Maine execution: an appeal stays it without a bond, and a default against an absent defendant waits a year
Maine procedure · Last verified August 17, 2026
Maine's Rule 62 is the most debtor-protective in the country, and three of its provisions have no real counterpart elsewhere.
An appeal stays execution with no bond of any kind. A default judgment against an absent defendant who never had actual notice cannot be executed on for a year. And a creditor asking for immediate execution is stopped cold by a Rule 11 representation that you intend to appeal or move.
Twenty-one days, or the appeal period
Me. R. Civ. P. 62(a):
Automatic Stay, Exceptions--Injunctions and Receiverships. Except as stated herein, no execution shall issue upon a judgment nor shall proceedings be taken for its enforcement until the expiration of 21 days after its entry or until the time for appeal from the judgment as extended by the rules governing appeals has expired.
| Automatic stay | 21 days after entry |
| Or | until the appeal time, as extended, has expired |
| Whichever | is later in effect |
Because the second limb picks up extensions granted under the appellate rules, the stay grows with them.
The carve-outs in the rest of 62(a) are wider than the usual pair. Along with injunctions and receiverships, Maine excludes orders "relating to the care, custody and support of minor children or to the separate support or personal liberty of a person or for the protection of a person from abuse or harassment." Family and protective orders take effect at once and stay in effect through an appeal.
The one-year bar on an absent defendant's default
Rule 62(b):
Stay of Execution on Default Judgment. Execution in a personal action shall not issue upon a judgment by default against an absent defendant who has no actual notice thereof until one year after entry of the judgment except as provided by law.
| Condition | Detail |
|---|---|
| The action | a personal action |
| The judgment | by default |
| The defendant | absent, with no actual notice |
| Bar on execution | one year after entry |
Where a default was taken against someone who was not there and did not know, Maine does not merely allow a set-aside motion — it forbids execution for a full year in the first place.
That is a long time to discover the judgment and move against it. Maine's default rules already require a debt collector to show strict compliance before judgment; see setting aside a Maine default judgment.
The appeal is the stay, without security
Rule 62(e):
Stay Upon Appeal. Except as provided in subdivisions (c) and (d) of this rule, the taking of an appeal from a judgment shall operate as a stay of execution upon the judgment during the pendency of the appeal, and no supersedeas bond or other security shall be required as a condition of such stay.
Most states make an appellate stay something you buy. Maine makes it something you get.
"No supersedeas bond or other security shall be required." The words are express, and they place Maine alone among the states surveyed here — Massachusetts stays execution on appeal but does not say in terms that no security may be required.
The exceptions are 62(c), dealing with an order for immediate execution, and 62(d), injunctions pending appeal.
Immediate execution, and how a representation stops it
Rule 62(c):
Order for Immediate Execution. In its discretion, the court on motion may, for cause shown and subject to such conditions as it deems proper, order execution to issue at any time after the entry of judgment and before an appeal from the judgment has been taken or a motion made pursuant to Rule 50, 52(b), 59, or 60; but no such order shall issue if a representation, subject to the obligations set forth in Rule 11, is made that a party intends to appeal or to make such motion.
The first half is the creditor's route around the automatic stay: a motion, for cause shown, on such conditions as the court thinks proper.
The second half closes it. No such order shall issue if a representation is made — subject to Rule 11 — that a party intends to appeal or to move under Rule 50, 52(b), 59 or 60.
That is a statement of intention, not a filed motion, and it is absolute in its effect. What it carries is the Rule 11 obligation behind it: the representation must be made in good faith, with the sanctions exposure that follows if it is not.
The rule then gives the court a fallback. Where an order for immediate execution is denied, the court may on good cause, at any time before or during an appeal, order the party against whom execution was sought to give bond conditioned on satisfying "the damages for delay, interest, and costs" if the appeal is not taken or is dismissed, or if the judgment is affirmed.
