Washington execution: ten days before anything can issue, and an appeal buys you four more

Washington's automatic stay is short, and the appellate extension is shorter than it looks.

Ten days after entry, nothing may issue. File a notice of appeal and enforcement is stayed — but only "until the expiration of 14 days after entry of judgment." The clock runs from entry, not from the notice. A notice filed on day 13 buys one day.

The two stays

Wash. CR 62(a):

Automatic stays. Except as to a judgment of a district court filed with the superior court pursuant to RCW 4.56.200, no execution shall issue upon a judgment nor shall proceedings be taken for its enforcement until the expiration of 10 days after its entry. Upon the filing of a notice of appeal, enforcement of judgment is stayed until the expiration of 14 days after entry of judgment. Unless otherwise ordered by the trial court or appellate court, an interlocutory or final judgment in an action for an injunction or in a receivership action, shall not be stayed during the period after its entry and until appellate review is accepted or during the pendency of appellate review.

Three traps sit in that paragraph.

The appellate stay is measured from entry. It is not fourteen days from the notice of appeal. Waiting to file collapses the extension to nothing, and beyond day 14 the rule's automatic stay is spent — you need a supersedeas under the appellate rules.

A transcribed district court judgment gets no automatic stay. Where a district court judgment has been filed with the superior court under RCW 4.56.200, execution may issue immediately.

Injunctions and receiverships are not stayed — not after entry, not while review is pending, unless a court says otherwise.

Asking for a longer stay

CR 62(b):

Stay on motion for new trial or for judgment. 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 or to alter or amend a judgment 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, or of a motion for amendment to the findings or for additional findings made pursuant to rule 52(b).

Four motions support a discretionary stay: CR 59, CR 60, CR 50 and CR 52(b). The stay is discretionary and comes "on such conditions for the security of the adverse party as are proper", so expect to be asked for security.

The practical sequence is to file the CR 59 or CR 60 motion inside the ten days and ask for a stay in the same breath. Washington's CR 59 window is 10 days to move — the same ten days — so the two deadlines coincide. See Washington CR 59 reconsideration.

CR 62(f) preserves any statutory stay: "This rule does not limit the right of a party to a stay otherwise provided by statute or rule."

CR 62(h) covers a CR 54(b) final judgment on fewer than all claims — the court may stay enforcement until later judgments are entered and prescribe conditions to protect the winner.

Subsections (c), (d), (e) and (g) have been rescinded; stays pending review now live in the Rules of Appellate Procedure.

How the judgment is actually enforced

CR 69(a):

Procedure. The procedure on execution, in proceedings supplementary to and in aid of a judgment, and in proceedings on and in aid of execution shall be in accordance with the practice and procedure of the State as authorized in RCW 6.13, 6.15, 6.17, 6.19, 6.21, 6.23, 6.32, 6.36, and any other applicable statutes.

The civil rules hand the whole subject to the statutes. Those chapters carry the homestead exemption (6.13), personal property exemptions (6.15), execution (6.17), garnishment machinery and supplemental proceedings (6.32), and redemption after a sale (6.23). Nothing about what property is exempt, or how much of a paycheck can be taken, is answered by CR 69.

Being examined about your assets

CR 69(b):

Supplemental proceedings. In aid of the judgment or execution, the judgment creditor or 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 or in the manner provided by RCW 6.32.

Two routes to the same information: an ordinary deposition under the civil rules, or the statutory examination under RCW 6.32.

The right belongs to the creditor or a successor in interest whose interest appears of record — an assignee of the judgment may examine you too, provided the assignment is recorded.

Because the deposition route is open, the discovery rules apply to it. A supplemental examination noticed as a deposition can be met with the same objections and protective-order practice as any other. See Washington sanctions and motions to compel, where a discovery motion requires a conference first.

Where this connects

If the judgment itself is the problem, Washington's CR 60(b) carries eleven grounds, only three of which are capped at a year. See setting aside a Washington judgment.

For the case, see the Washington CR 12 motion to dismiss — twenty days to answer, sixty when served outside the state — and Washington summary judgment.

How Washington compares

A short checklist

1. Count ten days from entry. Nothing may issue before then.
2. If you are appealing, file the notice early. The stay ends 14 days after entry regardless.
3. Beyond day 14, ask for a supersedeas under the appellate rules — CR 62 no longer helps.
4. Move under CR 59 or CR 60 inside the ten days and request a CR 62(b) stay in the same motion.
5. Expect to post security for a discretionary stay.
6. Check whether the judgment was transcribed from district court. If so, there is no automatic stay.
7. For exemptions, go to the statutes — RCW 6.13 and 6.15, not the civil rules.

Where these rules live

• Wash. Super. Ct. Civ. R. 62 — Stay of proceedings to enforce a judgment
• Wash. Super. Ct. Civ. R. 69 — Execution
• Wash. Super. Ct. Civ. R. 60 — Relief from judgment or order
• Wash. Super. Ct. Civ. R. 59 — New trial, reconsideration, and amendment of judgments

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.