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South Dakota Pet Trust
Support GuideSouth Dakota16 min read

South Dakota Pet Trust

South Dakota law makes a trust for the care of a named animal valid under SDCL 55-1-21, enforced by a person you name. Here is how it works.

By Settled Editorial

South Dakota lets you leave money in a trust for the care of your animal, and a court will enforce it. SDCL 55-1-21 lists the purpose trusts that are valid in the state, and the first entry is "a trust for the care of a designated animal or animals." A person you name, called the enforcer, holds the trustee to the trust's terms.

South Dakota's rules go further than most states' do. The Legislature rewrote this part of Title 55 in 2018 (SL 2018, chapter 275) and adjusted the enforcer rules in 2020 (SL 2020, chapter 206), so the statute answers questions many states leave open: when the trust ends, who gets the leftover money, and whether a court can trim a fund that is too large. This guide walks through those rules and the choices they leave to you. Every section cited here was read on the South Dakota Legislature's statute service on September 27, 2026. Read it as a planning map, and ask a licensed South Dakota attorney to review any document before you sign it.

Where the Pet Trust Sits in South Dakota Law

Pet trusts live in Title 55, chapter 55-1, in a run of sections that begins at 55-1-20 and ends at 55-1-22.6.

  • 55-1-20 allows purpose trusts for any lawful noncharitable purpose and tells courts to read the trust document liberally "in favor of its validity," presuming against a gift being merely precatory or honorary.
  • 55-1-21 lists the three valid kinds: animal care, the care or preservation of other property, and any other lawful noncharitable purpose.
  • 55-1-21.1 to 55-1-21.10 set the working rules: when an animal trust ends, court reduction of excess funds, the enforcer, the trustee's discretion, and where leftover property goes.
  • 55-1-22 to 55-1-22.6 cover a hybrid purpose trust, one that also has human beneficiaries.

The liberal-construction rule matters for owners. Older law often treated a gift for an animal as an honorary wish that no one could enforce. Section 55-1-20 tells a South Dakota court to lean the other way and carry out your intent, and it lets the court hear outside evidence of that intent if needed.

The Enforcer: Who Speaks for the Animal

An animal cannot sue a trustee who stops paying the vet. SDCL 55-1-21.4 fills that gap with a named person.

  • Appointment. The purposes of a purpose trust "shall be enforced by an enforcer designated in the governing instrument."
  • Information rights. The enforcer may demand reasonable information about the trust's administration from the trustee, "including a periodic accounting."
  • No failure for want of an enforcer. If no enforcer or successor is acting, "the court shall appoint one or more enforcers and successor enforcers."
  • Fiduciary duty and pay. The enforcer is a fiduciary whose duty is to enforce the trust's purpose, and unless the document says otherwise, the enforcer "is entitled to reasonable compensation."
  • One hat only. An enforcer may not serve as enforcer while serving as trustee or distribution trust advisor of the same trust.
  • Several enforcers. Unless the document says otherwise, a majority of acting enforcers may act.

That separation rule is the one owners most often miss. A person holding the money cannot also be the only person entitled to check on it. If your plan is for your sister to keep the dog and manage the fund, name someone else as enforcer.

SDCL 55-1-21.5 lets the trustee petition the court to remove an enforcer for a serious breach of duty, being unfit or unwilling to serve, an unjustified lack of cooperation or open hostility with the trustee or an advisor, or a large change in circumstances that makes removal serve the trust best. Your document may add different or extra removal procedures, so write the ones you want.

The enforcer can also go after the trustee. SDCL 55-3-20.1 names "an enforcer, as defined in § 55-1-21.4" among the people who may ask the court to remove a trustee.

When a South Dakota Pet Trust Ends

SDCL 55-1-21.1 answers this in one sentence: except as the governing instrument provides otherwise, an animal-care trust "terminates when no living animal is covered by the trust."

Two details follow from that wording.