So a representation of intent to appeal buys the stay, and the price, if the court asks for it, is a bond on those narrower terms.
Attachments after judgment
Rule 62(f) covers what happens to a pre-judgment attachment or trustee process, or a bond given to vacate one.
Unless dissolved by operation of law, it continues through the time for appeal and through any appeal. Once the judgment becomes final — by expiry of the appeal time, dismissal of an appeal, or certificate of decision from the Superior Court or Law Court — it "shall continue for 60 days if the judgment is for the plaintiff but shall be dissolved forthwith if the judgment is for the defendant."
Sixty days if you lost; immediately if you won.
Rule 69, and the discovery you have to be ordered into
Me. R. Civ. P. 69:
Process to enforce a judgment for the payment of money shall be a writ of execution, unless the court directs otherwise. No execution running against the body shall be issued unless, where the law expressly permits such execution, it is so ordered by the court after motion and hearing for good cause shown. In addition to the procedure on execution, in proceedings supplementary to and in aid of a judgment, and in proceedings on and in aid of execution, as provided by law, the judgment creditor or a successor in interest when that interest appears of record, may obtain discovery from any person in the manner provided in these rules; provided that discovery may be obtained against the judgment debtor only in connection with a disclosure proceeding pursuant to 14 M.R.S.A. §§ 3120-3136 and only upon the order, entered on motion for good cause shown, of the District Court in the division in which such proceeding is pending.
Two protections sit in this rule, and both run against the creditor.
Execution against the body. It issues only where the law expressly permits, and then only "after motion and hearing for good cause shown."
Discovery against you. A creditor may discover from any person freely — but discovery against the judgment debtor is confined to a disclosure proceeding under 14 M.R.S.A. §§ 3120-3136, and requires a court order on motion for good cause shown, from the District Court division where that proceeding is pending.
| Against a third party | Against the judgment debtor | |
|---|---|---|
| Route | ordinary discovery under the rules | only in a disclosure proceeding |
| Order required | no | yes, on motion for good cause |
| Court | the trial court | the District Court division where the proceeding is pending |
A creditor who serves you with post-judgment interrogatories in the original action, without a disclosure proceeding and without an order, has skipped both requirements.
Where this connects
For the case itself, see the Maine motion to dismiss — twenty days to answer, ten after a denial — and responding to a Maine complaint, where there is no clerk's default in a debt case.
How Maine compares
| Maine | Massachusetts | Rhode Island | Federal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Automatic stay | 21 days or the appeal period | the appeal period | 20 days or the appeal period | 30 days |
| Appeal alone stays execution | yes | yes | no — bond | no |
| Bond expressly not required | yes | not stated | no | no |
| Default against an absent defendant | no execution for a year | — | — | — |
| Intent to appeal blocks immediate execution | yes, on a Rule 11 representation | — | — | — |
| Discovery against the debtor | needs a court order | freely | freely | freely |
| Attachment after final judgment | 60 days, or dissolved | — | — | — |
A short checklist
- Count 21 days from entry, and check whether the appeal period as extended runs longer.
- If you are appealing, the stay is automatic and free. No bond is required as a condition.
- If a creditor moves for immediate execution, a Rule 11-backed representation that you intend to appeal or move blocks the order — and means it.
- Expect a possible bond on narrower terms — damages for delay, interest and costs — if that motion is denied.
- If a default was entered against you while absent and unaware, no execution may issue for a year.
- Check whether a disclosure proceeding was opened before answering post-judgment discovery. Without one, and without an order, it should not have been served on you.
- A won judgment dissolves an attachment at once; a lost one leaves it standing for sixty days.
Where these rules live
- Me. R. Civ. P. 62 — Stay of Proceedings to Enforce a Judgment
- Me. R. Civ. P. 69 — Execution
- Me. R. Civ. P. 60 — Relief from Judgment or Order
This page explains what the rules say. It isn't legal advice, and what property is exempt from execution is governed by statutes this site doesn't cover.