Montana execution: the fourteen-day stay comes with an automatic injunction against moving your assets
Montana procedure · Last verified August 17, 2026
Most states' automatic stay is a one-way protection: the creditor waits, and the debtor is free.
Montana's is a bargain. You get fourteen days before anything can issue — and during those same fourteen days you are automatically enjoined from transferring, encumbering or otherwise putting any property beyond the reach of execution.
No motion is filed and no order is signed. The injunction arrives with the judgment.
The stay and the injunction
Mont. R. Civ. P. 62(a):
Automatic Stay; Injunction; Exceptions. Except as stated in this rule, no execution may issue on a judgment, nor may proceedings be taken to enforce it, until 14 days have passed after its entry. During this 14-day period, there is imposed, automatically, an order enjoining the judgment debtor(s) from transferring, encumbering, or in any way making unavailable to execution any or all real or personal property, whether tangible or intangible, including, without limitation, cash, accounts, choses in action, leases, contract rights, or other property or any interest therein of the judgment debtor(s). For good cause shown and on terms that protect the respective interests of the parties, the court may enter an order modifying the automatic stay and injunction imposed by this rule.
| Automatic stay | 14 days after entry |
| Automatic injunction | on the judgment debtor, for the same 14 days |
| Prohibited | transferring, encumbering, or making property unavailable to execution |
| Property covered | real and personal, tangible or intangible |
| Named examples | cash, accounts, choses in action, leases, contract rights |
| Modification | by the court, for good cause shown |
The breadth is deliberate. "Any or all" property, "whether tangible or intangible", and the list is expressly "without limitation" — cash and bank accounts among the first items named.
Two practical points follow.
Ordinary transactions are caught. Paying one creditor ahead of another, moving money between accounts in a way that places it out of reach, granting a security interest, or assigning a contract right all fall within the words of the injunction. Living expenses are not what it is aimed at, but the rule draws no express line, which is why the modification route exists.
Modification is available on good cause. The court may modify "the automatic stay and injunction" on terms protecting both sides. Where you need to complete a sale or make a payment inside the fourteen days, that is the application to bring — before acting, not after.
The usual carve-outs follow: unless the court orders otherwise, an injunction judgment and a receivership are not stayed even if an appeal is taken.
A stay while you attack the judgment
Rule 62(b) allows a stay "On appropriate terms for the opposing party's security" pending disposition of a Rule 50, Rule 52(b), Rule 59 or Rule 60 motion.
Fourteen days is a short window in which to file one. If the judgment came by default, a Montana motion is deemed denied where nobody rules on it in time — see setting aside a Montana default judgment, where that trap is set out in full.
Security, and the two ways out of a bond
Rule 62(d):
Stay with Bond on Appeal. If an appeal is taken, the appellant may obtain a stay by supersedeas bond, except in an action described in Rule 62(a)(1) or (2). The bond may be given upon or after filing the notice of appeal or after obtaining the order allowing the appeal. The stay takes effect when the court approves the bond.
Approval is the trigger, not filing. With only fourteen days of automatic protection, that step needs starting early.
Rule 62(f) is Montana's most useful provision for a debtor who cannot obtain a bond:
(1) In all cases under this rule where supersedeas bond or other terms that secure the opposing party's rights are required, the court, in its discretion, may allow alternate forms of security other than a bond, when adequate equivalent security is provided and the appealing party can show that the judgment creditor's recovery is not in jeopardy.
(2) In all cases, the parties may by written stipulation waive the filing of security.
| Route | What it takes |
|---|---|
| Alternate security | adequate equivalent security, and a showing that the creditor's recovery is not in jeopardy |
| Waiver | a written stipulation of the parties, in all cases |
The first route puts the burden on you to show the creditor is not exposed — a lien on real property, escrowed funds or an assignment can serve. The second needs no court involvement at all where the creditor agrees.
Rule 62(e) forbids requiring a bond of the State of Montana, its officers or agencies: the court "must not require" one.
Rule 62(h) covers a Rule 54(b) judgment on fewer than all claims.
How the judgment is enforced
Mont. R. Civ. P. 69:
The procedure on execution, in proceedings supplementary to and in aid of a judgment, and in proceedings on and in aid of and supplementary to execution shall be in accordance with the statutes of the state of Montana. In aid of the judgment or execution, the judgment creditor or a successor in interest when that interest appears of record, may examine any person, including the judgment debtor, in the manner provided in these rules for taking depositions.
Two sentences, and both are limits of a kind.
The procedure is entirely statutory. Rule 69 does not even name the writ, and nothing about exemptions or levy mechanics is answered here.
The examination runs "in the manner provided in these rules for taking depositions" — depositions, not the full range of discovery. Hawaii's Rule 69 is worded the same way; Massachusetts and Kentucky open all of the discovery rules instead.
That matters in practice. A deposition must be noticed and taken, with the deponent answering in real time and the protections of a deposition available. There is no post-judgment interrogatory practice under this rule.
The right belongs to the creditor or a successor in interest when that interest appears of record, and reaches any person.
Where this connects
For the case itself, see the Montana motion to dismiss — twenty-one days, and the answer clock can be reset by the court — and responding to a Montana complaint: 21 days, 42 for the state.
How Montana compares
| Montana | Idaho | Hawaii | Federal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Automatic stay | 14 days | none | 10 days | 30 days |
| Automatic injunction on the debtor | yes | no | no | no |
| Injunction modifiable | yes, on good cause | — | — | — |
| Supersedeas stay effective on | approval | in the appellate rules | approval | filing |
| Alternate security instead of a bond | yes | — | no | no |
| Security waivable by stipulation | yes, in all cases | yes | no | no |
| Post-judgment discovery | depositions only | full discovery | depositions only | full discovery |
A short checklist
- Count fourteen days from entry. Nothing may issue in that time.
- Do not move, sell, pledge or assign anything during those fourteen days. The injunction is automatic and covers cash and accounts.
- If a transaction cannot wait, ask the court to modify the injunction for good cause — before acting.
- File any Rule 59 or Rule 60 motion inside the fourteen days and ask for a Rule 62(b) stay with it.
- If you are appealing, get the bond approved, not merely filed.
- If a bond is out of reach, offer alternate security and show the creditor's recovery is not in jeopardy.
- Ask about a written stipulation waiving security. Rule 62(f)(2) allows it in all cases.
- Expect a deposition, not written discovery, if the creditor comes looking for assets.
Where these rules live
- Mont. R. Civ. P. 62 — Stay of Proceedings to Enforce a Judgment
- Mont. R. Civ. P. 69 — Execution
- Mont. 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.