Minnesota gives a judgment debtor no automatic breathing room at all. Rule 62 has six subdivisions, 62.01 through 62.06, and none of them stays enforcement by operation of the rule. That’s a real difference from federal practice, where Fed. R. Civ. P. 62(a) provides that, with exceptions, “execution on a judgment and proceedings to enforce it are stayed for 30 days after its entry, unless the court orders otherwise.” If you’re from out of state and you assume the same cushion in a Minnesota district court, you’ll find a garnishment summons out before your post-trial motion gets heard.
Two things follow, and the rules leave no wiggle room on either:
- Filing a post-trial motion doesn’t stop enforcement. Rule 60.02 says so directly: “A Rule 60.02 motion does not affect the finality of a judgment or suspend its operation.”
- Taking an appeal doesn’t stop enforcement. Minn. R. Civ. App. P. 108.01, subd. 1: “Except as otherwise provided by rule or statute, an appeal from a judgment or order does not stay enforcement of the judgment or order in the trial court unless that court orders relief in accordance with Rule 108.02.”
In Minnesota you have to go get a stay. From the district court, on a motion, and ordinarily by posting security.
When does the judgment become collectible?
On entry, and entry is a clerical act. Rule 58.01 directs the court administrator to enter judgment “forthwith” on a jury verdict or on an order for the recovery of money only, for costs, or that all relief be denied, and closes: “The judgment in all cases shall be entered and signed by the court administrator in the judgment roll; this entry constitutes the entry of the judgment; and the judgment is not effective before such entry.”
Once it’s entered, Minn. Stat. § 550.01 permits the prevailing party to “proceed to enforce the same, at any time within ten years after the entry thereof, in the manner provided by law.” Docketing under Minn. Stat. § 548.09, subd. 1, adds the real-property lien: “From the time of docketing the judgment is a lien, in the amount unpaid, upon all real property in the county then or thereafter owned by the judgment debtor, but it is not a lien upon registered land unless it is also recorded pursuant to sections 508.63 and 508A.63.” Our client-facing walkthrough of that machinery is collecting a Minnesota judgment: docketing and liens.
For the losing party, that means the gap between the decision and the first execution is measured in days. And it belongs to whoever moves first.
Can you keep judgment from being entered at all?
Sometimes. Rule 58.02 is the underused provision here, because it works one step earlier than Rule 62:
“The court may order a stay of entry of judgment upon a verdict or decision for a period not exceeding the time required for the hearing and determination of a motion for new trial or for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or to set the verdict aside or to dismiss the action or for amended findings, and after such determination may order a stay of entry of judgment for not more than 30 days.”
Watch the two numbers in that sentence. The first stay runs through the hearing and determination of the post-trial motion. The second, after determination, tops out at 30 days. Rule 58.02 adds that where a stay of entry exceeds 30 days after verdict or decision, the court in its discretion may impose conditions for the security of the adverse party. And Rule 59.06 warns you not to read a stay of entry as extra time to move: “A stay of entry of judgment pursuant to Rule 58 shall not be construed to extend the time within which a party may serve a motion hereunder.” The motion clock in Rule 59.03 (notice of motion for a new trial served within 30 days after a general verdict or service of notice of filing, heard within 60 days) keeps running regardless.
What stays enforcement while a post-trial motion is pending?
A discretionary order under Rule 62.01, and only on the four motions the rule names:
“In its discretion and on such conditions for the security of the adverse party as are proper, the court may stay the execution of or any proceedings to enforce a judgment pending the disposition of a motion for a new trial made pursuant to Rule 59, or of a motion for relief from a judgment or order made pursuant to Rule 60, or of a motion for judgment as a matter of law made pursuant to Rule 50.02, or of a motion for amendment to the findings or for additional findings made pursuant to Rule 52.02.”
Four categories: Rule 59 (new trial), Rule 60 (relief from judgment or order), Rule 50.02 (judgment as a matter of law), and Rule 52.02 (amended or additional findings). Look at how it’s drafted. The verb is “may”: nothing here is yours as of right. And the security condition sits in the same sentence, so expect the court to ask what protects the judgment creditor while you wait.
What governs a stay once the appeal is taken?
Not Rule 62. Rule 62.03 hands the whole question off:
“When an appeal is taken, the appellant may obtain a stay only when authorized and in the manner provided in Minn. R. Civ. App. P. 107 and 108.”
