Buzgheia

In this appeal we address questions related to the creation and use of personal sureties to stay execution of judgment. We conclude the 1982 enactment of a comprehensive Bond and Undertaking Law (Code Civ. Proc., § 995.010 et seq.) substantially changed the requirements for personal sureties contained in former Code of Civil Procedure section 1057.

Plaintiff, Hossam Buzgheia, appeals the trial court’s order overruling his objections to the undertaking posted by defendants to stay enforcement of judgment pending appeal. (Code Civ. Proc., § 917.1.) Plaintiff contends (1) defendant Dale Williams’s wife, Kimberly, cannot qualify as a surety because their community assets are subject to execution to pay the judgment, (2) the trial court improperly permitted Williams to use his separate property as security by transferring a portion of it to his wife as her separate property so she would have sufficient assets to act as a surety, and (3) assuming the surety is valid, the undertaking is defective because it must be supported by the equivalent of two sureties who are each worth the amount of the undertaking. Finding no merit in these contentions, we shall affirm the…