On Monday, Donald Trump’s lawyers filed a brief before the First Department claiming that securing a bond to stay enforcement of the $454 million entered against him in the Attorney General’s fraud suit is a “practical impossibility.” So what happens if he can’t post a bond?

First off, the loser at trial is never required to post a bond for the amount of the judgment entered against him. But the reason Trump is trying so hard to do so here is not because he wants to ensure the Attorney General can collect on the judgment, but to stay—or hold off—enforcement of the judgment while he appeals. Indeed, under CPLR 5519(a), enforcement of the judgment is stayed pending appeal when the judgment debtor gives an “undertaking”—usually in the form of a bond—to secure payment in the event the appeal is unsuccessful.