SOUTH DAKOTA

Has state opted out of federal bankruptcy exemptions? Yes. S.D. Codified Laws §§ 43-31-30, 43-45-13.

Is opt out limited to residents or domiciliaries of the state? Yes. S.D. Codified Laws §§ 43-31-30, 43-45-13: “Residents of this state are not entitled to [§ 522(d) exemptions], exemptions which this state specifically does not authorize.” See In re Volk, 26 B.R. 457 (Bankr. D.S.D. 1983).

Do state’s exemptions have extraterritorial application?

Homestead: Uncertain. Compare S.D. Codified Laws § 43-31-1, which applies to the “homestead of every family, resident in this state,” with S.D. Codified Laws § 43-31-2, which defines a homestead as including “two or more houses or mobile homes thus used at different times and places.”

Personal property: Uncertain.

Wages: S.D. Codified Laws §§ 21-18-2.1, 21-18-51 through 21-18-53.

Scope: Compensation paid or payable for personal services whether called wages, salary, commission, bonus, or otherwise; includes periodic payments from pension or retirement plan. S.D. Codified Laws § 28-18-2.1.

Amount: Greater of 80% of disposable income or forty times minimum wage is exempt. Additional exemption of $25/week for each dependent residing with debtor. S.D. Codified Laws § 21-18-51.

Survival after payment/deposit: Not specified in garnishment statute.

Waiver: Not specified in garnishment statute.

Homestead: S.D. Codified Laws §§ 43-31-1 through 43-31-6, 43-31-11, 43-31-13, 43-31-13.1, 43-45-3.

Amount: Dwelling, explicitly including dwelling listed for sale, exempt subject to certain exceptions; manufactured home must be larger than 240 square feet at its base and registered in South Dakota at least six months before the claim of exemption (S.D. Codified Laws § 43-31-2); $60,000 in sale proceeds are exempt for one year after receipt but exemption is $170,000 if debtor is 70 or older or the unremarried spouse of such a person (S.D. Codified Laws § 43-31-1); limit of one acre within a town plat and 160 acres outside a town plat; if outside a town plat and acquired under U.S. laws relating to mineral lands, limit is 40 acres; if acquired as a “lode mining claim,” limit is five acres. S.D. Codified Laws § 43-31-4.

Procedural requirements: Home owner may have homestead platted, but failure to do so does not destroy exemption. S.D. Codified Laws § 43-31-6.

Special provisions: Upon death of home owner, exemption continues to protect surviving spouse and minor children. S.D. Codified Laws § 43-31-15. If owner must leave the home pursuant to a protection order, or otherwise to preserve the peace of the home, absence is not a waiver or abandonment of homestead unless there is evidence to the contrary. S.D. Codified Laws § 43-31-13.1. New homestead will be exempt to the same extent and in the same manner as the old. S.D. Codified Laws § 43-31-11. Proceeds of sale of homestead exempt for one year. If a homestead is divided at divorce, and a lien imposed for the benefit of the non-occupant spouse, the homestead exemption will protect that lien for one year. S.D. Codified Laws § 43-45-3.

Waiver: Both spouses must join in conveyance or encumbrance.

Tangible personal property: S.D. Codified Laws §§ 43-45-2, 43-45-4.

Household goods: See miscellaneous and wildcard exemptions; provisions and fuel for one year absolutely exempt. S.D. Codified Laws § 43-45-2(6).

Motor vehicles: See miscellaneous and wildcard exemptions.

Tools of trade: See miscellaneous and wildcard exemptions.

Clothing and jewelry: All clothing. S.D. Codified Laws § 43-45-2(5).

Miscellaneous and wildcard: Personal property head of family $7000, others $5000 (S.D. Codified Laws § 43-45-4); burial plot; all family pictures; a pew; health aids (S.D. Codified Laws §§ 43-45-2(1) through 43-45-2(4), 43-45-2(8)); $200 in a family library.

Waiver: Not specified in exemption statute.

Benefits, retirement plans, insurance, judgments, and other intangibles: S.D. Codified Laws §§ 43-45-6, 43-45-15 through 43-45-18.

Public benefits: Not specified in exemption statute. See S.D. Codified Laws § 28-7A-18 (TANF is exempt).

Pensions, retirement plans, and annuities: Up to $1 million and the income and distributions therefrom in employee benefit plan. Employee benefit plan is defined as certain tax-qualified plans. In the event that any court of South Dakota finds the exemption excessive, the court is directed to determine what amount is permissible under the state constitution. S.D. Codified Laws §§ 43-45-16 through 43-45-18.

Insurance, judgments, or other compensation for injury: Life insurance payments to spouse or minor children, exempt from debts of insured and beneficiaries up to $10,000. S.D. Codified Laws § 43-45-6.

Bank accounts: Not specified in exemption statute.

Alimony, child support: Court-ordered alimony, maintenance or support, which is not a gross or lump sum, and which does not exceed $750/month. S.D. Codified Laws § 43-45-2 (9).

Tax refunds: Not specified in exemption statute.

Survival after payment or deposit: Not specified in exemption statute.