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How to Modify Child Custody in South Dakota

Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · South Dakota · Last updated November 13, 2026

South Dakota lets a parent with an unworkable schedule ask the court, with no filing fee, to write the statewide parenting time guidelines into an existing order, and if the other parent does not object within ten days of service, guideline time can be imposed without a hearing. Modifying child custody in South Dakota means asking the circuit court that entered your custody or parenting time order to change it because something significant has changed since then. No statute makes you wait. In a divorce case SDCL 25-4-45 says the court may at any time vacate or modify its custody directions, guided by the child's temporal, mental and moral welfare. Courts look for a substantial change in circumstances, the phrase SDCL 25-4A-27 itself uses. Moving is handled on its own track. Unless your order already governs relocation, SDCL 25-4A-17 requires written notice by certified mail or admission of service at least 45 days before you change your principal residence, with proof filed in the case. No mileage switches that duty on. Instead it switches off when the move keeps the child inside the current school district or brings the child closer to the noncustodial parent. The other parent then has thirty days to request a hearing under SDCL 25-4A-19, and silence means the move is presumed consented to. A full modification motion carries a $50 fee under SDCL 16-2-29(4)(b), and SDCL 16-2-58 adds a $50 surcharge on the same filing, so confirm the total with the clerk. Expect a parenting course within sixty days of service and court-ordered mediation unless an exception applies. Attorney review of your filing is available through DocDraft.

Find out where you stand in South Dakota

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Is there a waiting period to modify custody in South Dakota?

No. SDCL 25-4-45 says the court may at any time vacate or modify its custody directions in a divorce case. Nothing in the custody, parent and child, or jurisdiction chapters, or in the circuit court procedure rules, sets a waiting period or a time bar on a motion to modify custody or parenting time.

How much notice must a South Dakota parent give before moving with a child?

At least 45 days under SDCL 25-4A-17, or a shorter period if reasonable on the specific facts. The notice goes by certified mail or admission of service, proof is filed with the court, and the duty applies only where your existing order or agreement does not already govern relocation.

Which court changes a custody order in South Dakota?

The circuit court, inside the same case where custody or support was first set. South Dakota is divided into seven judicial circuits, and the Unified Judicial System tells parents to file relocation papers with the Clerk of Courts in the county where the case originated rather than opening a new civil case.

How much does it cost to file a custody modification in South Dakota?

SDCL 16-2-29(4)(b) sets a $50 clerk fee for a petition or motion to modify a final child custody order, and SDCL 16-2-58 directs the clerk to collect a separate $50 surcharge from the filer. The $40 court automation surcharge does not apply. Both can be waived on affidavit.

South Dakota custody modification at a glance

Changing child custody in South Dakota means returning to the circuit court that issued your existing custody or parenting time order and asking it to change that order because something significant has changed. Three features shape the process here. There is no clock, because SDCL 25-4-45 allows the court to modify at any time. A move is judged by school districts and direction rather than miles: SDCL 25-4A-17 excuses notice for a move inside the child's current school district or one that brings the child closer to the noncustodial parent, and otherwise demands 45 days of written notice. And a parent who simply wants the statewide parenting guidelines can petition under SDCL 25-4A-16.1 with no filing fee, with any objection due within ten days of service.

A Brookings move that needs no notice but still ends in a motion

A Watertown parent whose new job is in Brookings may owe no relocation notice at all and still end up back in court. Say your order, which says nothing about moving, gives the other parent in Sioux Falls alternating weekends and a Wednesday evening. Brookings lies nearer Sioux Falls than Watertown does, so SDCL 25-4A-17(1) excuses notice because the child moves closer to the noncustodial parent, even though the school district changes. With the homes closer, the other parent files a motion in the existing circuit court case to turn Wednesday evenings into overnights, paying the $50 fee and the $50 surcharge. Your answer carries a $25 surcharge under SDCL 16-2-58.1. Both of you owe the parenting course within sixty days of service unless one completed in the last five years earns a waiver, and the court must order mediation unless an exception applies.

Relevant Laws

SDCL 25-4-45 (custody provisions, modification, preference of child)

Lets the court in a divorce action give directions for the custody, care and education of the children and at any time vacate or modify them, guided by the child's temporal, mental and moral welfare. A child of sufficient age to form an intelligent preference may have that preference considered.

SDCL 25-4A-17 (notice required before relocating a child)

Where no order or enforceable agreement expressly governs relocation, a parent changing principal residence must give the other legal parent written notice by certified mail or admission of service at least 45 days ahead, with proof filed. Four exemptions include a move within the child's school district or closer to the noncustodial parent.

SDCL 25-4A-19 (hearing request and presumed consent)

The nonrelocating parent may request a hearing within thirty days of the notice of relocation. Without a request the relocation is presumed consented to. On objection the court weighs the traditional best interest factors for a move that would substantially alter the existing parenting time arrangement.

SDCL 25-4A-16.1 (request to implement the standard guidelines)

Allows any parent subject to a South Dakota custody, visitation or support order to file a written request to implement the standard parenting guidelines, served with notice that guideline time will be imposed absent objection. An objection within ten days of service leads to an expedited hearing.

