A bond, when required by or referred to in this Code, means an obligation in a certain sum or penalty, subject to a condition, on breach of which it is to become absolute and enforceable by action.

An undertaking means an agreement entered into by a party to a suit or proceeding, with or without sureties, upon which a judgment or decree may be rendered in the same suit or proceeding against the party and his sureties, if any, the party and sureties submitting themselves to the jurisdiction of the court for that purpose.

A bond in a penal sum, containing a condition that it shall be void on the payment of a certain sum of money, or the performance of an act or of certain duties, has the same effect for the purpose of maintaining an action upon it as if it contained a covenant to pay the money or perform the act or the duties specified in the condition. But the damages to be recovered for a breach, or successive breaches, of the condition, as against the sureties therein, may not exceed the penalty of the bond.

When a bond is executed to the United States by a fiduciary or public officer, conditioned for the performance of certain duties, in the performance of which private persons are interested, a person aggrieved by a breach of the condition may maintain an action thereon in his own name against the obligor and his sureties to recover damages for the injury suffered by him in consequence of the breach. The custodian of the bond shall furnish a certified copy thereof to the party for that purpose on payment of the legal fees therefor.

A person appointed by order or decree of the court to a fiduciary office may not discharge his bond for the due performance of his duties, by receipts, releases, or acquittances from himself, as attorney for parties interested, to himself as fiduciary; but the funds or estate for the application whereof he is responsible shall be considered as remaining in his hands, and the bond shall continue in force as against both principal and sureties until the funds or estate are fully accounted for and paid over or delivered to the parties interested therein, or their attorney, other than himself.