South Dakota child support ensures that both parents financially support their children after separation or divorce, regardless of custody arrangements. The Division of Child Support works with parents, employers, and other partners to help ensure children receive court-ordered child support and medical support through a system of guidelines, calculations, enforcement mechanisms, and services designed to protect children's financial well-being.
The Division of Child Support, part of the South Dakota Department of Social Services, is dedicated to helping families with many aspects of South Dakota child support, including establishing paternity and child support orders, locating non-paying parents, collecting and paying child support, modifying orders when circumstances change, and enforcing medical support obligations.
Core Child Support Services
The Division provides comprehensive services covering the entire lifecycle of child support orders. Services include locating noncustodial parents who have moved or disappeared, establishing paternity through genetic testing or voluntary acknowledgment when parents aren't married, establishing or modifying child support and medical support orders based on state guidelines, enforcing support orders through income withholding and other mechanisms, enforcing alimony when a child support order is also being enforced, and collecting and processing support payments for distribution to custodial parents.
South Dakota Child Support Guidelines
South Dakota child support amounts are determined using guidelines established in state law that ensure consistency and fairness across cases while accounting for each family's unique circumstances.
How Guidelines Work
Child support obligations are determined by courts using guidelines set out in state law. When children's parents are separated, divorced, or unmarried, the guidelines help ensure both parents share the cost to support their child. The child support obligation is set by looking at the combined monthly net incomes of both parents, with the amount each parent must pay based on their proportionate share of the combined income.
The South Dakota child support guidelines provide the basic support obligation for combined monthly net income up to $30,000. For combined net income above that amount, the child support obligation is established at an appropriate level, taking into account the needs and standard of living of the child.
Income Considerations
South Dakota law presumes a parent is capable of earning at least minimum wage (35 hours per week) except as provided when a parent is disabled (use actual amount of benefits), cannot work due to physical or mental disability, has diligently but unsuccessfully tried to find work, or is incarcerated for more than 180 days.
Calculating Child Support
Parents and courts use specific tools to calculate South Dakota child support obligations accurately.
Child Support Obligation Calculator
The South Dakota Department of Social Services provides an online child support obligation calculator based on the South Dakota Child Support Guideline laws. This calculator is intended to provide the basic support obligation for combined monthly net income up to $30,000. All amounts entered must be monthly figures.
The calculator assumes all children will primarily live with one parent and is not intended for situations where there is joint physical care (children spend half their time with each parent) or split custody (each parent has custody of one or more children).
Important Calculator Limitations
The child support amount you determine using the calculator may not be the same amount the Division of Child Support calculates or the court approves. The calculator provides an estimate and is not a guarantee of the amount of child support ordered by the court. Many factors affect the amount of child support, and each situation is different. Deviations and adjustments for child care, visitation, or other factors the court may allow are not included in the calculation of the basic support obligation.
Medical Support Requirements
All South Dakota child support orders must include medical support provisions addressing children's health care needs.
Medical Support Orders
The court will enter a medical support order explaining how your child's health care needs will be taken care of. If either parent has private health insurance that can include the child at "reasonable cost," that parent might be ordered to add the child to the plan. Enrolling the child in public health coverage instead would not satisfy the medical support obligation when private insurance is available at a reasonable cost.
Sharing Medical Costs
The cost of health insurance is divided between parents based on their income proportions. If one parent pays the entire premium amount because it's deducted from their paycheck, they receive either reimbursement from the other parent (if receiving child support) or a credit against child support payments (if paying support).
The parent with primary custody is responsible for paying the first $250 of additional health care costs each calendar year. After that threshold, both parents divide unreimbursed medical costs in the same proportions as support obligations. Additional health care costs must be reasonable and can include medical care, dental care, orthodontic care, optometric care, and psychological or psychiatric care.
Duration of Child Support
South Dakota child support obligations continue for a defined period based on the children's ages and circumstances.
Standard Termination
Both parents have a legal duty to support their children. In South Dakota, child support will last until your child turns 18, or your child turns 19 if they are still a full-time high school student. Even if your child has been placed with the Department of Social Services, both parents are still responsible for supporting their child.
No Automatic Termination
Child support orders don't automatically terminate when children reach the termination age. Parents must request formal modification or termination through the court. Until the order is modified, the original payment amount remains in effect.
Modifying Child Support Orders
Life circumstances change, and South Dakota child support orders can be modified to reflect new situations.
Modification Requirements
According to the South Dakota Department of Social Services, if you got your child support order after July 1, 2022, it can only be changed (modified) if you prove to the court that there has been a substantial change in circumstances since the order was entered if the petition is filed within three years of the date of the order, or it has been at least three years since you got your order.
If you got your child support order before July 1, 2022, you don't have to prove that there has been any change in circumstances to ask for a change in the amount.
How to Request Modification
To request a change in the amount of South Dakota child support you're currently paying or receiving, file a modification petition through the Division of Child Support or directly with the court. The Circuit Court is the only entity that can modify a child support obligation.
Enforcement of Child Support Orders
When parents don't pay child support as ordered, multiple enforcement mechanisms exist.
Income Withholding
South Dakota law requires all child support orders to include immediate income withholding language. The Division of Child Support issues income withholding orders to employers, who deduct support payments from paychecks and send the money to the Child Support Payment Center for distribution to custodial parents.
Additional Enforcement Tools
If income withholding isn't sufficient or possible, the Division has numerous enforcement tools available, including IRS tax refund offsets, passport restrictions, referral to court for nonpayment, lottery winnings intercepts, license restrictions (driver's, professional, hunting, and fishing licenses), credit bureau reporting, and bank account seizures.
Contacting South Dakota Child Support Services
The Division of Child Support maintains offices throughout South Dakota to serve families.
Main Office Contact Information
Division of Child Support, 700 Governors Drive, Pierre, SD 57501. Phone: 605-773-3165. Email: DCS@state.sd.us.
Regional Offices
The Division operates regional offices in major cities, including Rapid City (221 Mall Drive, Suite 101, Rapid City, SD 57701), Sioux Falls, Aberdeen, and other locations. Offices are typically open 8:00 am - 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday.
Resources for Parents
South Dakota provides multiple resources to help parents navigate the child support system.
Online Tools and Forms
The Division of Child Support website offers child support obligation calculators, worksheets for standard and shared parenting situations, request for services forms, a customer connect portal for case information, and an automated voice response system for account balances.
Getting Help
Parents can request assistance by emailing DCS@state.sd.us, calling 605-773-3641, visiting local Division of Child Support offices, or accessing the online help resources at dss.sd.gov/childsupport.