Short answer. Yes, as a rule. Judgments for support are immediately executory under Rule 39: they are enforceable after rendition and are not stayed by an appeal, unless the trial court orders otherwise. On appeal, the appellate court has discretion to suspend, modify, restore or grant the award of support.
What the law says
shall be enforceable after their rendition and shall not be stayed by an appeal taken therefrom, unless otherwise ordered by the trial court
Rule 39, Section 4 — Judgments not stayed by appeal. Read the full provision →
What the law says
the appellate court in its discretion may make an order suspending, modifying, restoring or granting the injunction, receivership, accounting, or award of support
Rule 39, Section 4 — Judgments not stayed by appeal. Read the full provision →
Support judgments do not wait for the appeal
Rule 39, Section 4 places support in a special class. Judgments in actions for injunction, receivership, accounting and support shall be enforceable after their rendition and shall not be stayed by an appeal taken therefrom, unless otherwise ordered by the trial court. The ordinary comfort of an appeal — that nothing is collected while the higher court reviews — does not apply here. The reason is the nature of the award: support exists to meet current needs, food and schooling and medicine, which cannot be deferred for the years an appeal may take. Filing the notice of appeal, by itself, changes nothing about the duty to pay.
The two courts that can pause it
The rule leaves two doors open. The trial court itself may order a stay — the immediate enforceability applies unless otherwise ordered by the trial court. And once the case is elevated, the appellate court in its discretion may make an order suspending, modifying, restoring or granting the injunction, receivership, accounting, or award of support. Both are discretionary; neither is for the asking. An appellant who believes the award is genuinely unpayable or plainly wrong must move for a stay and persuade a court — simply not paying while the appeal is pending is noncompliance with an enforceable judgment.
A stay comes with security
The section's final sentence sets the price of a pause: The stay of execution shall be upon such terms as to bond or otherwise as may be considered proper for the security or protection of the rights of the adverse party. A court that suspends enforcement will ordinarily protect the recipient in some other way — typically a bond answering for the amounts that would have been paid. The design is symmetrical: the appellant is shielded from paying under a judgment that may be reversed, while the family relying on support is shielded from an appeal used as a device to starve them out.
What this means in practice
If you are appealing a support judgment, budget to keep paying while the appeal runs, and pay through channels that leave a record — receipts and bank transfers become important whichever way the appeal ends. If you seek a stay, prepare to offer security and to explain concretely why immediate enforcement is unjust. If you are the recipient and payments have stopped because of an appeal, the rule is on your side: absent a stay order, the judgment is enforceable now, and execution can be sought without waiting for the appellate court's decision.