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South Dakota source record

Every source behind the South Dakota guide

5 primary records, quoted verbatim and checked against 16 named presence or absence conditions that must pass against the live government text. Open the record, read the words the publishing body actually used, and confirm the current rule for yourself.

Last full re-fetch September 15, 2026

What each source establishes

The South Dakota guide rests on the source-backed rules this site can verify for the state: which simplified procedure exists and what it limits, what the court charges, how the person administering the estate may be paid, and the statutory creditor-deadline clocks the official text states.Every published rule below is quoted in the publisher’s own words rather than summarised.

Simplified-procedure rule

S.D. Codified Laws § 29A-3-1201 (SDCL 29A-3-1201)

South Dakota Legislature (LRC Statutes API) · Source: SL 1994, ch 232 , § 3-1201; SL 1995, ch 167 , § 136; SL 1997, ch 172 , § 1; SL 2002, ch 100 , § 26; SL 2003, ch 157 , § 1 · Verified August 9, 2026

(1) The value of the entire estate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $100,000; (2) Thirty days have elapsed since the death of the decedent

What this means: Section body served by the South Dakota Legislature's official statutes API (JSON), which returns the codified section text in its 'Html' field because sdlegislature.gov renders statute pages client-side.

What was published from this source

  • SD S.D. Codified Laws § 29A-3-1201

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • threshold $100,000 net of liens, 30 days
  • section identity 29A-3-1201
  • section identity

Response digest adc7c9fef0126a9c… · HTTP 200

Executor compensation rule

S.D. Codified Laws § 29A-3-719 (SDCL 29A-3-719)

South Dakota Legislature (LRC Statutes API) · Source: SL 1994, ch 232 , § 3-719; SL 1995, ch 167 , § 123; SL 1996, ch 187 . · Verified August 9, 2026

29A-3-719 . Compensation of personal representative. (a) Personal representatives, attorneys, accountants, appraisers, and other agents of the personal representative are entitled to reasonable compensation for services.

What was published from this source

  • SD S.D. Codified Laws § 29A-3-719

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • reasonable compensation standard
  • section identity 29A-3-719
  • section identity

Response digest b4e50c310aac18c8… · HTTP 200

Court cost rule

S.D. Codified Laws § 16-2-29(1) (SDCL 16-2-29(1))

South Dakota Legislature (LRC Statutes API) · SL 2011, ch 108 , § 1; SL 2020, ch 69 , § 1; SL 2026, ch 92 , § 1. · Verified August 9, 2026

16-2-29 . Fees charged by clerk of courts--Exemptions. The clerk of courts shall charge and collect the following fees: (1) For the probate of an estate, seventy-five dollars

What this means: The cohort brief pointed to SDCL 16-2-29.4 for filing fees; that section is a fee-waiver provision. The operative probate filing fee is in § 16-2-29(1), which remained $75 through the most recent amendment (SL 2026, ch 92).

What was published from this source

  • SD S.D. Codified Laws § 16-2-29(1)

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • probate filing fee $75
  • section identity 16-2-29
  • section identity

Response digest 968a9ed8704359ea… · HTTP 200

Simplified-procedure rule

S.D. Codified Laws § 29A-3-1203 (SDCL 29A-3-1203)

South Dakota Legislature (LRC Statutes API) · Source: SL 2022, ch 89 , § 1. · Verified August 9, 2026

29A-3-1203 . Succession to real property by affidavit. Sixty days after the death of a decedent, any person claiming to be a successor to the decedent's interest in real property in this state may file, or cause to be filed on their behalf, an affidavit describing the real property owned by the decedent and the interest of the decedent in the property.

What this means: A route the personal-property affidavit (§ 29A-3-1201) does not cover: title to a decedent's South Dakota real property (interest of $50,000 or less) is perfected by an affidavit filed with the register of deeds sixty days after death, rather than by any court filing. Enacted SL 2022, ch 89.

What was published from this source

  • SD S.D. Codified Laws § 29A-3-1203

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • real-property affidavit ceiling $50,000
  • real-property affidavit 60 days
  • section identity 29A-3-1203
  • section identity

Response digest b7ad76f49b3dcf99… · HTTP 200

Creditor deadline rule

S.D. Codified Laws § 29A-3-803(a)(3) (SDCL 29A-3-803(a)(3))

South Dakota Legislature (LRC Statutes API) · Source: SL 1994, ch 232 , § 3-803; SL 1995, ch 167 , § 125. · Verified August 9, 2026

(3) As to all creditors, within three years after the decedent's death.

What was published from this source

  • SD S.D. Codified Laws § 29A-3-803(a)(3)

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • outer 3-year bar
  • section identity 29A-3-803
  • section identity

Response digest 90512d479a2e2b4f… · HTTP 200

South Dakota provisions this site could not read

Not every state serves its own code. Where South Dakota did not, the attempt is recorded here instead of being covered over with a figure copied from a secondary summary. Each row names the authority that would settle the question and the page that failed to return it.

