TN 27 (12-00)

GN 00306.630 South Dakota Intestacy Laws

1. A. 

   Child or father acquires status of child or parent if:

   1. 1. 

      parents intermarry; or

   2. 2. 

      father publicly acknowledges the child as his own, receives it as his child into his family (with his wife's consent if he is married), and otherwise treats it as his legitimate child; or

   3. 3. 

      (I) effective 01/01/76 through 06/30/91, father acknowledges the child in a writing signed before a competent witness; or

   4. 4. 

      (I) effective 07/01/91, the identity of the mother may be established by the birth of the child. The identity of the father may be established by:

      1. a. 

         the subsequent marriage of the parents; or

      2. b. 

         a written acknowledgment by the father during the child's lifetime; or

      3. c. 

         a judicial determination of paternity during the father's lifetime (for claims filed on or after 11/287/98, or pending on that date, SSA may make a paternity determination using a "preponderance of the evidence" standard of proof); or

      4. d. 

         the presentation of clear and convincing proof in the proceeding to settle the father's estate (for claims filed on or after 11/27/98, or pending on that date, SSA may make a paternity determination using the same standard of proof). Clear and convincing evidence is evidence so clear, direct, weighty, and convincing as to allow the trier of fact [SSA] to reach a clear conviction of the precise facts at issue, without hesitancy as to their truth. Genetic test results may serve as clear and convincing evidence*.

   5. 5. 

      effective 01/01/94, genetic test results establishing a threshold probability of 99% or more shall create a rebuttable presumption of paternity*; or

   6. 6. 

      (I) for the period 01/01/76 through 07/01/76, parents participated in a marriage ceremony even though the attempted marriage is void, or paternity is established by an adjudication before the father's death by a preponderance of the evidence, or is established thereafter by clear and convincing proof.

2. B. 

   Effective 07/01/95, the birth parent is precluded from inheriting from a child unless the birth parent has openly treated the child as kindred, and has not refused to support the child.

* State law does not specify who may provide the blood or tissue samples used for genetic testing; rather, the emphasis is on the reliability of the test results. Therefore, if the wage earner/putative father is deceased and blood or tissue samples from him are not available, a court would likely rely on the results of genetic testing that used blood and tissue samples from members of the deceased wage earner's family.