In case the husband or wife abandon the other and remove from the state and remain absent therefrom one year or more, or be sentenced to imprisonment in the county jail or state penitentiary for a period of one year or more, or become mentally ill and be committed to the South Dakota Human Services Center, and the husband or wife of such person so imprisoned, mentally ill, or guilty of abandonment be without means of support, the circuit court for the county in which such husband or wife resides, upon application duly verified and supported by such evidence as the court deems sufficient, may, by order or decree, authorize and direct the applicant or some other suitable person to manage, control, sell, or encumber the property of such imprisoned, mentally ill, or offending person in order to make suitable provision for the support and maintenance of his or her husband or wife and minor children during the period of such abandonment, imprisonment, or mental illness. Notice of such application must be served in the same manner as the summons in civil actions and in case of appearance by the opposite party, trials and other proceedings may be had as in case of civil actions and all orders, judgments, and decrees entered shall have the same force and effect.

Source: SDC 1939, § 14.0205.