Nevada execution: the thirty days do not start until notice of entry is served

Nevada measures its automatic stay from an event the creditor controls, and until that event happens the judgment cannot be executed on at all.

NRCP 58(e)(2) puts it plainly: a judgment "may not be executed upon until notice of its entry is served". NRCP 62(a) then adds thirty days from that service.

So a Nevada money judgment sitting in the file with no notice of entry served is, for collection purposes, inert.

Thirty days from notice, not from entry

NRCP 62(a)(1):

In General. Except as stated in this rule, no execution may issue on a judgment, nor may proceedings be taken to enforce it, until 30 days have passed after service of written notice of its entry, unless the court orders otherwise.

The distinction matters in both directions.

For a debtor, it means the stay may begin long after the judgment was signed. Where notice of entry was served weeks later, the thirty days start then.

For a creditor, it means delay is self-inflicted. Nothing moves until the notice goes out.

NRCP 62(a)(2) carves out the usual pair: an interlocutory or final judgment in an action for an injunction or a receivership is not automatically stayed.

The notice requirement itself

NRCP 69(b):

Service of Written Notice of Entry Required Before Execution. Service of written notice of entry of a judgment must be made in accordance with Rule 58(e) before execution upon the judgment.

And NRCP 58(e)(2) supplies the consequence:

Failure to serve written notice of entry does not affect the validity of the judgment, but the judgment may not be executed upon until notice of its entry is served.

Two halves, and both matter.

The judgment is valid regardless. Interest accrues, the judgment exists, and it can be renewed. Missing notice is not a defect in the judgment.

But it cannot be executed on. Enforcement is what the notice unlocks.

Rule 58(e)(1) requires the party the court designates to serve that notice within 14 days of entry, together with a copy of the judgment, on every party not in default for failure to appear, and to file it with the clerk. Any other party may also serve and file it. Service is under Rule 5(b).

If you were levied on and can find no notice of entry in the file, that is the first thing to check.

How a money judgment is enforced

NRCP 69(a)(1):

Money Judgment; Applicable Procedure. A money judgment is enforced by a writ of execution, unless the court directs otherwise. The procedure on execution—and in proceedings supplementary to and in aid of judgment or execution—must accord with these rules and state law.

(2) Obtaining Discovery. In aid of the judgment or execution, the judgment creditor or a successor in interest whose interest appears of record may obtain discovery from any person—including the judgment debtor—as provided in these rules or by state law.

Post-judgment discovery runs under the ordinary rules and reaches any person. The right belongs to the creditor or to a successor in interest whose interest appears of record, so an assignee of the judgment may serve it.

The ordinary compel practice applies to a refusal, including Nevada's rule that the worst spoliation sanctions require intent. See the Nevada motion to compel.

Two kinds of security, two different trigger points

NRCP 62(d) is unusually precise about when a stay on appeal begins, and the answer depends on what you post.

(1) By Supersedeas Bond. If an appeal is taken, the appellant may obtain a stay by supersedeas bond, except in an action described in Rule 62(a)(2). The bond may be given upon or after filing the notice of appeal or after obtaining the order allowing the appeal. The stay is effective when the supersedeas bond is filed.

(2) By Other Bond or Security. If an appeal is taken, a party is entitled to a stay by providing a bond or other security. Unless the court orders otherwise, the stay takes effect when the court approves the bond or other security and remains in effect for the time specified in the bond or other security.

A supersedeas bond works the moment it is filed. Anything else waits for approval, and lasts only as long as its own terms say. Where speed matters, the supersedeas bond is the instrument that stops execution first.

Neither is available to stay an injunction or receivership judgment; those go to NRCP 62(c), under which the court may stay, suspend, modify, restore or grant an injunction "on terms for bond or other terms that secure the opposing party's rights".

NRCP 62(e) relieves public appellants of security altogether — the State, any county, city, town or other political subdivision, or an officer or agency. Nevada's list is broader than the federal rule's.

A stay while you attack the judgment

NRCP 62(b) lets the court stay execution "on appropriate terms for the opposing party's security" pending disposition of a Rule 50, Rule 52(b), Rule 59 or Rule 60 motion.

Nevada's Rule 60(b) window on the first three grounds is six months, measured from the later of entry and service of written notice of entry — the same event that starts the collection clock. See setting aside a Nevada default judgment, which also covers the separate route where you were never served.

NRCP 62(h) covers a Rule 54(b) judgment on fewer than all claims.

Where this connects

For the case itself, see the Nevada motion to dismiss — six grounds, and venue is not among them — and Nevada summary judgment, where silence makes a fact undisputed.

If the judgment came out of justice court, the route is different. See vacating a Nevada justice court judgment.

How Nevada compares

A short checklist

1. Find the notice of entry. Without service of it, the judgment cannot be executed on at all.
2. Count thirty days from that service, not from the date the judgment was signed.
3. Check the notice was served under Rule 5(b) and filed with the clerk.
4. If you are appealing and need the stay now, use a supersedeas bond — it works on filing.
5. Other security waits for approval and lasts only for the period it specifies.
6. Move under Rule 59 or Rule 60 inside the thirty days and ask for a Rule 62(b) stay with it.
7. Injunction and receivership judgments are not stayed. Ask under Rule 62(c) instead.

Where these rules live

• NRCP 62 — Stay of proceedings to enforce a judgment
• NRCP 69 — Execution
• NRCP 58 — Entering judgment
• NRCP 60 — Relief from a 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.