Authority soughtWhat is therefore not publishedTried on
S.D. Codified Laws tit. 29A (Uniform Probate Code)South Dakota’s compensation rule is not quoted here — representative pay2026-09-17
S.D. Codified Laws tit. 29A (small estates)Why no South Dakota affidavit ceiling appears on this page — small estate route2026-09-17

South Dakota source decision map

How the South Dakota records fit together

The source record is most useful when each citation has a job. This map links the South Dakota procedure, cost, compensation, and deadline records to the decision each one can and cannot answer.

QuestionRecorded South Dakota answerCarry into the case
What route is being screened?Collection of personal property by affidavit (SDCL § 29A-3-1201)Confirm that the will, prior appointment, family facts, and asset titles fit this route.
What property and basis count?personal probate property only; net of enforceable liens and encumbrances.Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately.
What is the amount screen?$100,000Use the counted property, not a bank-balance shortcut.
What is the time or deadline record?30 days after death; South Dakota runs multiple independently-triggered claim deadlines that cannot honestly collapse into one number: a four-month bar from first publication of the notice to creditors (§ 29A-3-801(a)); an actual-notice period of four months from appointment or 60 days from mailing of written notice, whichever is later (§ 29A-3-801(b)); and an outer bar of three years after death (§ 29A-3-803(a)(3)). Publishing a single figure would mislead.Keep the event that starts each clock with the date; do not combine separate periods into one number.
What does the cost record establish?$75 is the recorded statewide amount.Ask the Circuit Court about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings.
What does compensation use?SDCL § 29A-3-719 entitles personal representatives (and their attorneys, accountants, appraisers, and agents) to "reasonable compensation for services", determined on statutory factors including the time and labor involved, the novelty and difficulty of the questions, the fee customarily charged locally, and the nature and value of the estate's assets. There is no percentage schedule. The relevant base is the estate accounting.Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate.

Decision boundary

What the South Dakota source set does not silently decide

The South Dakota records establish the rules listed above, but they do not turn a source citation into advice about title, family priority, tax filing, contested proceedings, or the exact clerk practice in every county. Those questions stay with the official court or a qualified adviser. The useful next step is to match the question to the citation rather than treating the longest quote as the answer to every estate problem.

Arithmetic illustration

See the South Dakota amount screen without mistaking it for a result

The recorded South Dakota ceiling is $100,000, and it is tested against personal probate property only, on a basis this site records as net of enforceable liens and encumbrances. Counted that way, $75,000 sits below the South Dakota figure and $125,000 sits above it. Both are comparisons to a published number rather than legal outcomes: two estates holding the same total can land on opposite sides of this line, because what South Dakota counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.

Illustrative counted amountComparison to the South Dakota ceilingWhat it does not decide
$75,000Below $100,000Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties
$125,000Above $100,000Whether another statutory route or court process applies

Next evidence to collect

Open the quoted record for the row you rely on and check the publisher's current text before filing.

  1. Record the date of death, the county, and the exact proceeding or affidavit being considered.
  2. Classify each asset by title, beneficiary, trust, real-property status, and the value basis shown above.
  3. Open the official court material below and keep its form or schedule with the estate record.
  4. Do not distribute property until the route, creditor position, and required approvals are resolved.

Official material

Probate in South Dakota is handled by the Circuit Court. The Unified Judicial System publishes statewide self-help resources and a form/file search. The $75 probate filing fee is fixed statewide by SDCL § 16-2-29(1) (current through SL 2026, ch 92); the § 29A-3-1201 personal-property affidavit and the § 29A-3-1203 real-property affidavit are private/register-of-deeds instruments, not court probate filings.

Source trail

Records used by this South Dakota map

What South Dakota courts publish

The statutes on this page state the rule. These are the documents the court itself publishes. Every link is probed before release, and any link that stops resolving fails the build rather than staying on the page.

Limits on court material

  • Probate in South Dakota is handled by the Circuit Court. The Unified Judicial System publishes statewide self-help resources and a form/file search. The $75 probate filing fee is fixed statewide by SDCL § 16-2-29(1) (current through SL 2026, ch 92); the § 29A-3-1201 personal-property affidavit and the § 29A-3-1203 real-property affidavit are private/register-of-deeds instruments, not court probate filings.

Checking these South Dakota records against the publishers

Every citation above links to the body that publishes it, and every quoted sentence is reproduced exactly, so a text search on the publisher’s own page should land on it. Where the publisher’s current wording differs from what is recorded here, the publisher governs and this page is wrong; naming the citation and the language you see maps the difference onto a specific condition rather than a general complaint. The full procedure, including how a source qualifies in the first place and what disqualifies one, is set out once on the methodology page instead of being restated on each of the254 state records.

These records cover the cost and route questions this site answers for South Dakota. They do not cover intestate succession shares, spousal and family allowances, creditor priority, tax filing obligations, real-property transfer mechanics, or contested proceedings. Where an answer would require one of those, the site says so rather than estimating.

Return to the South Dakota estate guide ·All 254 records ·Dataset overview and citation ·How sources are selected