Upon application of the surety who has signed the bond of an administrator or executor, he may be released from liability by filing a petition in court, giving notice to the executor or administrator, as the case may be. The court will thereupon order the executor or administrator to settle and adjust his accounts and file a new bond in such amount as may be deemed reasonable by the court. When this has been done the surety is discharged. The executor or administrator cannot apply for the release from liability of the surety. A new bond should be in the form that will require the executor or administrator to keep and to have kept and performed the condition of his former bond in all respects according to law.

The giving of this bond relates back to the time of the granting of the letters of administration. Two bonds may be taken in place of one, so that the aggregating amount shall equal the penalty of the first bond.47 When the new bond has been approved in accordance with the above, the old bond is released and the sureties thereon discharged from all liability.47a The new bond, given as additional security, does not release the liability of the sureties upon the old bond. The executor or administrator failing to comply with such an order within the time fixed by the court may be removed from his office.48