South Dakota Codified Laws 29A-3-1001. Formal proceedings terminating administration–Testate or intestate–Order of general protection
(a) The administration of an estate being administered in supervised proceedings may be concluded by an order of complete settlement, and the administration of an estate being administered in unsupervised proceedings may be concluded by an order of complete settlement if the court grants a petition therefor. The personal representative may petition for an order of complete settlement after four months from the appointment of the original personal representative, and any other interested person may petition after one year from the appointment of the original personal representative. The petition of the personal representative shall be granted as a matter of course, but other petitions shall be granted only if there is good cause.
(b) The petition shall request the court to approve the account or to compel and approve an accounting, to determine the decedent‘s testacy status and heirs, if not previously determined by the court or if one or more heirs or devisees were admitted as parties in, or were not given notice of, a previous formal testacy proceeding, and to adjudicate the final settlement and distribution of the estate.
Terms Used In South Dakota Codified Laws 29A-3-1001
- Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Decedent: A deceased person.
- Person: includes natural persons, partnerships, associations, cooperative corporations, limited liability companies, and corporations. See South Dakota Codified Laws 2-14-2
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
(c) After notice to all interested persons and hearing, and the filing of proof that a copy of the accounting was mailed to the heirs and devisees entitled to distribution of and from the remaining assets of the estate, and to all known creditors and other claimants whose claims are neither paid nor barred, the court may enter the appropriate orders, terminate the personal representative’s appointment, and discharge the personal representative from further claims or demands.
(d) Any accounting required under this section may be waived if the persons entitled to a copy consent in writing.
(e) An order of complete settlement shall be conclusive as to the matters determined on all persons given notice, subject only to being reversed, set aside or modified on appeal.
Source: SL 1994, ch 232, § 3-1001; SL 1995, ch 167, § 133.