Title 25, DOMESTIC RELATIONS

Marriage is a personal relation, between a man and a woman, arising out of a civil contract to which the consent of parties capable of making it is necessary. Consent alone does not constitute a marriage; it must be followed by a solemnization. Source: SDC 1939, § 14.0101; SL 195…

Previous to any marriage within this state, a license shall be obtained from the county register of deeds of any county, the fee for which is forty dollars. Ten dollars of the marriage license fee shall be retained by the county in which the fee is collected and placed in the cou…

To obtain a marriage license, each applicant shall sign the marriage license application in person in the presence of the register of deeds or in the presence of a person duly appointed by the register to act in the register's behalf. Each applicant shall provide valid personal i…

The application for a marriage license shall contain the following statement: "The laws of this state affirm your right to enter into this marriage and at the same time to live within the marriage free from violence and abuse. Neither of you is the property of the other. Physical…

Such license must not in any case be granted where either party is under the age necessary to render the marriage absolutely valid nor where the condition of either party is such as to disqualify him from making any other civil contract nor in any case where the marriage would be…

Except as provided in this section, a marriage license may be issued to two individuals, one of whom is a minor or both of whom are minors, provided that the individuals applying for the marriage license are at least sixteen years old and have obtained: (1) A circuit court order …

If a court order is sought for the marriage of a minor pursuant to § 25-1-13 , the court must conduct an in-person hearing with both applicants for the marriage license present and meet privately with each applicant. The court shall consider and make written findings regarding: (…

Any register of deeds who grants a marriage license contrary to the provisions of this title is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Source: SDC 1939, § 14.9902; SL 1974, ch 55 , § 26; SL 1988, ch 202 , § 5.

The consent to a marriage must be to one commencing instantly, and not an agreement to marry afterwards. Source: SDC 1939, § 14.0104.

Any marriage license issued under the provisions of this chapter shall become void unless the marriage is solemnized within ninety days following issuance. Source: SDC 1939, § 14.0123 (7) as enacted by SL 1939, ch 36 ; SL 2020, ch 104 , § 1.

At the time the application for a marriage license is filed, the register of deeds shall distribute to each applicant educational materials prepared and provided at no cost to the counties by the Department of Health on topics related to sexually transmitted disease, HIV transmis…

Marriage must be solemnized, authenticated, and recorded as provided in this chapter provided, however, that noncompliance with its provisions does not invalidate any lawful marriage consented to and subsequently consummated prior to July 1, 1959. Source: SDC 1939, § 14.0110; SL …

Marriage may be solemnized by a justice of the Supreme Court, a judge of the circuit court, a magistrate, a mayor, either within or without the corporate limits of the municipality from which the mayor was elected, or any person authorized by a church to solemnize marriages. Sour…

If any marriage is solemnized without the license required by this title being procured, the parties so married and all persons aiding in such marriage are guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Source: SDC 1939, § 14.9903.

Before performing the marriage ceremony, the person solemnizing a marriage shall ascertain by personal knowledge or by requesting a photographic identification: (1) The identity of the parties; (2) Their real and full names and places of residence; and (3) The names and places of…

A person is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor if the person solemnizes any marriage knowing that: (1) Either party who is under the age of eighteen has not met the requirements provided under § 25-1-13 ; (2) Either party is of unsound mind; or (3) Any other legal impediment exists.…

After performing the ceremony, the person solemnizing the marriage shall deliver the marriage certificate to the persons married and return, within ten days, the license and record of marriage to the county register of deeds. Source: SDC 1939, §§ 14.0117, 14.9904; SL 1978, ch 187…

Persons married in accordance with the creed or custom of any sect or denomination to which they belong which dispenses with the services of any minister or other person authorized to perform marriages by § 25-1-30 are themselves required to make return of such marriage within th…

The Department of Health shall maintain marriage licenses issued and records of marriages solemnized in South Dakota. A duly certified copy of the recorded marriage license shall be received as competent evidence of the marriage. The local registrar shall file monthly, or more fr…

Any marriage contracted outside the jurisdiction of this state, except a marriage contracted between two persons of the same gender, which is valid by the laws of the jurisdiction in which such marriage was contracted, is valid in this state. Source: SDC 1939, § 14.0103; SL 2000,…

If either party to a marriage be incapable from physical causes of entering into the marriage state or if the consent of either be obtained by fraud or force, the marriage is voidable. Source: SDC 1939, § 14.0107.

No pardon granted to any person sentenced to imprisonment for life in this state restores such person to the rights of any previous marriage or to the guardianship of any issue of such marriage. Source: SDC 1939, § 14.0108.

Consent to and subsequent consummation of marriage may be manifested in any form and may be proved under the same general rules of evidence as facts in other cases. Source: SDC 1939, § 14.0105.

