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What Creditors Cannot Take

SDCL § 43-45-2 — clothing, family pictures, a year's food and fuel, health aids, and seven thousand dollars more for a head of family

  • Family pictures, and the family Bible and books up to two hundred dollars in value.
  • All clothing of the debtor and family.
  • Food and fuel for one year.
  • Prescribed health aids.
  • A burial lot, and a pew in a house of worship.
  • SDCL § 43-45-2
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Those are absolutely exempt from levy and sale.

  • SDCL § 43-45-2

And a choice. A head of a family may also select other personal property up to seven thousand dollars in value, and anyone else up to five thousand dollars.

  • SDCL § 43-45-4

Some debts reach exempt property. A particular judgment is a question for a licensed South Dakota attorney.

  • SDCL § 43-45-2
Sources for this section (2)
  1. SDCL § 43-45-2 — Property absolutely exempt
  2. SDCL § 43-45-4 — Additional property exemptions; Selection and appraisal

Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed South Dakota attorney.

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