{"id":376346,"date":"2016-04-11T01:24:10","date_gmt":"2016-04-11T06:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-law\/state\/south-dakota-law\/south-dakota-probate-and-estate-tax-laws.html"},"modified":"2016-06-20T23:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-06-21T04:00:00","slug":"south-dakota-probate-and-estate-tax-laws","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/state\/south-dakota-law\/south-dakota-probate-and-estate-tax-laws.html","title":{"rendered":"South Dakota Probate and Estate Tax Laws"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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South Dakota Probate and Estate Tax Laws<\/h1>\n
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Created by FindLaw’s team<\/a> of legal writers and editors<\/i><\/p>\n\n | Last updated\n

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Regardless of whether a person dies with a valid will (testate) or without a valid will (intestate), their estate will pass through probate<\/a>. Probate is the administrative process by which the deceased’s property (both personal and land) are collected and distributed to the deceased’s heirs<\/a> and devisees<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n

Many states, including South Dakota, have adopted the Uniform Probate Code<\/a> (UPC) in order to promote simplification, clarification, and efficiency in administering the estates of deceased parties. Under the UPC, any part of the deceased’s estate that isn’t effectively disposed of by will (or that passes outside of probate) is distributed according to the laws of intestate succession. The intestate succession laws that are applicable in South Dakota are outlined below.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Code Section<\/b><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

South Dakota Code chapter 2: Intestate Succession<\/b><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>

Share of the Surviving Spouse<\/b><\/p>\r\n

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The deceased’s surviving spouse receives the entire intestate estate if:<\/p>\r\n

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  • No descendant of the deceased survives the deceased, or<\/li>\r\n
  • All of the deceased’s surviving descendants are also descendants of the deceased’s surviving spouse<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n

    The deceased’s surviving spouse receives the first $100,000, plus one-half of the remaining intestate estate if:<\/p>\r\n

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    • One or more of the deceased’s surviving descendants are not also descendants of the deceased’s surviving spouse<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>

Share of Heirs Other than Surviving Spouse <\/b><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

Any part of the intestate estate that doesn’t pass to the deceased’s surviving spouse (or the entire estate if there isn’t a surviving spouse) passes in the following order to the individuals below who survive the deceased: