Subdivision (b) protects the departing surety going forward: no liability for the principal's misconduct or any other breach of the bond's condition after the cancellation or withdrawal, and none for liabilities first arising after that point.
Subdivision (c) protects the beneficiary's position against whoever remains on the bond. One surety's cancellation or withdrawal doesn't touch the bond as to the other sureties, and doesn't alter their liability at all.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a surety's withdrawal erase liability for things that already happened?
No. The bond stays in full force for liabilities and conduct that predate the cancellation or withdrawal.
Is a surety who withdraws liable for what the principal does afterward?
No. Subdivision (b) frees the surety from liability for conduct or claims arising after the cancellation or withdrawal.
Does one surety's withdrawal affect the others on the same bond?
No. It doesn't touch the bond as to the remaining sureties or change their liability.
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: effect of surety withdrawal californiasurety cancellation liability before and after