Marriages between parents and children, ancestors and descendants of every degree, and between brothers and sisters of the half as well as the whole blood, and between uncles and nieces, or aunts and nephews, and between cousins of the half as well as of the whole blood, are null…

Every marriage of a stepfather with a stepdaughter or a stepmother with a stepson is null and void from the beginning. Source: SDC 1939, § 14.0106 (2).

A subsequent marriage contracted by any person during the life of a former husband or wife of such person with any person other than such former husband or wife, is null and void from the beginning, unless the former marriage has been annulled or dissolved, or unless such former …

Except as provided in § 25-1-13 , no marriage may be contracted in this state unless both individuals applying for the marriage license have attained the age of eighteen at the time the marriage license is issued. Source: SDC 1939, § 14.0109; SL 1961, ch 52 ; SL 1975, ch 178 , § …

Husband and wife contract toward each other obligations of mutual respect, fidelity, and support. Source: SDC 1939, § 14.0201.

Either husband or wife may enter into any engagement or transaction with the other, or with any other person, respecting property, which either might, if unmarried, subject, in transactions between themselves, to the general rules which control the actions of persons occupying co…

Every husband and wife shall be jointly and severally liable for the purchase price, if such price be stated or agreed upon at the time of purchase, and if not so stated or agreed upon, for the reasonable value of all the necessaries of life, consisting of food, clothing, and fue…

The earnings of a spouse are not liable for the debts of the other spouse. The earnings and accumulations of a spouse and of his or her minor children living with him or her or in his or her custody while he or she is living separate from the other spouse are his or her separate …

A husband and wife cannot by any contract with each other alter their legal relations, except as to property, and except that they may agree in writing to an immediate separation and may make provision for the support of either of them and of their children during such separation…

Neither husband nor wife as such is answerable for the acts of the other. Source: SDC 1939, § 14.0206.

For any injury to his or her reputation, person, or property, a person may sue in his or her own name without joining his or her spouse as a party plaintiff. Actions founded upon a person's separate contracts or torts or relating to his or her individual property may be brought w…

Terms as used in §§ 25-2-16 to 25-2-25 , inclusive, mean: (1) "Premarital agreement," an agreement between prospective spouses made in contemplation of marriage and to be effective upon marriage; (2) "Property," any interest, present or future, legal or equitable, vested or conti…

A premarital agreement shall be in writing and signed by both parties. It is enforceable without consideration. Source: SL 1989, ch 216 , § 2.

(a) Parties to a premarital agreement may contract with respect to: (1) The rights and obligations of each of the parties in any of the property of either or both of them whenever and wherever acquired or located; (2) The right to buy, sell, use, transfer, exchange, abandon, leas…

A premarital agreement becomes effective upon marriage. Source: SL 1989, ch 216 , § 4.

After marriage, a premarital agreement may be amended or revoked only by a written agreement signed by the parties. The amended agreement or the revocation is enforceable without consideration. Source: SL 1989, ch 216 , § 5.

(a) A premarital agreement is not enforceable if the party against whom enforcement is sought proves that: (1) That party did not execute the agreement voluntarily; or (2) The agreement was unconscionable when it was executed and, before execution of the agreement, that party: (i…

If a marriage is determined to be void, an agreement that would otherwise have been a premarital agreement is enforceable only to the extent necessary to avoid an inequitable result. Source: SL 1989, ch 216 , § 7.

Any statute of limitations applicable to an action asserting a claim for relief under a premarital agreement is tolled during the marriage of the parties to the agreement. However, equitable defenses limiting the time for enforcement, including laches and estoppel, are available …

Sections 25-2-16 to 25-2-25 , inclusive, shall be applied and construed to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the law with respect to the subject of the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act among states enacting it. Source: SL 1989, ch 216 , § 9.

Sections 25-2-16 to 25-2-25 , inclusive, may be cited as the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act. Source: SL 1989, ch 216 , § 10.

A husband and wife may hold real or personal property together as joint tenants or tenants in common. Source: SDC 1939, § 14.0204.

Neither husband nor wife has any interest in the property of the other, excepting their respective rights for support as specifically provided by law, and except that neither can be excluded from the other's dwelling. Source: SDC 1939, § 14.0203.

A full and complete inventory of the separate personal property of a husband or wife, or both, may be made out and signed by him or her, or both, under oath, and recorded in the office of the register of deeds of the county in which the parties reside. The filing of the inventory…

The separate property of a spouse is not liable for the debts of the other spouse contracted before or after the marriage. Source: SDC 1939, § 14.0206; SL 1984, ch 12 , § 40.

Each spouse shall have and retain after marriage all the civil and property rights of a single person. Each may buy and sell, receive and convey, or dispose of by will, or otherwise dispose of any real or personal property belonging to him or her or in which he or she may have an…

A person may without the consent of his or her spouse convey his or her separate property. Source: SDC 1939, § 14.0204; SL 1984, ch 12 , § 42.