  1. The end date turns on which animals are covered. If your document covers only your current cat, the trust ends when that cat dies. If it covers animals you acquire later, or the offspring of covered animals, the trust keeps running while any of them lives. Say plainly which animals are in.
  2. You can override it. The phrase "except as otherwise provided in the governing instrument" lets you set a different end point, such as a fixed date or the death of a named caretaker.

South Dakota imposes no outside time limit. SDCL 55-1-20 says that neither the common law rule against perpetuities, nor any rule restricting the accumulation of income, nor any common law rule limiting the duration of noncharitable purpose trusts is in force in the state. A separate section, SDCL 43-5-8, says in one line that the common-law rule against perpetuities "is not in force in this state."

The small-trust shortcut does not apply

SDCL 55-3-27 lets a trustee terminate a noncharitable trust worth less than $150,000, unless the trust terms say otherwise. A pet trust is often that small, so a reader could expect this rule to let a trustee close it early and hand out the money. It does not. The section's last sentence reads: "This section does not apply to a purpose trust under subdivision 55-1-21(1)." Subdivision (1) is the animal-care trust.

Where the Leftover Money Goes

SDCL 55-1-21.8 tells the trustee to distribute any remaining property "as directed in the governing instrument." Only if your document is silent does the statute choose for you:

How the trust was createdDefault taker if your document is silent
In a nonresiduary clause of your willThe residuary clause of your will
Any other way, such as a stand-alone trustYour heirs, under SDCL 29A-2-711

SDCL 29A-2-711 sends a gift to someone's "heirs" to the people who would inherit that person's intestate estate, measured when the gift takes effect. That could be a relative you have not seen in years. Name a remainder taker, a person or a charity, and a backup, and the default never comes into play.

When a Court Can Step In

South Dakota gives the court several tools, and each one is worth knowing before you set the dollar amount.

  • Too much money. SDCL 55-1-21.2 lets a court "reasonably reduce" the property transferred to the trustee if the trust holds far more than the amount required for its intended purposes. The court should consider letting the trust run for a reasonable period first. The amount cut passes as unexpended trust property under 55-1-21.8, so your remainder clause decides who receives it.
  • A purpose that no longer works. SDCL 55-1-21.3 says that if fulfilling the purposes becomes impossible, inexpedient or unlawful, the court shall order the trust administered to come as near as it can to your general purposes and intentions.
  • No trustee. SDCL 55-1-21.7 says that if no trustee is designated or willing and able to serve, a court shall name one. It may also move the property to another trustee to make sure the purposes are carried out.

The reduction rule is the reason to size the fund to a realistic budget. Add up food, routine and emergency veterinary care, boarding, grooming, the caretaker's costs, and the trustee's and enforcer's fees, then multiply by the animal's expected remaining years. A fund far above that figure invites a petition.

What the Trustee May and May Not Do

SDCL 55-1-21.6 gives the trustee "full discretion," unless the document says otherwise, in interpreting the trust's purposes and in spending principal and income to further them. SDCL 55-1-21.10 sets the limit: unless the document expressly says otherwise, no principal or income may be converted to the trustee's own use or to any use other than the trust's purposes "or the benefit of a covered animal."

Full discretion is broad. If you care how the money is spent, write the standard of care into the document: the food, the vet, whether the animal may be rehomed, and who decides on end-of-life care.

Paperwork the statute does not require

SDCL 55-1-21.9 says no filings, reports, periodic accounting, separate maintenance of funds, appointment or registration of a purpose trust are required, except as the enforcer demands under 55-1-21.4, the court orders, or the document requires. So the trust runs outside the courthouse by default. If you want annual reports, require them in the document, or count on your enforcer to demand them.

Trustee pay

SDCL 55-3-14 says a trustee whose trust does not specify pay is entitled to reasonable compensation. If the trust sets an amount or rate, the trustee is entitled to that "and no more." A stated fee replaces an argument over what is reasonable with a fixed figure.

Pet Trust or Hybrid Trust

Some owners want one trust that cares for the animal and then continues for people. SDCL 55-1-22 makes that hybrid purpose trust valid, and the following sections change the rules in three ways.

