It’s Virginia in 1820. Your father has just died and named you as executor in his will.
You can’t start settling up without the court approving the will and it being admitted to probate. You also have to be approved by the court as executor and become legally authorized to perform the duties as executor. This usually also includes posting a bond with bondsmen to sign along with you. The bond will have a stated value, but that’s not an amount of cash that anyone deposits anywhere. Typically it’s an amount that covers the value of the estate (or at least the potential bills) and while the executor doesn’t need to “be worth that much” the bondsmen generally (at least in the aggregate) do. The bondsmen are guaranteeing that you will perform your tasks as executor faithfully and to the best of your ability.
If you run off to Texas with all your father’s livestock and unpaid bills and no assets left to pay them, the court will very likely come after the bondsmen to cover the debts. Please note that contemporary state statute dictated the specifics of who could be a bondsman and what the financial requirements were.
If you do what you are supposed to do (even if there isn’t enough money to cover the estate) ,the bondsmen are not at risk. But if you, in your capacity as executor, abscond with money or waste the estate, the bondsmen could be on the hook for it.
The takeway is that the individuals who sign an executor’s bond for someone would hopefully only do it for someone they know and trust to act faithfully.
No responses yet