Short answer. No. The court may either suspend the whole payment order or order distribution among the creditors whose claims are already definitely allowed, while keeping enough assets in hand to cover the disputed, appealed claim, which gets paid proportionally once it is finally settled.
What the law says
If an appeal has been taken from a decision of the court concerning a claim, the court may suspend the order for the payment of the debts or may order the distribution among the creditors whose claims are definitely allowed, leaving in the hands of the executor or administrator sufficient assets to pay the claim disputed and appealed. When a disputed claim is finally settled the court having jurisdiction of the estate shall order the same to be paid out of the assets retained to the same extent and in the same proportion with the claims of other creditors.
Rule 88, Section 12 — Orders relating to payment of debts where appeal is taken. Read the full provision →
An appeal doesn't have to freeze everything
A single claim being on appeal does not have to bring the entire estate's debt payment process to a halt. The court has a choice: it may suspend the order for payment of the debts altogether, or it may order distribution to proceed among the creditors whose claims are already definitely allowed, without waiting for the appeal to be resolved. This flexibility keeps an estate from being tied up indefinitely just because one creditor's claim happens to be contested on appeal, and it lets undisputed creditors get paid without needing to wait out someone else's litigation.
Reserved assets for the disputed claim
Where the court chooses to let distribution proceed to the other creditors, it must leave sufficient assets in the executor's or administrator's hands to cover the disputed, appealed claim, so the appellant is not prejudiced simply because the rest of the estate's debts were being paid while the appeal was pending. The court effectively earmarks a reserve tied to the size of the contested claim before releasing anything to the undisputed creditors, so the appeal is not rendered moot by the estate running out of assets before it is decided.
Proportional payment once resolved
Once the disputed claim is finally settled, the court orders it paid out of the assets that were retained, to the same extent and in the same proportion as the claims of the other creditors, keeping the ultimately successful claimant on equal footing with everyone else rather than shortchanged for having been delayed. If the reserved assets turn out to be insufficient to pay the claim in full, the successful claimant recovers only the same proportion of the claim that the other creditors previously received, not a full dollar-for-dollar payment. This proportional approach spreads the risk of an eventual shortfall evenly across every creditor with a claim against the estate, rather than letting whoever gets paid first simply take everything and leave nothing for the rest.
Related provisions
- Rule 88, Section 12 — Orders relating to payment of debts where appeal is taken
- Rule 88, Section 11 — Order for payment of debts
- Rule 88, Section 13 — When subsequent distribution of assets ordered