SDCL 16-2-29 and 16-2-58 (modification filing fee and surcharge)

Subsection (4)(b) of 16-2-29 sets a $50 clerk fee for petitions and motions to modify final child custody orders, and (4)(c) does the same for visitation orders. Section 16-2-58 adds a $50 equal access surcharge collected from the filer, and 16-2-58.1 a $25 surcharge on the answer.

Regional Variances

South Dakota custody modification levers at a glance

Waiting period before you may file

None. SDCL 25-4-45 lets the court vacate or modify custody directions at any time, and no section of the custody, parent and child, or jurisdiction chapters, or of the circuit court procedure rules, bars or delays a motion to modify custody or parenting time.

Standard for a change

The child's best interests as to temporal, mental and moral welfare under SDCL 25-4-45, with a substantial change in circumstances as the threshold, a phrase SDCL 25-4A-27 uses. The joint physical custody factors in SDCL 25-4A-24 apply where that arrangement is contested, and SDCL 25-4A-26 rules out any presumption.

Relocation notice

At least 45 days of written notice by certified mail or admission of service under SDCL 25-4A-17, or a shorter period if reasonable on the facts, with proof filed. SDCL 25-4A-18 lists the contents. The duty applies only where the existing order or agreement does not expressly govern relocation.

Relocation trigger

Any change of principal residence, with no mileage figure. The duty switches off for a move inside the child's current school district, a move that brings the child closer to the noncustodial parent, and two protection order and conviction situations. The 200 mile figure in the parenting guidelines only selects a schedule.

Relocation mechanism

Notice then object. Under SDCL 25-4A-19 the other parent has thirty days from the notice to request a hearing, and silence means the move is presumed consented to. On objection the court applies the traditional best interest factors where parenting time would be substantially altered.

Court

The circuit court, in the case where custody or support was first set, across seven judicial circuits. SDCL 25-5-13 confirms the circuit court's power to restrain a removal that would prejudice the child, and relocation papers go to the Clerk of Courts in the county where the case began.

Forms

No dedicated statewide modification motion. The Unified Judicial System publishes general motion forms UJS-335 to UJS-339, the UJS-355 relocation notice set, the UJS-366 guideline petition with its notice, service and order forms, and UJS-364 for the parenting course.

Filing fee

$50 under SDCL 16-2-29(4)(b) for a motion to modify a final custody order, plus the $50 surcharge in SDCL 16-2-58. The $40 automation surcharge does not apply. The answering parent pays a $25 surcharge. The guideline petition under SDCL 25-4A-16.1 carries no filing fee.

Procedural screen

No adequate cause screen and no affidavit gate. Instead SDCL 25-4A-32 requires a court-approved parenting course within sixty days of service, and SDCL 25-4-56 requires the court to order mediation in a dispute between parents unless abuse, assault or unavailability rules it out.

Child's wishes

No age. SDCL 25-4-45 lets the court consider the preference of a child of sufficient age to form an intelligent preference, and SDCL 25-4A-24(8) adds the child's wishes, age, maturity and reasons when joint physical custody is contested.

Suggested Compliance Checklist

Find the relocation clause in your order

Before you plan any move days after starting

Read your custody order and any signed agreement for terms on moving. If either expressly governs relocation, those terms control and SDCL 25-4A-17 does not. If neither does, the 45 day statutory notice and its four exemptions apply to you.

Check the school district and the direction of the move

Before you sign a lease or accept a job days after starting

Confirm whether the new home sits inside the child's current school district and whether it brings the child closer to the noncustodial parent. Either fact removes the notice duty under SDCL 25-4A-17, while any other change of principal residence requires it.

Serve UJS-355 at least 45 days ahead

45 days before the move days after starting

Complete the Notice to Relocate Minor Children with every item SDCL 25-4A-18 lists, send it by certified mail or admission of service, and file the affidavit of mailing with the green card, or the signed admission, with the clerk in your existing case.

Track the thirty day hearing window

30 days after notice days after starting

SDCL 25-4A-19 gives the other parent thirty days from the notice to request a hearing. If none is requested, the relocation is presumed consented to. If one is, the Unified Judicial System offers no self help forms for the objection stage, and attorney review of your filing is available.

Draft the motion or the guideline petition

When you are ready to file days after starting

For the statewide schedule, complete UJS-366 and the UJS-367 notice under SDCL 25-4A-16.1. For any other change, draft a motion and supporting statement in the existing case, setting out the dated facts that changed since the order and why the change serves the child.

File and pay, or apply for a waiver

At filing days after starting

File with the Clerk of Courts in the original circuit court case. Pay the $50 fee under SDCL 16-2-29(4)(b) and the $50 surcharge under SDCL 16-2-58, confirming the total with the clerk, or file the UJS-022 motion and affidavit to waive fees.

Complete the parenting course

Within 60 days of service days after starting

Each party arranges and pays for a court-approved course under SDCL 25-4A-32 and files certification of completion. If you took one within the past five years, file UJS-364 asking for a waiver well before the sixty day deadline runs.

Attend mediation and keep to the current order

Until a new order is signed days after starting

Expect the court to order mediation under SDCL 25-4-56 unless an exception applies. Follow the existing order in the meantime, because acting on a requested change before the judge signs a new order exposes you to an enforcement petition.

Frequently Asked Questions

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