(a) A personal representative upon appointment may publish a notice to creditors once a week for three successive weeks in a legal newspaper in the county in which the proceeding is pending giving the personal representative’s name and address and notifying creditors of the decedent to present their claims within four months after the date of the first publication of the notice or the claim may be barred.

(b) Except as provided in subsection (c), a personal representative shall give written notice by mail or other delivery to a creditor of the decedent, who is either known to or reasonably ascertainable by the personal representative, informing the creditor to present the claim within four months after the date of the personal representative’s appointment, or within sixty days after the mailing or other delivery of the written notice, whichever is later, or be forever barred.

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Terms Used In South Dakota Codified Laws 29A-3-801

  • Decedent: A deceased person.
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • written: include typewriting and typewritten, printing and printed, except in the case of signatures, and where the words are used by way of contrast to typewriting and printing. See South Dakota Codified Laws 2-14-2

(c) A personal representative need not give written notice to a creditor if any of the following apply:

(1) The creditor has presented a claim against the estate;

(2) The creditor has been paid in full;

(3) The creditor was neither known to nor reasonably ascertainable by the personal representative within four months after the personal representative’s appointment.

(d) For purposes of this section, a creditor is known if the personal representative is aware that the creditor has demanded payment from the decedent or the estate or if the personal representative is otherwise aware of the decedent’s obligation.

(e) No personal representative may incur liability for a nonnegligent or nonwillful failure to give notice to a particular creditor. Liability, if any, for such failure shall attach to the estate.

Source: SL 1994, ch 232, § 3-801; SL 1995, ch 167, § 124.