Of those two, Rule 108 is the one that matters for stopping enforcement. Rule 107 is about something much smaller (more below). Under Minn. R. Civ. App. P. 108.02, subd. 1, “[a] party seeking any of the following relief must move first in the trial court:” (a) a stay of enforcement pending appeal; (b) approval of the form and amount of security, if any; or (c) an order suspending, modifying, restoring or granting an injunction while an appeal is pending under Minn. R. Civ. P. 62.02. That’s an order-of-operations rule, and it collides with Rule 108.01, subd. 2, which provides that a timely and proper appeal suspends the trial court’s authority to make orders affecting the judgment appealed from. Get the stay motion on file in the district court. Don’t assume the Court of Appeals is your first stop. And don’t plan your stay around the 60-day appeal period in Minn. R. Civ. App. P. 104.01, subd. 1 (60 days after entry of a judgment, or after service of written notice of filing of an appealable order, unless a statute provides otherwise). Collection can start long before that runs. See Minnesota appeal deadlines and what is appealable.
What is a supersedeas bond, what does it secure, and who sets the amount?
You won’t find the phrase “supersedeas bond” in Rule 62. It shows up in Minn. R. Civ. App. P. 108.02, subd. 3, as one of several permitted forms of security:
“The form of the security may be a supersedeas bond, a letter of credit, a deposit of cash or property with the trial court administrator, or any other form of security that the trial court approves as adequate under the circumstances.”
The same subdivision has two more sentences you should know cold: “The appellant bears the burden of demonstrating the adequacy of any security to be given.” And: “Unless the trial court orders otherwise, a stay of an order or judgment does not take effect until any security ordered is filed and notice of filing is provided to all parties.” A bond that’s approved but never filed stays nothing.
Who sets the amount: the trial court. Rule 108.02, subd. 2, conditions relief on the appellant “provid[ing] security in a form and amount that the trial court approves,” except where a governmental body is the appellant or a rule or statute provides otherwise. Subdivision 4 then gives the standard. The governing principle is in 4(a): “In all cases, the amount of the security, if any, must be fixed at such amount as the trial court determines will preserve the value of the judgment or order to the respondent during the pendency of appeal.”
For a money judgment, subdivision 4(b) spells out the pieces: the unpaid amount of the judgment, costs on appeal to the extent not already secured under Rule 107, interest during the pendency of the appeal, and any other damages caused by depriving the respondent of the right to enforce during the appeal. Subdivision 4(c) does the same job for judgments determining possession, ownership or use of property, adding compensation for loss of use and for waste. Subdivision 4(d) allows security fixed to cover only the portion of a judgment a party seeks to stay. Remember that one when you’re appealing just one count.
Two more provisions with teeth. Under subdivision 5, a surety, letter-of-credit issuer or other provider of security submits to the jurisdiction of the district court, and its liability may be enforced on motion in that court “without the necessity of an independent action.” And under subdivision 6, the Court of Appeals may review the district court’s stay and security determinations on a motion under Minn. R. Civ. App. P. 127. That rule allows a response within 5 days of service and a reply within 3 days, and it expressly provides that “the time periods in this rule do not include intermediate Saturdays, Sundays, or legal holidays.” Rule 108.02, subd. 6, lists three things the motion for review must include, among them copies of the district court submissions and any order on security.
Isn’t there a cost bond too?
Yes, and it isn’t a stay. Minn. R. Civ. App. P. 107.01 provides that, except for a certiorari appeal from the Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals under Rule 116, “no cost bond is required for any appeal, unless ordered by the trial court on motion and for good cause shown.” If one is ordered, Rule 107.02(a) caps it: the bond secures costs and disbursements awarded against the appellant, “not exceeding the amount of the bond, which shall not exceed $1,000.” Rule 107.02(c) lets the court require filing when the notice of appeal is filed or within 14 days of the order requiring a bond, whichever is later. And Rule 107.03 lists seven categories of case where the trial court may not require a bond at all: criminal, juvenile, chapter 253B or 253D, in forma pauperis under Rule 109, governmental appellants, chapter 256 public-assistance appeals, and chapter 268 unemployment applicants.
