A promise to answer for the obligation of another is deemed an original obligation of the promiser and need not be in writing where the creditor parts with value or enters into an obligation, in consideration of the obligation in respect to which the promise is made, in terms or under circumstances such as to render the party making the promise the principal debtor, and the person in whose behalf it is made his surety.
S.D. Codified Laws § 56-1-6
Obligation which renders the party making the promise the principal debtor, and the person in whose behalf it is made the surety--Writing unnecessary
Applied in 5 court decisions — leading case Cargill, Inc. v. American Pork Producers, Inc. (1977)
Most recently applied in In Re the Estate of Cullum (November 2015)
Source: SDC 1939, § 26.0105 (2).
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.