Executor Duties in South Dakota

Main duties and deadlines for a South Dakota personal representative: qualify by filing an acceptance of office and any required bond; within 14 days after appointment, give information of the appointment to the heirs and devisees (and give the required written notice to the Department of Social Services); optionally publish a notice to creditors once a week for three successive weeks, requiring claims within four months after the first publication, and mail notice to known or reasonably ascertainable creditors; within six months after appointment or nine months after death, whichever is later, prepare an inventory of the decedent's property at date-of-death fair market value, with encumbrances; pay claims, expenses and taxes; distribute the estate; and close it, for example by filing a verified closing statement no earlier than four months after the original appointment.

The circuit court issues letters to the personal representative after an application for informal probate and appointment or a petition in a formal proceeding. Priority goes to the person named in the will, then a surviving spouse who is a devisee, other devisees, the surviving spouse, other heirs, and (45 days after death) any other qualified person. Before receiving letters, the personal representative must file an acceptance of office and any required bond; bond is generally not required unless the court finds it is in the best interests of the estate. In a probated estate, South Dakota county treasurers accept a copy of the court papers appointing the personal representative to transfer vehicle titles.

If notice to creditors is published (once a week for three successive weeks), claims must be presented within four months after the first publication. Known or reasonably ascertainable creditors must receive written notice and must present claims within four months after the personal representative's appointment or 60 days after the written notice is mailed or delivered, whichever is later. In all cases, claims arising before death are barred if not presented within three years after the decedent's death.