Bail Bond

Filed Under » ,
Dictionary Says

Definition of 'Bail Bond'

A written promise signed by a defendant and surety to ensure that a criminal defendant will appear in court at the scheduled time and date, as ordered by the court. The bail amount is set by the court.

The process starts with a defendant being released on bail; the bail is paid by a surety (bail bond agent or bondsman), who usually collects a percentage of the amount of bail. In order to pay the bail, so that the defendant can be released while awaiting trial on criminal charges, the agent might require collateral in the form of valuable property, securities or a statement of creditworthiness.

Investopedia Says

Investopedia explains 'Bail Bond'

Bonds over $1,000 usually cost 10% of the bond. For example, if bail is set at $20,000, the premium would be $2,000. Additional fees may also be added. The goal of a bail bond is to prevent abuse of the appeal process, where the intent for appeal is for a reason other than that for which it is intended. If the defendant fails to appear in court, the cash bond is paid to the court and the collateral is collected by the bond agency, including any other related fees.

Related Definitions

Search results for

'Bail Bond'

  • The US Dollar And The Yen: An Interesting Partnership

    http://www.investopedia.com/articles/forex/09/japanese-yen-us-treasury-bonds.asp
    ... Normally, these changes in bond/stock correlations are short term, yet short-term
    traders ... If correlations change while in a trade, bail out and wait for the ...

  • The Italian Crisis - Investopedia.com

    http://financialedge.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0811/The-Italian-Crisis.aspx
    ... they often have to pay higher interest rates, known as the coupon in bond terms ... Italy
    falls under the category of "too big to fail, too big to bail." This fact ...

  • The Contrarian Play In Europe

    http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/The-Contrarian-Play-In-Europe-EZU-FEZ-IEV-NM-NMM-FDD-DFE-AZN-STD1026.aspx
    ... Short-term government bond yields in Greece now exceed 90%. ... including the Chinese,
    represented a large percentage of the buyers of Portuguese bail-out bonds ...

  • Notorious White Collar Criminals: Where Are They Now? ...

    http://financialedge.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0709/Notorious-White-Collar-Criminals-Where-Are-They-Now.aspx
    ... to hear Black's appeal; he has requested that he be freed on bail during the appeal
    process. Michael Milken: Prostate Cancer Reforms Junk Bond King Known ...

  • Hetty Green: The Witch Of Wall Street

    http://www.investopedia.com/articles/financialcareers/09/hetty-green-witch-wall-street.asp
    ... everything she could find about various railway stocks and bond offerings before ...
    She had to bail out her husband several times before unofficially separating ...

  • How Forex Speculators Profited From Famous Currency Meltdowns

    http://www.investopedia.com/articles/forex/11/currency-meltdowns-speculative-raids.asp
    ... Between May and August, stock, bond and currency markets collapsed, severely damaging ...
    Ireland required a bail out in December of 2010, and Spain, Portugal ...

  • Book Value: How Reliable Is It For Investors?

    http://www.investopedia.com/articles/fundamental-analysis/09/book-value-basics.asp
    ... the only thing going for the company, so you can't expect strong earnings to bail
    out the ... price to catch up, then you might have been better off with a 5% bond ...

  • Top 6 US Government Financial Bailouts

    http://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/08/government-financial-bailout.asp
    ... on this, read Money Market: Treasury Bills and Basics Of Federal Bond Issues.). ... deeper
    into financial trouble, and eventually the government had to bail them out ...

  • Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac And The Credit Crisis Of 2008

    http://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/08/fannie-mae-freddie-mac-credit-crisis.asp
    ... of which was that the federal government would step in and bail these organizations ...
    allowed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to borrow money in the bond market at ...

  • How To Invest When You're Deep In Debt

    http://www.investopedia.com/articles/basics/07/portfolio_debt.asp
    ... In some cases, investing while in debt is like trying to bail out a sinking ship ...
    load and interest payments rather than the 4-8% return on a bond or similar ...

Related Articles

Partner Links