Publication
Newspaper pricing is commercial rather than a statewide fee.
South Dakota court costs
South Dakota probate filing cost: $75
SDCL § 16-2-29(1) directs that the clerk of courts "shall charge and collect the following fees: (1) For the probate of an estate, seventy-five dollars". This is a clean statewide statutory probate filing fee of $75. The § 29A-3-1201 affidavit route requires no court filing.
$75 is the amount the statute states. Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch September 15, 2026.
What the statute charges
South Dakota states one statewide amount rather than a schedule of components, so there is no line-by-line breakdown to compute. The figure above is that amount. It is a court charge only, and it is not an estimate of the total cost of settling an estate.
South Dakota publishes no component breakdown for this cost.
The statute states one statewide amount rather than a schedule of parts, so there is nothing to itemise. The figure shown above is that amount, and the linked source is the text that sets it.
What the $75 is made of
South Dakota’s $75 figure is a single statutory charge, not a total assembled from parts. It is shown here with its own provision named, and with the neighbouring charges the South Dakota schedule prices separately — the ones a filer is most likely to add to it by mistake, or to be quoted alongside it.
- $75Probate of an estate, SDCL s 16-2-29(1)
Added together, these come to $75 — the figure this page headlines. If any component changed in the source, the sum would no longer match, and the build withholds the total rather than publishing a number whose parts no longer add up.
Charges the $75 figure leaves out
These amounts appear in or beside the same South Dakota schedule, so a reader can easily mistake one for part of the fee. Each is held out of the figure above for the specific reason given, which is the difference between an honest total and an inflated one.
A fee for a different filing
- Settled-record-to-Supreme-Court service, SDCL s 16-2-29(2)
- a $50 charge for preparing and transmitting a settled record and remittitur to the Supreme Court — an appellate-record service, not the probate filing fee.
- Other $25 case filings, SDCL s 16-2-29(3)
- the $25 tier prices civil cases for jury/court trial, guardianship, adoption, and other proceedings listed in subdivision (3); none of them is the probate of an estate.
- Family-law modification filings, SDCL s 16-2-29(4)
- the $50 tier prices petitions and motions to modify final child-support, custody, visitation, and spousal-support orders — different proceedings from a probate.
- Transcript, execution, and judgment-renewal services, SDCL s 16-2-29(5)
- the $5 tier prices issuing a transcript or execution, docketing a judgment, and renewing a judgment — separate clerk services, not the probate filing fee.
- Subpoena and will-safekeeping services, SDCL s 16-2-29(6)
- the $2 tier prices issuing a civil subpoena and the safekeeping or filing of a will — separate clerk services, not the probate estate filing.
- Reproduction of an authenticated certificate, SDCL s 16-2-29(7)
- a $15 charge for reproducing an authenticated, exemplified, or double certificate of a record — a copy-reproduction service, not the probate filing fee.
Costs no statute prices
These are the costs executors most often meet after the filing fee. None of them has a statewide statutory amount, so this site does not estimate them.
Bond
Premiums depend on the bond amount, the estate, and the applicant.
Copies and local charges
Certified copies, recording, inventory, accounting, and county surcharges are billed separately.
Professional fees
Attorney, accountant, and appraiser fees are negotiated or court-reviewed.
State-specific limits
Use this as a starting point.
This is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Probate law varies by state and county and changes over time. Verify the current rule with the court or a licensed attorney in the relevant state.
How to verify the amount for this case
Name the proceeding before asking for a total. A small-estate affidavit, an application for letters, formal administration, a later inventory or account, and a certified copy can each carry a different charge. Asking only “what does probate cost?” invites an answer for the wrong filing.
- Identify the county where the proceeding will be filed.
- Identify the exact route or petition you expect to use.
- State the value basis the schedule uses; it is not always the gross estate value.
- Ask the clerk to separate the opening fee, mandatory surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings.
- Record the schedule date or rule cited.
- Record whether payment is due at filing.
Keep that clerk quote with the estate record and compare it with the itemised statutory lines above. For the broader budget, use the probate cost-line guide; court filing is only one category.
