California ERISA Bond (1 Year)

Overview

California employers who sponsor retirement or other employee benefit plans answer to a single bonding standard, and it comes from Washington, not Sacramento: ERISA section 412, codified at 29 U.S.C. 1112, makes it unlawful for any plan fiduciary or any person who handles plan funds to do so without a fidelity bond. The bond must equal at least 10 percent of the funds handled, never less than $1,000, and generally need not exceed $500,000 per plan — or $1,000,000 where the plan holds employer securities. This one-year bond term aligns with the statute's plan-year framework, under which the required amount is set at the beginning of each plan year.

Who Needs This Bond?

Any person who is a fiduciary of an ERISA-covered employee benefit plan or who handles the plan's funds or other property must be covered — a rule that reaches trustees, plan administrators, officers, and employees of California businesses whose duties touch plan money. The Department of Labor's Field Assistance Bulletin 2008-04 explains the 'handling' test in practical terms: physical contact with cash or checks, authority to transfer or disburse plan funds, signing power over accounts, and supervisory or decision-making responsibility over any of those activities all trigger the bonding requirement.

What is this Bond For?

The bond protects the plan against loss by reason of acts of fraud or dishonesty by the persons covered, whether they act alone or through connivance with others — the statutory condition in 29 U.S.C. 1112(a). If a covered individual steals or dishonestly diverts plan assets, the plan recovers from the bond. The DOL's guidance is careful to distinguish this fidelity bond, which protects the plan, from fiduciary liability insurance, which protects the fiduciary and is not required by law.

When is it Required?

Coverage must exist before anyone receives, handles, or disburses plan funds — operating unbonded is itself the violation. The statute pegs the bond amount to the preceding year: at the beginning of each plan year, the bond must be at least 10 percent of the funds handled during the prior plan year, subject to the statutory minimum and maximums. A one-year bond term like this one maps naturally onto that annual reset, letting sponsors adjust coverage each plan year as asset levels change.

Where Does it Apply?

ERISA bonding is a nationwide federal requirement — a California plan is governed by exactly the same statute and Department of Labor rules as a plan in any other state, with no separate California bonding overlay. Federal rules also require the bond to be written by a surety or reinsurer named on the U.S. Department of the Treasury's list of approved sureties, and the plan must be named or identifiable as the insured so it can recover on the bond.

How to Buy Online

Click 'Buy This Bond Online' on this page to open the secure surety portal in a new tab. Work out 10 percent of the plan funds handled during the preceding plan year — subject to the $1,000 floor and applicable ceiling — and that is the coverage amount to request. Complete the short application, review the documents, and pay online; your executed one-year bond is ready for your plan records and auditors.

Why Bond Titan?

Bond Titan is powered by The Southern Agency, a licensed surety agency, and every requirement described here is cited to the federal bonding statute and the Department of Labor's published guidance in the Official Sources section below. Verify the rules at the source, then complete your bond purchase online in minutes — and renew just as easily at the next plan year.

Official Sources

The requirements described on this page are verified against the official sources below.

• Bonding mandate; 10% of funds handled; $1,000 minimum; $500,000/$1,000,000 maximums; amount fixed at the beginning of each plan year; fraud-or-dishonesty condition: ERISA §412, 29 U.S.C. §1112 (Bonding) (verified July 16, 2026)
• DOL guidance on the handling test, Treasury-listed sureties, plan as insured, and fidelity bond vs. fiduciary liability insurance: U.S. Department of Labor, Field Assistance Bulletin 2008-04 (verified July 16, 2026)