How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in South Dakota?
An attorney-prepared revocable living trust in South Dakota runs $3,580Estimate: 10 hours at $358, Clio's South Dakota Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source to $5,370Estimate: 15 hours at $358, Clio's South Dakota Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source for an individual, against $0 to $549 up front plus a subscription with an online service.
A revocable living trust in South Dakota costs what the provider charges. An online service runs $0 to $549 up front plus a subscription. An attorney in South Dakota charges around $358Clio Compare Lawyer Rates, South Dakota: Trusts rate (2025 data)Verified Oct 15, 2026View source an hour for trust work, which puts an attorney-prepared trust at $3,580Estimate: 10 hours at $358, Clio's South Dakota Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source to $5,370Estimate: 15 hours at $358, Clio's South Dakota Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source for an individual plan.
Yes. Assets titled to a revocable living trust pass outside probate in South Dakota: the beneficiaries receive them without a court case, a public record or the probate timeline. Probate on a $500,000 estate in South Dakota costs about $23,735SDCL § 29A-3-719(a) (reasonable compensation; no statutory percentage for attorneys)Verified Sep 8, 2026View source in court and professional fees. The South Dakota probate calculator estimates the fees for a given estate.
An online trust service costs $0 to $549 up front against $3,580Estimate: 10 hours at $358, Clio's South Dakota Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source to $5,370Estimate: 15 hours at $358, Clio's South Dakota Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source for an attorney in South Dakota. The lifetime figure turns on the subscription, the amendment charges and how often life events require an update.
Only what was never transferred into the trust. The common oversights are a bank account, a vehicle or real estate left in the grantor's own name. A pour-over will catches those assets and directs them into the trust through probate; funding the trust in life is what avoids that step.
Most online trust services charge a subscription of $49 to $199 a year, which may cover document access, minor amendments or an attorney consultation. An attorney amendment in South Dakota costs $358Estimate: 1 hours at $358, Clio's South Dakota Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source to $716Estimate: 2 hours at $358, Clio's South Dakota Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source for a simple change and $1,432Estimate: 4 hours at $358, Clio's South Dakota Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source to $2,864Estimate: 8 hours at $358, Clio's South Dakota Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source for a major update such as a divorce or a remarriage.
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New Baby or Adoption
Your family is growing. Your protection should too. Guardian nominations, trusts for minors, beneficiary updates, and the documents new parents need in place.
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Marriage
What married couples need in place: one joint trust or two, wills, beneficiary updates, and the spousal rights your state grants you automatically.
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New Home
How to put your house in a revocable trust: the deed you record, what it does to your mortgage and property taxes, and when a TOD deed is simpler.
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Retirement
Retirement changes your financial picture. Healthcare directives, beneficiary reviews, long-term care planning, and protecting what you've built.
Learn moreForms for Planning Your Estate in South Dakota
Free forms for planning your estate in South Dakota: a will, living trust, pour-over will, both powers of attorney, living will, and TOD deed.
Pour-Over Will
In South Dakota, a pour-over will is signed before 2SDCL 29A-2-502Verified Sep 16, 2026View source witnesses and moves anything left outside the trust into it through probate.
Revocable Living Trust
Create a revocable living trust to avoid probate, protect privacy, and control asset distribution.
Last Will and Testament
In South Dakota, a will is signed before 2SDCL 29A-2-502Verified Sep 16, 2026View source witnesses, and a self-proving affidavit signed with it lets the court admit it without witness testimonySDCL 29A-2-502Verified Sep 16, 2026View source.
Healthcare Power of Attorney
South Dakota allows a choice for a healthcare power of attorney: 2SDCL § 34-12D-3 (living will form; no statutory healthcare proxy form)Verified Oct 15, 2026View source witnesses or a notary.
Financial Power of Attorney
South Dakota requires explicit durability language for a power of attorney to survive incapacitySDCL § 59-12-3, § 59-12-4, § 59-12-5, § 59-12-6, § 59-12-8, § 59-12-23, § 59-12-41Verified Sep 20, 2026View source, and it is signed before a notarySDCL § 59-12-3, § 59-12-4, § 59-12-5, § 59-12-6, § 59-12-8, § 59-12-23, § 59-12-41Verified Sep 20, 2026View source.