South Dakota filing-cost map
Separate the South Dakota filing charge from the estate budget
The South Dakota filing record prices a proceeding, not every cost of settling an estate. This map connects the published amount or schedule to its value basis and identifies the local items that still need a clerk or court schedule.
| Question | Recorded South Dakota answer | Carry 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? | $100,000 | Use 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. |
Filing record
What the South Dakota cost record can answer
South Dakota has no single statewide schedule in the accepted record.
SDCL § 16-2-29(1) directs that the clerk of courts "shall charge and collect the following fees: (1) For the probate of an estate, seventy-five dollars". This is a clean statewide statutory probate filing fee of $75. The § 29A-3-1201 affidavit route requires no court filing. This page therefore names the local confirmation path instead of turning a base charge into a statewide estimate.
Case-file context
Keep the South Dakota answer with its neighboring conditions
A route answer is easier to use when the facts that can change it stay in the same record. These are the reviewed South Dakota descriptions adjacent to this page\'s main question; they are not a substitute for the source quotations or the receiving court\'s instructions.
Route context
South Dakota is a Uniform Probate Code state. Personal property of a decedent whose estate (net of liens and encumbrances) does not exceed $100,000 can be collected by affidavit under SDCL § 29A-3-1201, thirty days after death, with no court filing; a decedent's real property worth $50,000 or less can be transferred by an affidavit filed with the register of deeds under SDCL § 29A-3-1203 sixty days after death. Probate proceedings are filed in the Circuit Court, where the statewide probate filing fee is $75 under SDCL § 16-2-29. Personal representatives receive reasonable compensation under § 29A-3-719 — South Dakota sets no statutory percentage commission schedule.
South Dakota allows collection of a decedent's personal property by affidavit under SDCL § 29A-3-1201 when "the value of the entire estate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $100,000", thirty days have elapsed since death, no application or petition for appointment of a personal representative is pending or has been granted, and the decedent has not incurred any indebtedness to the Department of Social Services for medical assistance for nursing-home or other medical institutional care. A separate route, SDCL § 29A-3-1203, lets a successor perfect title to the decedent's real property by an affidavit filed with the register of deeds sixty days after death, where the decedent's interest in all South Dakota real property does not exceed $50,000.
Compensation context
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.
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.
Deadline context
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.
Court-material note: 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.
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 amount | Comparison to the South Dakota ceiling | What it does not decide |
|---|---|---|
| $75,000 | Below $100,000 | Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties |
| $125,000 | Above $100,000 | Whether another statutory route or court process applies |
Next evidence to collect
Name the proceeding and ask for mandatory surcharges, copies, publication, and later filings separately.
- Record the date of death, the county, and the exact proceeding or affidavit being considered.
- Classify each asset by title, beneficiary, trust, real-property status, and the value basis shown above.
- Open the official court material below and keep its form or schedule with the estate record.
- Do not distribute property until the route, creditor position, and required approvals are resolved.
Official material
- South Dakota Unified Judicial System — Self-HelpSouth Dakota Unified Judicial System
- South Dakota Unified Judicial System — Form & File SearchSouth Dakota Unified Judicial System
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
- S.D. Codified Laws § 29A-3-1201SDCL § 29A-3-1201 — Collection of personal property by affidavit; reviewed August 9, 2026
- S.D. Codified Laws § 29A-3-719SDCL § 29A-3-719 — Compensation of personal representative; reviewed August 9, 2026
- S.D. Codified Laws § 16-2-29(1)SDCL § 16-2-29 — Fees charged by clerk of courts; reviewed August 9, 2026
- S.D. Codified Laws § 29A-3-1203SDCL § 29A-3-1203 — Succession to real property by affidavit; reviewed August 9, 2026
- S.D. Codified Laws § 29A-3-803(a)(3)SDCL § 29A-3-803 — Limitations on presentation of claims; reviewed August 9, 2026
Filing-cost source
Each legal input links to the government source reviewed for this page. Source text can change; confirm the current rule before acting.
S.D. Codified Laws § 16-2-29(1) (SDCL 16-2-29(1))
Reviewed source note: 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).