Have you received a phone call from a friend or family member about helping them get out of jail? If so, you may be wondering where to get the money to pay for their bail. You may be more willing to use your personal savings when it's a relative that is close to you, but a friend may cause you to have a different line of thinking. The alternative is to get a bail bond to help cover the amount that is owed to get the person released from jail. Here are some thing to consider when selecting where the bail money comes from.
Your Personal Connection
One thing you need to decide on is if you trust the person you are bailing out of jail. If it is a family member that you are close to, and you believe that they will follow all the rules of their release from jail and return to court, then it will be safe to use your own money for their bail. That is because someone that doesn't show up to court can end up costing you that bail money as a result.
Even when you fully trust the person, putting your own money on the line will lead to you having a personal interest on if they return to court. You may find the need to get personally involved, remind the person about their court date, and even drive them to court for their hearing. If they are the kind of person that will allow you to do these things, using your savings may be fine.
Your Personal Finances
You should also consider the state of your personal finances in a worst case scenario. If you did end up losing the amount posted for bail, will it put you in a situation where you are going to struggle financially? If you are essentially using all of your savings for bail, then maybe it is not going to be the best use of your money. Using a bail bond may be the better option, because you will end up losing the collateral rather than the cash. This can buy you some time to figure out how to get the person to court so that the bail is returned.
If you are not sure what you should do, it doesn't hurt to meet with a local bail bondsman. They can let you know more about their services, as well as walk you through the process of securing a bail bond for a friend or family member.
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