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S.D. Codified Laws § 25-6-2

Adoption of minor child permitted--Minimum difference in ages--Best interests of child

Applied in 8 court decisions — leading case People in Interest of SAH (1995)

Most recently applied in Matter of the Adoption of A.A.B. & B.A.B. (March 2016)

Source: SDC 1939, § 14.0401; SL 1994, ch 199; SL 2018, ch 158, § 1, eff

How often courts cite this section

199520002010201620
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

Any minor child may be adopted by any adult person. However, the person adopting the child shall be at least ten years older than the child adopted unless the court finds the adoption of the child by the adult person in the best interest of the child.

In an adoption proceeding or in any proceeding that challenges an order of adoption or order terminating parental rights, the court shall give due consideration to the interests of the parties to the proceedings, but shall give paramount consideration to the best interests of the child.

Official source: South Dakota Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain South Dakota statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.