Public-domain · open source
OpenJurist

S.D. Codified Laws § 25-8-57

Rebuttable presumption of legitimacy

Applied in 8 court decisions — leading case In Re Estate of Smid (2008)

Most recently applied in Stavig v. Stavig (September 2009)

Source: SL 1994, ch 204, § 9; SL 2013, ch 119, § 17.

How often courts cite this section

2001200930
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 child born in wedlock, or born within ten months after dissolution of the marriage, is presumed legitimate to that marriage even if the marriage is subsequently declared to be null and void, or subsequently dissolved by divorce. This rebuttable presumption of legitimacy can only be disputed by the husband or wife, or a descendant of one or both of them, or a potential biological father of the child. The potential biological father has standing to file an action to rebut this presumption prior to obtaining genetic test results. The potential biological father may not rebut the presumption without genetic test results meeting the requirements of § 25-8-58 establishing that he is the biological father of the child.

This presumption may be specifically rebutted pursuant to § 25-8-64.

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