When the court requires a personal representative to be bonded, you can start the bond request right from the matter in EstateMin. Your client completes the application, gets a personalized quote, and purchases the bond in their Client Portal. Once it is purchased, the bond documents are saved to the matter automatically.
Bonds in EstateMin are provided through our partnership with ViCoverage (powered by Vertical Insure), a licensed provider that handles the quote, purchase, billing, and support for each bond.
The Surety bond section is available on Probate matters (Testate and Intestate).
🛡️ What Is a Surety Bond?
A probate bond (also called a fiduciary or personal representative bond) is a type of surety bond. It is a guarantee, backed by a surety company, that the personal representative will carry out their duties to the estate. It involves three parties:
The fiduciary: your client, the person being bonded.
The surety: the company that issues the bond.
The estate's beneficiaries and creditors: the people the bond protects.
The court sets the bond amount. The fiduciary pays a premium for the bond, and it stays in force until the court closes the case. For questions about what a specific bond covers, direct your client to ViCoverage.
📨 How to Send a Bond Request
Your client needs a Client Portal on the matter before you can send them a bond request. See How to Invite Your Client to their Client Portal.
Open the matter and click Surety bond in the left panel.
In the Send bond to fiduciary section, choose your client from the Fiduciary dropdown. This is the person who will complete the bond application in their Client Portal.
Enter the Required amount ($). This is the bond amount set by the court.
Check the details EstateMin has filled in from the matter and update them if needed:
Case number (marked pre-filled)
Jurisdiction state
Jurisdiction county or region
Select the Court name. If the court is not listed, choose Other and type it into Other court name. Add a Judicial District if one applies.
Enter the Fiduciary appointment date. You can leave this blank if you do not know it yet.
Set the Obtain bond by date. Your client sees this date in their portal.
Attach the Court order if you have it. Click Choose from Estate Files or Upload a new file (PDF, up to 20MB). New uploads are saved to Estate Files.
The court order is optional before sending the application, but will be needed if a bond requires manual review before purchase and to have on file after purchase. Please do this at your earliest convenience.
Click Send to client portal.
A Bond request created for [client name] message confirms the request has been sent. A Surety Bond step is added to your client's Client Portal and your client receives an email asking them to sign in and complete their application. To see what your client sees, read How to Purchase Your Surety Bond in the Client Portal.
Sending the request also creates a deadline for the Obtain bond by date. It is assigned to you in Clio, and you can reassign it there to the responsible paralegal.
📊 How to Track the Bond
Once the request is sent, the Surety bond page shows a tracking card for the bond. The status in the top right starts as Awaiting client and changes to Bond purchased once your client completes the purchase.
The card shows:
Bond coverage: the bond amount you requested.
Premium: shown once the bond is purchased, as reported by the carrier.
Policy: Not Issued until purchase, then Active with the policy number.
Fiduciary appointed: the appointment date, if you entered one.
Timeline: when the request was sent and when the bond is due.
Bond documents: links to the bond documents once they are available.
Next firm action: what you need to do next.
While the request is waiting on your client, you can click Cancel request to withdraw it, or Mark as in review with Vertical Insure to flag that the bond is being reviewed by ViCoverage.
📄 After Your Client Purchases the Bond
The status changes to Bond purchased, and the premium and policy number appear on the card.
The bond documents are saved to the matter's Estate Files and linked under Bond documents. You do not need to upload anything.
The Timeline marks Obtain bond as complete and creates a File bond with court deadline.
Your client receives a copy of the bond documents by email from ViCoverage.
The Surety Bond step in your client's portal is marked complete.
⚖️ How to Add the Court Order Later
If you sent the request without a court order, the tracking card shows a Court-order delivery to carrier panel. Once the bond is purchased, it is marked Court order needed.
Click Add court order in the panel.
Click Choose from Estate Files and select the file, or click Upload a new file.
Click Save court order.
💡 Good to Know
The Surety bond section only appears on Probate matters (Testate and Intestate). It is not shown on Estate Planning or Trust Administration matters.
Your client reviews their personalized quote and pays for the bond directly through ViCoverage. Your firm is not charged.
To get a quote, your client provides some personal details and their Social Security number for a soft credit check. The soft credit check does not affect their credit score, and ViCoverage does not store the Social Security number.
Most bonds can be quoted and purchased straight away. If a bond needs additional underwriting, a member of the ViCoverage team will contact your client within one business day.
Buying the bond through EstateMin is optional. Your client can choose I'll obtain my own bond in their portal and arrange one elsewhere.
The court requires the bond to stay in force until the case is closed, so it is billed annually until then. When the case closes, you or your client can send the court documents confirming closure to [email protected].
To change a bond after it has been purchased, use the ViCoverage bond update form.
🔗 ViCoverage Resources
For questions about a bond, its coverage, billing, or a purchase, contact ViCoverage directly:
Email [email protected]
About ViCoverage: vicoverage.com
💬 Need Help?
For questions about using the Surety bond feature in EstateMin, use the chat bubble in the lower-right corner of EstateMin or email [email protected] for support.