The Pros and Cons of Posting Bail for Your Significant Other
While posting bail for your significant other should be an easy decision, sometimes it may not be as simple for several reasons. If you plan on being a cosigner, this article may shine some light on the pros and cons of posting bail for someone you care about.
Let’s start with an example. This is a Connecticut family with children. The wife happens to be arrested on her way home from work, and now she needs to post a $20,000 bond to regain her freedom. Here, the husband may rush to call the bondsman to get her out. This is his wife, the mother of his children, right?
In another situation, this significant other may be someone you are dating for a few months, and unfortunately, you may not know enough about them, so what do you do?
The responsibility of bailing someone out of jail should not be taken lightly. Besides paying the necessary bail money, you are signing a financial contract under the simple promise that your significant other claims will comply. Regardless of signed documents and a judge’s order requesting them to attend court, in the end, it is up to this defendant to comply. Let’s dive into the pros and cons of posting bail that may help you to make an educated decision
Pros of Posting Bail for Your Partner
The spouse can continue working and providing for the family. Paying for bail allows parents to continue providing for their families. Keeping a job is essential, particularly after an arrest. Hiring a lawyer and paying for court fees/fines can add up to a significant expense in Connecticut.
Avoiding worse outcomes. People who struggle to post bail are more likely to end up in jail again for a future crime. A person who sits in a prison longer than necessary may be more likely to plead guilty—even if they’re innocent. In addition, to the psychological effects and stigma associated with spending time in prison, it also becomes harder for the individual to find a job and support their family afterward.
Moral responsibility. When a partner is arrested, the moral responsibility to pay their bail usually falls on the significant other. Among married couples, it may be a matter of who pays the bail money more than wondering whether they will follow with court hearings. For single individuals, the responsibility may come down to the parents and relatives. As for relatives and close friends, there is an unspoken moral responsibility to post their bail soon after they learn about the arrest. We feel this is especially true for first-time offenders.
Cons of Posting Bail for Your Significant Other
Financial risk if the defendant chooses to abscond from justice. This is a common reason to not post someone’s bail. There is a key difference between paying for bail and posting bail. To legally post bail in Connecticut, the law requires surety bail agencies to collect the fees and have a cosigner on the bond. Anyone can pay the bail money as long as someone else signs responsibility. Evaluating the pros and cons of posting bail as a cosigner is essential.
Once you sign responsibility as a cosigner, you are agreeing to secure this person will attend all court hearings until the case is terminated. In the event, that bail fees were not paid in full, and a payment plan was signed for the balance, the cosigner could also be responsible for the payments if the defendant fails to pay them.
All of the above should have been made clear when you were processing the bond. A good bail agency is transparent and discloses responsibilities to the defendant and cosigners in a simple but thorough way before the bond is posted. Only with accurate information, can you weigh the pros and cons of bailing someone out of jail.
The Bail Bond Company Role
Another key point worth mentioning in the pros and cons of posting bail is the big role the bail bond company plays in your decision. Contrary to paying bail on your own, when a surety bail bond agency is involved, defendants are held accountable. They know that failing to appear in court would result in having Bail Enforcement Agents looking for them. Concurrently, the superior court is placing a rearrest warrant for this defendant. This bench warrant allows the police or licensed bail enforcement agencies the right to arrest them on the spot.
In conclusion, the call to post bail or not for your loved one is yours. Assuming you choose to help them out and pay their bail, you can always ask the defendant’s direct family to be involved to ease the responsibilities on you. Bail bond companies may encourage cosigners to involve the defendant’s family to protect their investment. Defendants may feel more responsible knowing there are quite a few people trusting them to attend court. We hope the list of pros and cons of posting bail helped you weigh options. If you like this post support us by sharing it.
