A conveyance or encumbrance of a homestead by its owner, if married and both husband and wife are residents of this state, is valid if both husband and wife concur in and sign or execute such conveyance or encumbrance either by joint instrument or by separate instruments. However, for the sole purpose of a spouse of a person in the armed forces making application for a home loan under 38 U.S.C. 1701, et seq., the signature of the spouse alone is sufficient to convey or encumber the homestead if the person in the armed forces is officially declared to be: missing in action, captured in line of duty by a hostile force, or forcibly detained or interned in line of duty by a foreign government or power.
S.D. Codified Laws § 43-31-17
Execution by husband and wife necessary for conveyance or encumbrance--Exception for prisoner of war or missing in action
Applied in 11 court decisions — leading case Schutterle v. Schutterle (1977)
Most recently applied in Niesche v. Wilkinson (December 2013)
Source: SL 1874-5, ch 51, § 3; PolC 1877, ch 38, § 3; CL 1887, § 2451; SL 1891, ch 77, § 1; RPolC 1903, §§ 3217, 3219; RC 1919, § 451; SL 1921, ch 255; SDC 1939, § 51.1703; SL 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.