Letter to a bank or other holder in South Dakota

A letter that presents the small estate affidavit you have already signed. It says what you enclose and asks the holder to release the property.

Required when you mail the letter.

It goes into the letter only. It is never saved or sent to us.

Papers you are enclosing

Check what you will include. Only checked items go in the letter.

It goes into the letter as you type it. You can add a ready-made sentence:

Other formats

Do not send original documents unless the holder asks; keep copies. Sign the letter and keep a copy.

Before you send it

Some banks have their own form or ask for a notary. Call the bank's estates department first and ask what it needs. Keep a copy of everything you send.

Collection of personal property by affidavit (small estate affidavit)

The person who inherits signs an affidavit and gives it to the bank, company or person holding the property, which must then pay or hand it over. Nothing is filed with a court.

Limit

Up to $100,000 Counted after subtracting liens (what is owed on the property).

The entire estate, wherever located, minus liens and encumbrances, cannot be more than $100,000. The affidavit also requires that the person owed no debt to the Department of Social Services for Medicaid nursing home or other institutional care.

What counts

The value of the person's entire estate, wherever located, minus liens and encumbrances.

Waiting period

At least 30 days must have passed since the death.

Who can use it

A person claiming to be the successor (an heir or will beneficiary entitled to the property), or someone acting on the successor's behalf. The Department of Social Services can also use the affidavit to collect a Medicaid debt.

Court or where to file

Not filed with a court. You give it to the holder of the property.

Notary

It is an affidavit (sworn statement).

Papers to attach
  • Death certificate, if the holder asks for it
Steps
  1. Wait until at least 30 days after the death.
  2. Check that no one has applied to be personal representative anywhere and that the person owed no Medicaid nursing home or institutional care debt to the Department of Social Services.
  3. Sign an affidavit with the five statements the law requires.
  4. Give it to each holder; a transfer agent must re-register securities.
  5. Use what you collect to pay liens, allowances, funeral and administration costs and creditors as the law requires, then distribute the rest.
Fee

No court filing fee, because the affidavit is not filed with a court.

Debts and responsibility

The person who collects property by affidavit is responsible for seeing that it is applied to liens and encumbrances, the homestead allowance, exempt property, family allowance, funeral expenses, administration costs and creditor claims, as the law requires, before the rest goes to heirs and devisees. Anyone who receives property this way must answer for it to a later personal representative or anyone with a better right. The affiant submits to the South Dakota courts in any case about the affidavit.

What the bank or holder must do

The holder must pay or deliver on a proper affidavit and is then released as if it had dealt with a personal representative; it need not check the affidavit. If it refuses, the property can be recovered in a court proceeding on proof of the facts in the affidavit. If the holder knows the person owed the Department of Social Services for Medicaid nursing home or institutional care, it may not pay anyone (except for funeral expenses) until the Department is paid or issues a satisfaction.

Law: S.D. Codified Laws secs. 29A-3-1201, 29A-3-1202, 29A-3-817

Source: Official page

Bank accounts after a death in South Dakota

Money in a joint account belongs to the surviving owner, and a POD account goes to the named payee. For an account in the person's name alone, the successor can use the small estate affidavit after 30 days if the entire estate, minus liens, is $100,000 or less. If the bank knows the person owed the Department of Social Services for Medicaid nursing home care, it cannot pay (except funeral expenses) until the Department is paid.

Law: S.D. Codified Laws secs. 29A-6-104, 29A-3-1201, 29A-3-817

Source: Official page

Transfer-on-death (TOD) and payable-on-death (POD) in South Dakota

Bank account (POD)

Yes

Law: S.D. Codified Laws secs. 29A-6-101 to 29A-6-114

Source: Official page

Death certificates in South Dakota

Death certificates can be ordered in person, by mail, by phone or online from South Dakota Vital Records. A certified copy costs $15.00; phone and internet orders add an $11.50 expedite fee. Proper identification is required.

Where to get it
South Dakota Department of Health, Vital Records
Official page
Official page

Surviving spouse in South Dakota

A surviving spouse or minor children are entitled to a homestead allowance, and the spouse to exempt property, in addition to any share under the will or intestacy. The spouse and minor or dependent children also get a family allowance, which the personal representative can set at up to $18,000 as a lump sum or $1,500 a month for one year without court approval. These have priority over creditors' claims.

Law: SDCL ch. 43-31; SDCL ch. 43-45

Who inherits with no will in South Dakota

If there is no will: the surviving spouse gets everything if the person has no descendants, or if all of the person's descendants are also the spouse's. If the person has descendants who are not the spouse's, the spouse gets the first $100,000 plus half of the rest, and the descendants share the other part. With no spouse, it goes to descendants; then parents; then the parents' descendants (brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews); then grandparents and their descendants, half to each side.

Law: S.D. Codified Laws secs. 29A-2-102, 29A-2-103

Source: Official page

Good to know in South Dakota

  • The small estate affidavit cannot be used if the person owed the Department of Social Services for Medicaid nursing home or institutional care.
  • Since 2022, low-value South Dakota real estate (up to $50,000) can pass by an affidavit filed with the register of deeds 60 days after the death.
  • Since 2025, vehicle titles can name a transfer on death beneficiary.

Changes in 2024–2026

SL 2025, ch. 116 added transfer on death beneficiaries for vehicle and boat titles. Earlier: SL 2022, ch. 88 amended the personal property affidavit (current limit $100,000) and SL 2022, ch. 89 created the real property affidavit ($50,000).

Law: SDCL 32-3-80 to 32-3-84

Related pages

Free help in South Dakota

A court self-help center or a legal aid office can check whether the estate qualifies, free of charge or at low cost.