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How much does it cost to file for divorce in South Dakota?

Filing for divorce in South Dakota costs $97 in total court costs, the same in every circuit. The South Dakota Unified Judicial System's Schedule of Court Costs breaks the figure into three printed lines: a $50 filing fee, a $40 court automation surcharge and a $7 law library fee. South Dakota is one of the cheapest states in the country to open a divorce, and its schedule helpfully prices the neighbours too: an answer costs $25, an eviction or name change $72, and a child support modification $50 all-in.

South Dakota divorce fees at a glance

Every figure in the table comes from the South Dakota Unified Judicial System's Schedule of Court Costs, Guide to Filing Fees and Court Costs — Civil Filings Only, effective July 1, 2026, published on the UJS website (ujs.sd.gov). Read the schedule's columns carefully and the $97 explains itself: divorce carries the full $50 filing fee where most other civil filings (eviction, foreclosure, quiet title, adoption, name change) carry $25, but all of them share the same $40 automation surcharge and $7 law library fee, which is why those cases total $72. The UJS's own divorce packets confirm the answer-side figure independently: the defendant's checklists for divorce with and without minor children (Forms UJS-307A and UJS-307B) instruct the responding spouse to file the answer with the required $25 filing fee. The national comparison is on the divorce filing costs hub and the wider state picture on the South Dakota court costs guide.

Residency, grounds and the parenting course

South Dakota's divorce chapter is SDCL chapter 14-5. The plaintiff must be a resident of the state in good faith when the action is begun; the statute does not impose a six-month-style durational period of the kind most states use. Divorce may be granted for irreconcilable differences — the no-fault ground — or on the fault grounds the chapter lists, and the ground chosen does not change the $97. Where minor children are involved, South Dakota adds a step many states do not price into the filing but do require: both parents must complete a court-approved parenting course, generally within 60 days of service of the summons and complaint, unless the court waives or delays it for good cause or a parent completed an approved course within the last five years. The UJS defendant checklists spell out the requirement and the waiver affidavit (Form UJS-364). The course is provided by approved providers and priced by them, not by the UJS schedule.

Stipulated divorces and the UJS form packets

South Dakota's Unified Judicial System publishes a complete self-help apparatus for divorce: plaintiff and defendant checklists and full form packets for cases with and without minor children, a Case Filing Statement (UJS-232), Financial Affidavit (UJS-023), and the stipulation and settlement agreement forms (UJS-324 and companions) for agreed cases. A stipulated divorce — both spouses signed on every term — is the cheapest complete route through the system: the clerk-side bill is the $97 filing total plus, if the defendant files a formal answer rather than joining the stipulation, the $25 answer fee. The forms themselves are free online; the packets note printed sets can be obtained from a clerk of courts office. Property division is equitable, and a spouse may ask the court to restore a former name in the decree at no additional filing fee, because name restoration rides inside the divorce case rather than the separate $72 name change filing.

How the case runs

1. Confirm good-faith South Dakota residency and gather the UJS divorce packet for your situation (with or without minor children)
2. Complete the summons, complaint and Case Filing Statement (UJS-232) and file them with the clerk of courts, paying the total court costs $97
3. Serve your spouse; a sheriff's fee for service is capped at $50 under SDCL §7-12-18, and a formal answer costs $25
4. Complete the court-approved parenting course within 60 days if you have minor children, and exchange financial affidavits
5. File the stipulation and settlement agreement in an agreed case, or try the contested issues, and obtain the Judgment and Decree of Divorce

What divorce really costs beyond the clerk

The UJS schedule prices the court's charges; three common costs sit outside it. Sheriff's service is the predictable one: SDCL §7-12-18 caps the sheriff's fee for serving process at $50, though private process servers set their own rates. The parenting course is priced by the approved provider. Attorney fees are market-priced and are normally the largest cost in a contested South Dakota divorce. Everything the clerk charges, by contrast, is in the schedule: $97 to file, $25 to answer, $50 to modify child support, $15 for an authenticated copy, $20 per name for a record search, $2 for a civil subpoena and $5 for an execution. Compare neighbouring structures in North Dakota divorce costs and Nebraska court costs on the state index.

Can't afford the fee?

South Dakota allows the court to waive filing fees and service costs for a filer who cannot pay: SDCL §16-2-29.2 provides for proceeding without prepayment on an affidavit of indigency, and the UJS publishes a combined Motion to Waive Filing Fee and Service of Process Fee (Form UJS-022) that its divorce checklists direct defendants and plaintiffs to use. Because the same motion can cover the sheriff's service fee as well as the $97, it is worth filing even where the filing fee alone looks manageable. File it with the complaint rather than after it. The general mechanics are explained in the fee waiver guide.

Sources: South Dakota Unified Judicial System, Schedule of Court Costs — Guide to Filing Fees and Court Costs, Civil Filings Only, effective July 1, 2026 (ujs.sd.gov) — divorce $50 filing fee + $40 court automation surcharge + $7 law library fee = $97; answer/responsive pleading $25; child support modification $50; eviction $72; name change $72; authenticated copies $15; record search $20 per name; civil subpoena $2; execution $5 · UJS Forms UJS-307A/UJS-307B defendant divorce checklists ($25 answer fee; parenting course; Form UJS-022 waiver) · SDCL §§7-12-18 (sheriff service cap $50), 16-2-29.2 (fee waiver), ch. 14-5 (divorce). Last verified: October 2026 — confirm current figures with the clerk of courts.