S.D. Codified Laws § 55-1-47

This is the official text of S.D. Codified Laws § 55-1-47, part of South Dakota’s Codified Laws — part of the compiled statutory law of South Dakota, published by the state as "Codified Laws." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Extrinsic evidence not admissible to establish settlor's intent concerning no contest clause

Official statutory text

A no contest clause shall be construed to carry out the settlor's intent. Except to the extent the no contest clause in the trust is vague or ambiguous, extrinsic evidence is not admissible to establish the settlor's intent concerning the no contest clause. The provisions of this section do not prohibit such evidence from being admitted for any other purpose authorized by law.

Source: SL 2012, ch 233, § 9.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

Need a lawyer in South Dakota?

Find a South Dakota lawyer

About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.