Per your request, this memorandum addresses whether the laws of Colorado, North Dakota,
South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and Utah:
(1) permit a minor to hold title to real property or personal property, such as an
automobile;
(2) restrict a minor's ability to hold title to property, based on age of the minor
or the type of property;
(3) impose requirements on how the property of a minor must be titled; and
(4) state how property should be titled to reflect a minor's interest if the property
cannot be titled in the minor's name.
South Dakota
Our review of the South Dakota Codified Laws has not disclosed any statute which prohibits
a minor from holding title to real or personal property, or which restricts a minor's
ability to do so. The age of majority in South Dakota is eighteen. S.D.C.L. § 261-1.
Like Colorado, South Dakota has adopted the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act. Custodial
property is created under South Dakota law in exactly the same way it is created under
Colorado law, and the custodian is subject to the same duties and requirements. However,
property must be titled in the name of an adult "as custodian for (name of minor)
under the 'South Dakota Uniform Transfers to Minors Act.'" S.D.C.L. §§ 55-10A-1 et
seq. (emphasis added).