South Dakota Probate Information

South Dakota's short-form alternatives are the two affidavits above, plus closing an opened estate by the personal representative's sworn statement when SDCL 29A-3-1003 applies.

• Qualify before receiving letters by filing an acceptance of office and any required bond with the appointing court. A bond is not required unless the court concludes that a bond is in the estate's best interests, and administration begins with issuance of letters testamentary or letters of administration (SDCL 29A-3-601; SDCL 29A-3-603; SDCL 29A-3-103).
• Not later than fourteen days after appointment, give written information of the appointment to heirs and devisees, with a copy of the will admitted to probate if there is one (SDCL 29A-3-705(a), (b)).
• Not later than fourteen days after appointment, give written information of the appointment to the State Department of Social Services in Pierre, including the decedent's social security number and, if reasonably available, a deceased spouse's name and social security number. That information may not be filed with the court, but the personal representative must certify to the court that it was provided (SDCL 29A-3-705(c)).
• Handle creditor claims correctly. Publishing a creditor notice is optional and, if used, runs once a week for three successive weeks in a legal newspaper in the county where the proceeding is pending. Written notice to known or reasonably ascertainable creditors is mandatory unless a statutory exception applies (SDCL 29A-3-801; SDCL 29A-3-803).
• Prepare the inventory and appraisement within six months after appointment, or nine months after death, whichever is later. The inventory must describe property in reasonable detail, state fair market value at the date of death and any encumbrance, and be made available to interested persons who request it; the original may also be filed with the court (SDCL 29A-3-706).
• Close the estate by verified closing statement when eligible, or by an order of complete settlement after notice and hearing. A personal representative may file the verified closing statement four months after original appointment, and appointment terminates one year after filing if no proceeding involving the personal representative is pending (SDCL 29A-3-1003; SDCL 29A-3-1001).

The South Dakota Unified Judicial System publishes form sets and guided interviews for self-represented filers in divorce, custody, name change, guardianship, eviction, small claims and protection-order matters. It does not publish a statewide probate form set, so the application, the will and the supporting papers are prepared by the filer or by a lawyer and brought to the clerk of courts.

One probate-related form is prescribed by law for creditors, not for the family opening the estate: SDCL ch. 29A-3, Appendix A contains the statement of claim form, and SDCL 29A-3-804(a)(1) allows a claimant to file a written statement of claim in the prescribed form with the clerk of the court.

The UJS fee waiver materials are available for a filer who cannot pay court costs. The route is the Motion to Waive Filing Fee and Service of Process Fee, tied to SDCL 16-2-29.2 through 16-2-29.4 and SDCL 16-2-42.

The UJS Legal Form Help Line at 1-855-784-0004 can answer questions about UJS forms and cannot provide legal advice. Because the UJS form sets do not include a statewide probate set, use it as a general forms resource rather than a probate drafting service.

The statewide court costs to open an estate are $122.00 total, effective July 1, 2026, under the Unified Judicial System Schedule of Court Costs and three statutes: a $75.00 filing fee for the probate of an estate under SDCL 16-2-29(1), a $40.00 court automation surcharge under SDCL 16-2-39, and a $7.00 county law library fee under SDCL 14-6-1.

A fee waiver may be requested through the UJS Motion to Waive Filing Fee and Service of Process Fee. Fee waiver authority is in SDCL 16-2-29.2 through 16-2-29.4, and SDCL 16-2-42 extends waiver treatment to the automation surcharge.

1. At least one hundred twenty hours must pass after death before informal probate or informal appointment (SDCL 29A-3-302; SDCL 29A-3-307(a)).
2. If the decedent was a nonresident, informal appointment is delayed until thirty days after death unless the personal representative appointed at the decedent's domicile is the applicant or the will directs that the estate be subject to South Dakota law (SDCL 29A-3-307(a); SDCL 29A-3-201).
3. The affidavit for collection of personal property may be used thirty days after the death if all SDCL 29A-3-1201 conditions are met, including the $100,000 ceiling and the Department of Social Services medical assistance condition.
4. The affidavit for succession to real property may be used sixty days after the death if all SDCL 29A-3-1203 conditions are met, including the fifty thousand dollars ceiling and filing with the register of deeds.
5. Within fourteen days after a written statement of informal probate, the applicant must give written information to heirs and devisees, with a copy of the will, if no personal representative has been appointed (SDCL 29A-3-306(b)).
6. Not later than fourteen days after appointment, the personal representative gives written information of appointment to heirs and devisees and to the State Department of Social Services in Pierre (SDCL 29A-3-705).
7. If notice to creditors is published, it runs once a week for three successive weeks in a legal newspaper in the county where the proceeding is pending, and claims are barred four months after the first publication (SDCL 29A-3-801(a); SDCL 29A-3-803(a)(1)).
8. Known or reasonably ascertainable creditors who receive written notice have four months after the personal representative's appointment, or sixty days after mailing or delivery of the written notice, whichever is later, or the claim is forever barred (SDCL 29A-3-801(b); SDCL 29A-3-803(a)(2)).
9. Where no notice was given, claims are barred three years after the decedent's death (SDCL 29A-3-803(a)(3)).
10. The inventory and appraisement are due within six months after appointment, or nine months after death, whichever is later (SDCL 29A-3-706).
11. A personal representative may file a verified closing statement four months after the date of original appointment, if the estate is not in supervised administration and the statutory statements can be made (SDCL 29A-3-1003(a); SDCL 29A-3-501).
12. A personal representative may petition for an order of complete settlement four months after appointment; another interested person may do so one year after appointment (SDCL 29A-3-1001(a)).
13. Most probate and appointment proceedings must begin within three years after death, subject to narrow exceptions, including the later deadline for contesting an informally probated will and the limited title-confirmation exception where no proceeding occurred within the three-year period (SDCL 29A-3-108).

South Dakota's small estate planning point is that there are two affidavit routes, not one. The affidavit for collection of personal property under SDCL 29A-3-1201 may be presented thirty days after death to a person holding tangible personal property, an instrument evidencing a debt, obligation, stock or chose in action, if the entire estate wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $100,000. No application or petition for appointment of a personal representative may be pending or granted anywhere, the claiming successor must be entitled to the property, and the decedent must not have incurred indebtedness to the Department of Social Services for medical assistance for nursing home or other medical institutional care.

That personal property affidavit is presented to the holder of the property or the person owing the debt; it is not filed with a court. SDCL 29A-3-1202(d) makes the affiant responsible for applying property received to liens, encumbrances, homestead allowance, exempt property, family allowance, funeral expenses, expenses of administration and creditor claims as required by law, and then distributing what remains to the heirs and devisees entitled to it.

The affidavit for succession to real property under SDCL 29A-3-1203 is different. Sixty days after death, a successor may file an affidavit and certified or authenticated death certificate with the register of deeds in every county where the real property is located, if the value of the decedent's interest in all South Dakota real property does not exceed fifty thousand dollars and the statute's other conditions are met, including the Department of Social Services medical assistance condition.

For the SDCL 29A-3-1203 real property affidavit, non-agricultural land may be valued as shown on the assessment rolls for the year in which the decedent died, while land classified as agricultural is valued at fair market value on the date of death. The affidavit is a land-record filing with the register of deeds, not a probate filing with the clerk of courts.

Page last reviewed: August 2026.