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S.D. Codified Laws § 29A-3-801

Notice to creditors

Applied in 6 court decisions — leading case In Re the Estate of Hamilton (2012)

Most recently applied in Estate of Smeenk (July 2022)

Source: SL 1994, ch 232, § 3-801; SL 1995, ch 167, § 124.

How often courts cite this section

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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.

(a) A personal representative upon appointment may publish a notice to creditors once a week for three successive weeks in a legal newspaper in the county in which the proceeding is pending giving the personal representative's name and address and notifying creditors of the decedent to present their claims within four months after the date of the first publication of the notice or the claim may be barred.

(b) Except as provided in subsection (c), a personal representative shall give written notice by mail or other delivery to a creditor of the decedent, who is either known to or reasonably ascertainable by the personal representative, informing the creditor to present the claim within four months after the date of the personal representative's appointment, or within sixty days after the mailing or other delivery of the written notice, whichever is later, or be forever barred.

(c) A personal representative need not give written notice to a creditor if any of the following apply:

(1) The creditor has presented a claim against the estate;

(2) The creditor has been paid in full;

(3) The creditor was neither known to nor reasonably ascertainable by the personal representative within four months after the personal representative's appointment.

(d) For purposes of this section, a creditor is known if the personal representative is aware that the creditor has demanded payment from the decedent or the estate or if the personal representative is otherwise aware of the decedent's obligation.

(e) No personal representative may incur liability for a nonnegligent or nonwillful failure to give notice to a particular creditor. Liability, if any, for such failure shall attach to the estate.

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