Posting bail for someone else is never a completely risk-free proposition. The person you posted the bail for is responsible for your financial wellbeing at that point. But, there are ways to mitigate bail risk and decide if it's the right thing to do.

Discern the Cost to You Versus the Cost to Them

At first, you should find out what the cost to the other person would be, should you not post bail. How long are they estimated to remain in jail before a hearing or a final decision is reached? That's a question to ask their criminal lawyer. On the other hand, you have to consider what the consequences would be to you, should the person skip bail and have you be obligated to pay the full amount of the bail bond. If that would leave you in a financial position that you couldn't recover from, that's definitely something to keep in mind when you are deciding to post bail.

Discern How Dedicated the Person Is to Making Bail

Of course, one thing that helps reduce the amount of risk is a strong commitment from the person to follow through on their bail commitments. You can even help them out by providing transportation and showing up with them to all of their court dates and other commitments. If this is a person who's close to you who you feel would never let you down, that's a pretty strong guarantee that your money will be safe in a bail bond and that you're doing the right thing to help out a person you care about.

Learn the Terms of Bail

The terms of the bail itself will have an impact on how risky the transaction can be. It's recommended that you look at several court bonds companies to determine who has the best rates and policies. One bond company might be more lenient about cashing out the bail than others. Some may pursue collateral property very aggressively, while others give you the chance to collect the funds to pay off a bail amount.

Some companies run up a tab for bounty hunters, while other people work with you to correct a broken bail agreement in a cooperative way. These are things that you can tell by getting estimates and consultations for multiple bail bonds companies. Read the contracts carefully and discuss them with the representative to make sure that you're not taking on more risk than necessary.

To learn more about the process, contact companies like Service Insurance Company.