Guarantee

Guarantee, or Suretyship, is an undertaking or promise to answer for the debt, default, or miscarriage of another person, and for which that other person remains liable. It is usually a simple contract, and the agreement or memorandum expressing or evidencing the transaction must, by the Statute of Frauds, be in writing, and must contain all the material terms, except that by a statute passed during the present reign ("The Mercantile Law Amendment Act, 1856") the consideration for the guarantee need not appear in writing. The guarantee may cither be for one specified amount, or for any sum not exceeding that amount, or it may be a continuing guarantee limited or unlimited in amount The surety under a guarantee has his remedy by action against the principal debtor, where such surety has been compelled to make a payment thereunder, and any one of several cosureties who has paid more than his rateable proportion is entitled to claim contribution from the other or others of them. Persons holding offices or employments in the public service are frequently required to give security by means of sureties for the due performance of their duties. This subject is now regulated by "The Government Offices Security Act, 1875."