Short answer. Three things. Under Article 2056, a person offered as a guarantor must possess integrity, the capacity to bind himself, and sufficient property to answer for the obligation guaranteed. The guarantor must also submit to the jurisdiction of the court of the place where the obligation is to be performed.
What the law says
One who is obliged to furnish a guarantor shall present a person who possesses integrity, capacity to bind himself, and sufficient property to answer for the obligation which he guarantees.
Civil Code, Article 2056 — Qualifications of a Guarantor. Read the full provision →
What the law says
The guarantor shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the court of the place where this obligation is to be complied with.
Civil Code, Article 2056 — Qualifications of a Guarantor. Read the full provision →
When the qualifications apply
The article applies where someone is required to provide a guarantor — by law, by a court, or by the terms of a contract — rather than to every voluntary guaranty. It provides that One who is obliged to furnish a guarantor shall present a person who possesses integrity, capacity to bind himself, and sufficient property to answer for the obligation which he guarantees. The obligation, in other words, is not merely to produce someone who signs, but to present a person who actually meets a standard. A guarantor offered to satisfy such a requirement can be objected to if he falls short, because the point of the requirement is real security, not a formality.
The three qualities, unpacked
The three qualifications each guard against a different failure. Integrity speaks to honesty and reliability — a guarantor who cannot be trusted to honour his word is of little use however rich. Capacity to bind himself means he must be legally able to contract; a person without capacity cannot give a binding undertaking, so his guaranty would be a nullity from the start. And sufficient property to answer for the obligation is the substantive one: the guarantor must own enough to actually pay if called upon. A guaranty from someone with integrity and capacity but no assets protects nobody, because there is nothing to reach when the debtor defaults.
The jurisdiction requirement
Beyond the personal qualities, the article adds a procedural condition: The guarantor shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the court of the place where this obligation is to be complied with. This makes the security practically useful. A guarantor who could only be sued in some distant or inconvenient forum would be a poor safeguard, because enforcing the guaranty would be costly and slow. By requiring that he submit to the court of the place where the principal obligation is to be performed, the law ensures the creditor can pursue him where the matter belongs, without a jurisdictional fight, so the guaranty can be enforced with the same reach as the obligation it secures.
If the guarantor later falls short
These are qualifications to be met when the guarantor is furnished, but the law is alert to their decay. If a guarantor who was solvent when accepted later becomes insolvent, the person obliged to furnish security can generally be required to produce a new guarantor who again meets the standard, because the protection the requirement exists for has been lost. So it is not enough that someone once qualified; the security is meant to remain real. For anyone accepting a proffered guarantor, the sensible checks are the concrete ones the article names — capacity to contract and evidence of property sufficient to answer for the debt — since integrity aside, those are what make the guaranty worth having.