South Dakota Conditional Deceased Tenant Lease and Estate Coordination Packet
SOUTH DAKOTA CONDITIONAL DECEASED TENANT LEASE AND ESTATE COORDINATION PACKET
Threshold: S.D. Codified Laws § 43-32-23 applies to a lease terminable at the pleasure of one party, and the notice concerns the death of that party. In other cases the death does not terminate the lease under this section. Confirm the deceased tenant actually held that pleasure-termination right. A fixed-term or otherwise different lease needs its own termination analysis. Death does not by itself transfer property or authorize entry, removal or disposal.
Lease and authority review
| Question | Evidence and conclusion |
|---|---|
| Deceased tenant, dwelling and death date | [NAME / ADDRESS / DATE / RECORD] |
| Lease and all living co-signers or occupants | [DOCUMENT / NAMES / STATUS] |
| Exact clause making lease terminable at a party's pleasure | [CLAUSE / PAGE / NO SUCH CLAUSE] |
| Party who held the pleasure-termination right | [TENANT / LANDLORD / BOTH / DISPUTED] |
| Sender's estate authority | [LETTERS / COURT / OTHER DOCUMENT / PENDING] |
| Notice recipient and delivery proof | [NAME / ADDRESS / METHOD / DATE] |
| Section 43-32-23 route confirmed by counsel | ☐ Yes: deceased tenant held the right ☐ No or unresolved: notice below is informational only |
| Separate lease termination or possession basis, if any | [AGREEMENT / NOTICE / ORDER / NONE] |
A. Estate contact's notice to landlord
Date: [__/__/____] To landlord: [NAME / ADDRESS] Dwelling: [ADDRESS]
[TENANT NAME] died on [DATE]. I am [NAME], acting as [EXECUTOR / ADMINISTRATOR / OTHER CAPACITY]; my authority is shown by [DOCUMENT / COURT / STATUS]. A copy of [DEATH RECORD / APPOINTMENT DOCUMENT] is [ENCLOSED / TO FOLLOW]. Other known lease signers or occupants are [NAMES / NONE KNOWN].
Select one after reviewing the lease:
☐ The attached lease clause at [PAGE / PARAGRAPH] made this lease terminable at the pleasure of [DECEASED TENANT], and I give notice of that party's death under S.D. Codified Laws § 43-32-23. Please confirm the date you received this notice and any different interpretation of the clause.
☐ The deceased tenant's pleasure-termination right has not been established. This letter reports the death and requests coordination only; it does not claim termination under § 43-32-23.
Please provide the lease, rent and deposit ledger, any prepaid rent, known notices or possession case, and a proposed date to discuss access with the person legally authorized to grant it. The proposed estate mailing address or delivery instructions for a deposit statement, subject to payee-authority review, are [ADDRESS / INSTRUCTIONS]. Please identify any person asserting a right to the dwelling or belongings. I do not assume personal liability or authorize entry or disposal by sending this notice.
Authorized signer: __________________________ Capacity: [CAPACITY] Date: [__/__/____]
Delivery record: [METHOD / ADDRESS / DATE / RECEIPT / ATTACHMENTS]
B. Landlord's receipt and accounting response
Date: [__/__/____] To estate contact: [NAME / ADDRESS]
I received the death notice on [DATE] by [METHOD]. The lease clause identified by the sender is [CLAUSE / NONE]. The claim that the deceased tenant held a pleasure-termination right is ☐ confirmed for counsel review ☐ disputed or unresolved because [REASON / DOCUMENT]. Any other living tenant, occupant or claimant is [NAME / STATUS / DOCUMENT]. No lease end or surrender date is agreed by this acknowledgment unless separately stated in [SIGNED AGREEMENT / ORDER].
The account currently shows rent through [DATE], rent or other claimed charges of [ITEMIZED AMOUNTS], prepaid rent of [AMOUNT], and security deposit of [AMOUNT]. The ledger and supporting records are [ENCLOSED / AVAILABLE AT]. If the tenancy has terminated, I received the estate's mailing address or delivery instructions on [DATE / NOT YET]; the § 43-32-24 twenty-one-day return or specific-reason statement is tracked from the statutory conditions, not from death alone. Any itemized accounting request and response are [REQUEST DATE / RESPONSE DATE / STATUS]. The proposed deposit payee's authority remains [DOCUMENT / REVIEW].
An access or property review appointment is [DATE / TIME / PARTICIPANTS / PENDING AUTHORITY]. The landlord does not decide ownership of the belongings through this receipt.
Landlord or agent signature: __________________________ Date: [__/__/____]
Delivery and enclosures: [METHOD / DATE / LEDGER / NOTICE]
C. Separate possession, belongings and deposit record
| Matter | Documented status |
|---|---|
| Lease status and actual legal basis | [CLAUSE / NOTICE / AGREEMENT / ORDER / OPEN] |
| Dwelling possession and keys | [WHO HOLDS / HANDOFF AGREEMENT / DATE] |
| Estate-property claimant and authority | [PERSON / DOCUMENT / DISPUTE] |
| Inventory and any authorized handoff | [ITEMS / RECEIVER / AUTHORITY / DATE] |
| Deposit termination date and mailing-instruction receipt | [DATES / PROOF] |
| Twenty-one-day statement or refund | [DUE DATE / ITEMIZATION / AMOUNT / PAYEE REVIEW] |
| Separate forty-five-day itemized-accounting request, if made | [REQUEST / RESPONSE / DATE] |
Items or keys actually transferred: [LIST / NONE]. Remaining or disputed property: [LIST / LOCATION]. No signature below is a transfer of disputed title or a consent to an unlisted entry, sale or disposal.
Estate representative or authorized recipient: ____________________ Capacity: [CAPACITY]
Landlord or agent: ____________________ Date: [__/__/____]
Official sources
About this template
- Last updated
- October 3, 2026
- Citations checked
- October 3, 2026
- Jurisdiction
- South Dakota
- Category
- Landlord & Tenant
Legal authority
- S.D. Codified Laws § 43-32-23
- S.D. Codified Laws § 43-32-24
Landlord-tenant paperwork governs who can stay in a property, on what terms, and what happens when something goes wrong. Leases, notices to quit, security deposit demands, and habitability complaints all have state and often city-specific requirements for timing, content, and service. Getting the paperwork right is what makes an eviction actually succeed or a security deposit actually come back, because judges regularly dismiss cases over small procedural mistakes.
Not legal advice
This template is provided for informational purposes. We recommend having an attorney review any legal document before signing, especially for high-value or complex matters.
Checked against the law it cites
A reviewer verified this template's legal citations against the official source on October 3, 2026.
S.D. Codified Laws § 43-32-23 (checked October 3, 2026): "If a lease is terminable at the pleasure of one of the parties, it is terminated by notice to the other of such party's death or incapacity to contract."
S.D. Codified Laws § 43-32-23 (checked October 3, 2026): "In other cases it is not terminated by such death or incapacity."
S.D. Codified Laws § 43-32-24 (checked October 3, 2026): "Every lessor of residential premises shall, within twenty-one days after the termination of the tenancy and receipt of the tenant's mailing address or delivery instructions, return the security deposit described in § 43-32-6.1 to the tenant or furnish to the tenant a written statement showing the specific reason for withholding the deposit, or any portion of the deposit."
S.D. Codified Laws § 43-32-24 (checked October 3, 2026): "Within forty-five days after termination of the tenancy, upon request of the lessee, the lessor must provide the lessee with an itemized accounting of any deposit withheld."
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