What is an appellate bond or “supersedeas bond”?

An appellate bond, also called a “supersedeas bond”, is an amount of money paid to the clerk of court as a condition of a stay being granted until your appeal is over.  The person seeking to have the stay will pay the bond, with the idea being the bond serves as security so that the non-appealing party can be made whole if the appeal is denied.

Appellate bonds are most common when part of a divorce judgment requires one party to transfer an asset or large sum or money to the other party.  If the transfer is put on hold during the appeal, many judges will want the party who is seeking the appeal to establish an appellate bond equivalent to the value of the asset transfer that is being delayed until the appeal is over.  The idea behind this is that if the asset “disappears” while the appeal is pending, the non-appealing party will be made whole by receiving the appellate bond.

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