Transfer on Death Deed
In South Dakota, a transfer on death deed is signed before a notarySDCL 29A-6-401 to 29A-6-435Verified Aug 24, 2026, then recorded with the county before the owner's deathSDCL 29A-6-401 to 29A-6-435Verified Aug 24, 2026.
Vehicle Transfer on Death
Name a beneficiary to inherit your vehicle at death without probate. Available in 26 states and the District of Columbia.
Living Will
In South Dakota, the living will is the Living Will DeclarationS.D. Codified Laws ch. 34-12D (§§ 34-12D-1 to 34-12D-22)Verified Sep 27, 2026View source, a document of its own, apart from the healthcare power of attorney.
Tools for Planning Your Estate in South Dakota
Free tools for planning your estate in South Dakota: what a will or trust costs, whether you need a trust or TOD deed, and how documents are signed.
How Does SimplyTrust Compare to LegalZoom, Trust & Will, and Other Services?
Compare what it costs to make a trust official across SimplyTrust, LegalZoom, Trust & Will, Rocket Lawyer, and Quicken WillMaker.
Do I Need a Revocable Trust?
Probate in South Dakota takes 4 months to 6 months for a simple estate and charges attorney fees of typically 1.8%SDCL § 29A-3-719(a) (reasonable compensation; no statutory percentage for attorneys)Verified Sep 8, 2026View source to 2.8%SDCL § 29A-3-719(a) (reasonable compensation; no statutory percentage for attorneys)Verified Sep 8, 2026View source of the estate; assets held in a revocable trust skip both.
Trust or Will: Which Costs Less?
In South Dakota, a will-based plan pays probate attorney fees of typically 1.8%SDCL § 29A-3-719(a) (reasonable compensation; no statutory percentage for attorneys)Verified Sep 8, 2026View source to 2.8%SDCL § 29A-3-719(a) (reasonable compensation; no statutory percentage for attorneys)Verified Sep 8, 2026View source of the estate; a funded revocable trust keeps those assets out of probate and off that fee.
What Does Estate Planning Actually Cost?
An attorney-prepared revocable trust in South Dakota runs $3,580Estimate: 10 hours at $358, Clio's South Dakota Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source to $5,370Estimate: 15 hours at $358, Clio's South Dakota Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source and a simple will $933Estimate: 3 hours at $311, Clio's South Dakota Wills and Estates rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source to $1,866Estimate: 6 hours at $311, Clio's South Dakota Wills and Estates rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source, against $0 to $549 up front plus a subscription with an online service.
How Much Life Insurance Do I Need?
In South Dakota, four years at a public university cost about $69,440NCES Digest of Education Statistics 2023, Table 330.20, public 4-year in-state tuition, fees, room and board, academic year 2022-23Verified Oct 3, 2026View source and the cost of living is 11% below the U.S. averageBEA Regional Price Parities, all items, by state, 2024Verified Oct 3, 2026View source; no state estate or inheritance tax appliesNo state estate or inheritance tax. Inheritance tax constitutionally prohibited (S.D. Const. Art. XI, § 15, initiated measure approved Nov. 7, 2000, eff. July 1, 2001: "No tax may be levied on any inheritance, and the Legislature may not enact any law imposing such a tax."). Both the inheritance tax (SDCL ch. 10-40, ch. 10-41) and the estate tax (SDCL ch. 10-40A) were repealed outright by 2014 SL ch. 59 (HB 1057), signed February 12, 2014 — a true repeal, leaving no dormant levy. SD DOR: "South Dakota does not have an inheritance tax... There is also no estate tax."Verified Sep 15, 2026View source.
Are My Beneficiary Designations Protected?
South Dakota automatically revokes an ex-spouse as beneficiary at divorceSDCL § 29A-2-804; § 29A-1-201Verified Sep 15, 2026View source; employer plans under ERISA follow federal rules either way, so a 401(k) beneficiary changes only by a new designation.
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South Dakota Estate Planning Resources
In-depth guides covering South Dakota probate laws, trust requirements, and estate planning strategies.