Custodian (Veterans Affairs Fiduciary) Bonds

What Does a Veterans Affair Bond Protect Against?

Remember, you're chosen by the court as the fiduciary for a veteran who's been deemed incompetent.

Typically a VA bond is required because:

• The veteran does not have a spouse or immediate family who can care for them
• The name fiduciary is contested by family members
• The court appoints a neutral third part to serve as the fiduciary

When you're named as the fiduciary and told to purchase a VA bond, the probate judge (or attorney) will tell you:

• The amount of the bond you're required to purchase
• How long you must keep the bond active

In this case, the bond term is now many years you need to keep the bond active. We'll talk more about bond terms below.

Again, the bond protects the veteran from any purposeful financial fraud. This can include action such as:

• Selling assets without the veteran knowing
• Stealing money from the veteran
• Mismanaging money or investment account
• Siphoning money into third party accounts
• Failing to pay necessary bills
• Frivolously wasting finances on wrongful or more expensive purchases

If a fiduciary is found guilty of these or similar actions, the veteran or other family members can make a claim against the surety bond for financial compensation.

However the total amount of compensation can only extend to the amount of the bond.

The bond amount you're told will affect how much it will cost you to purchase the bond.

How Much Does a Veterans Affair Bond Cost?

The price to purchase a VA bond is based on a rate determined by a surety.

A surety is an insurance company that underwrites probate surety bonds. The primary factor that determines the price is your personal credit and any relevant financial history.

However every surety will assess an applicant using their own independent analysis and come up with, potentially, vastly different rates.

And this is why it's so important to work with a specialized surety agency like Surety Bonds Direct when you purchase a probate surety bond.

• We'll work with only the highest A rated sureties
• We'll price shop for you and find the lowest possible rate

Let's look at some examples of pricing so you can get an idea of how important the rate is.

We'll use a bond amount of $180,000. Pay attention to the prices and how much they change with small percentage point changes.

In most cases you're rate will come back between 0.5% and 1.0%.

While this pricing example is helpful to get an idea of what your costs might be, you can get your actual cost today by requesting a price quote.

It costs you nothing to have our bond specialists price shop for you.

And when you receive your pricing, you're under no obligation to purchase. This is free information you can use to get this process done.

Click here and request your no obligation quote today.

If you prefer, call 1-800-608-9950 to speak with a bond specialist. They will deliver pricing to you in under 24 hours.

How Long Does It Take To Purchase a Bond

Once you have pricing and purchase your bond, it typically takes our issuance team less than 24 hours to have your bond issued with the:

• Correct bond form
• Appropriate signatures and seals
• Required power of Attorney

Time tables can change because every state is a little different in how they require you to submit your bond.

• Some states will accept a copy of the bond meaning we can email your bond to you
• Some states want the original bond meaning we have to mail it to you
• Other states require a special bond form so you have to mail us the bond for us to prepare it and mail it back

Every situation is unique, but we've helped hundreds of individuals purchase Veterans Affairs bonds.

There is no situation we haven't seen.

How Long Does a Veterans Affair Surety Bond Last?

Remember, there are two types of bond terms with VA bonds.

• The first bond term is how many years you're required to keep an active bond
• The second bond term is the length of time the bond remains active before it needs to be renewed

For nearly every VA bond, the lifetime of the bond depends on either:

• When the veteran passes away
• Or when the benefits run out

When it comes to the renewal term, VA surety bonds have a bond term of 12 months.

This is another good reason to work with us.

Managing your life and managing the finances for a veteran means your surety bond is probably the last thing on your mind.

This is why we manage your bond for you.

Your bond specialist will contact your 30 to 40 days in advance of your bond renewal date to remind you that expiration is coming up. They will have renewal pricing ready to go so the process is smooth and fast.

When you no longer need your bond, most probate courts will require a bond release form. We will also handle this for you.

For both the fiduciary and the veteran, the Veteran's Affairs government site provides a lot of helpful information and resources.