The Advisory Committee’s 2009 comment to Rule 108.01 spells out how they fit together: neither filing an appeal nor posting a Rule 107 cost bond stays the judgment.
Is there a statutory route around all of this?
Yes, and it’s faster if you can make its deadline. Minn. Stat. § 550.36(a) opens by calling itself “an alternative to the Minnesota Rule of Civil Appellate Procedure, Rule 108.02, subdivision 3,” and then provides:
“Execution of a judgment for the payment of money only shall be stayed during the course of all appeals or discretionary appellate reviews of a judgment if, within ten days after the entry thereof, the judgment debtor shall file with the court administrator a bond, running to the judgment creditor, the creditor’s personal representatives, and assigns.”
Ten days from entry. Count it under Minn. R. Civ. P. 6.01(a)(1), which applies to “any statute that does not specify a method of computing time”: exclude the day of entry, count intermediate weekends and holidays, and roll a last day that lands on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday to the next business day. See computing time under Rule 6.
The statute sets the amount at the amount of the judgment “or a lesser amount approved by the court in the interests of justice,” conditioned on payment of the judgment with interest during the stay computed as under Minn. Stat. § 549.09, and it puts a lid on it: “The total appeal bond that is required of all appellants must not exceed $150,000,000, regardless of the value of the judgment.” Within two days after filing, notice of the bond with a copy must be served on the judgment creditor (or the creditor’s agent or attorney), and the creditor may except to its sufficiency. On that application the court may order execution to issue unless a further bond is given. Paragraph (b) cuts the other way: on evidence that a debtor may be dissipating assets, the court may enter protective orders and require a bond up to the total amount of the judgment.
A related tool: under Minn. Stat. § 548.12, a judgment debtor who has appealed a docketed judgment, or who has a pending motion to set it aside or for a new trial, may deposit into court an amount sufficient to secure the judgment with interest and costs, and on the court’s order approving the deposit the lien on real estate “shall cease and be transferred to the money so deposited.” That clears title without waiting out the appeal.
What do the remaining subdivisions of Rule 62 do?
Four short provisions you should know are there. Rule 62.02 lets the district court suspend, modify, restore or grant an injunction during an appeal from an interlocutory or final judgment granting, dissolving or denying one, on terms as to bond or otherwise. The mechanics of injunctive relief itself are in Rule 65. Rule 62.04 exempts the state, its officers, agencies and governmental subdivisions from any bond, obligation or other security when a stay is granted on their appeal. Rule 62.05 preserves the appellate courts’ independent power to stay proceedings and to preserve the status quo. Rule 62.06 lets the court stay enforcement of a Rule 54.02 partial final judgment until later judgments are entered, on conditions.
Two last cautions. Some judgments can’t practically be stayed on any security. The 2009 Advisory Committee Comment to Rule 108.02 notes that trial court discretion here may be limited by statute or common law and that custody orders take effect as the trial court directs. And read the assigned judge’s standing order and practice pointers before you notice a stay motion. Minnesota district judges impose requirements the rules don’t, and on an emergency stay motion, the scheduling protocol in a standing order is the difference between getting heard this week and not. They’re published on the district’s page at mncourts.gov. If you’re on the creditor’s side of this, the mirror-image article is taking a default judgment under Rule 55.
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Sources: Minn. R. Civ. P. 62.01, 62.02, 62.03, 62.04, 62.05, 62.06; Minn. R. Civ. P. 58.01 and 58.02; Minn. R. Civ. P. 59.03 and 59.06; Minn. R. Civ. P. 60.02 (final paragraph); Minn. R. Civ. P. 6.01(a)(1); Minn. R. Civ. App. P. 104.01, subd. 1; 107.01, 107.02(a) and (c), 107.03; 108.01, subds. 1–2; 108.02, subds. 1–6, and the Advisory Committee Comments to the 2009 amendments to Rules 108.01 and 108.02; 127 — revisor.mn.gov, 2026-08-10. Minn. Stat. §§ 548.09, subd. 1; 548.12; 550.01; 550.36(a)–(b), revisor.mn.gov, 2026-08-10. Fed. R. Civ. P. 62(a), law.cornell.edu, 2026-08-10, for the federal contrast only.
General legal information about Minnesota procedure, not legal advice. No attorney–client relationship is created, and no outcome is promised or implied.