Any adult child, having the financial ability to do so, shall provide necessary food, clothing, shelter, or medical attendance for a parent who is unable to provide for oneself. However, no claim may be made against such adult child until the adult child is given written notice that the child's parent is unable to provide for oneself, and such adult child has refused to provide for the child's parent. Notice required by this section shall be given within ninety days after the necessary food, clothing, shelter, or medical attendance, claimed in the notice, was first provided for the parent. However, in the case of fraud or misrepresentation, notice shall be provided within ninety days after such fraud or misrepresentation is known or should have been known. If the parent or someone acting on behalf of the parent makes application for assistance pursuant to chapter 28-13, the county shall give the written notice required herein within ninety days after it receives the application or notice required under § 28-13-1, 28-13-32.3, 28-13-32.4, or 28-13-34.1, whichever is sooner.
S.D. Codified Laws § 25-7-27
Adult child's duty to support parent when necessary--Notice required
Applied in 6 court decisions — leading case Americana Healthcare Center v. Randall (1994)
Most recently applied in State v. Clemensen (November 2025)
Source: SDC 1939, § 14.0320 as enacted by SL 1963, ch 61; SL 2000, ch 118, § 1.
How often courts cite this section
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.
Official source: South Dakota Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain South Dakota statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.