  • Separate shares. Under SDCL 55-1-22.1, when the beneficiaries' and the purposes' interests run at the same time, the trustee shall keep at least two separate shares, one for the beneficiaries and one for the purposes.
  • Different end and reduction rules. SDCL 55-1-22.4 says an animal-care hybrid trust ends when no living animal is covered "unless the trust may continue for the benefit of the beneficiaries," and a court has no power to reduce property intended for any beneficiaries or charitable purposes.
  • A stricter enforcer rule. SDCL 55-1-22.6 adds that the enforcer may not be a beneficiary of a hybrid trust.

Funding the Trust

You have three common ways to put money in.

  1. A stand-alone trust, funded now. Sign the trust during your life and move cash or an account into it. Our guide to how a South Dakota trust is set up covers this route. One South Dakota rule to know: under SDCL 55-3-6, a trust is irrevocable unless its terms expressly reserve your power to revoke or modify it. If you want to change the pet trust later, say so in the document.
  2. Money added at death through your will. SDCL 29A-2-511 lets a will validly leave property to the trustee of a trust identified in the will, and the gift is not invalid because the trust is amendable or revocable or was amended later. The property becomes part of that trust and follows its terms.
  3. A trust written into the will itself. Section 55-1-21.8 expressly contemplates a purpose trust created in a will. That keeps everything in one document, but the trust is funded only after the estate goes through probate.

Whichever route you pick, plan for the weeks right after your death. Name a temporary caretaker in a letter your family can find, and leave a small amount of cash that person can reach. Our South Dakota probate guide explains how long an estate stays open, and the South Dakota court directory lists the circuit court for each county if a dispute ever needs a judge.

A Drafting Checklist

The statute supplies defaults for many questions, but each default applies only when your document is silent. These are the clauses worth writing yourself.

  • The animals covered. Name each one with a description or microchip number, and say whether later-acquired animals and offspring are covered. This sets the end date under 55-1-21.1.
  • The caretaker and a backup. Include what happens if no named caretaker can take the animal.
  • The trustee and a successor. Say how a vacancy is filled so the court does not have to under 55-1-21.7.
  • The enforcer and a successor. Pick someone other than the trustee, as 55-1-21.4 requires, and say how the enforcer is paid.
  • Care instructions. Food, vet, housing, rehoming and end-of-life decisions, since 55-1-21.6 otherwise leaves them to the trustee.
  • Reporting. An annual accounting to the enforcer.
  • Trustee pay. A stated figure, which caps it under 55-3-14.
  • The remainder taker and a backup. Otherwise 55-1-21.8 picks for you.
  • A revocation clause, if you want one. Without it, 55-3-6 makes the trust irrevocable.

Pair the trust with the rest of your plan. A valid South Dakota will can pour money into the trust, and a South Dakota power of attorney can let an agent care for the animal and pay its bills if you become incapacitated before death. For the full set of documents, see the rest of a South Dakota plan.

Common Questions

Does South Dakota have a pet trust law?

Yes. SDCL 55-1-21 lists the purpose trusts that are valid in South Dakota, and the first one on the list is a trust for the care of a designated animal or animals. The rules that run it sit in the sections that follow, 55-1-21.1 through 55-1-21.10, and most of them were added by SL 2018, chapter 275.

Who enforces a pet trust in South Dakota?

An enforcer named in the trust document. SDCL 55-1-21.4 says the purposes of a purpose trust shall be enforced by that person, who may demand reasonable information from the trustee, including a periodic accounting. If no enforcer is acting, the court shall appoint one, and no purpose trust may fail for want of an enforcer. The enforcer cannot also serve as trustee of the same trust.

When does a South Dakota pet trust end?

Unless your document says otherwise, SDCL 55-1-21.1 ends a trust for the care of an animal when no living animal is covered by the trust. South Dakota sets no outside time limit: SDCL 55-1-20 says neither the common law rule against perpetuities nor any common law rule limiting the duration of noncharitable purpose trusts is in force in the state.

What happens to the money left in a South Dakota pet trust after the pet dies?

The trustee distributes it as the trust document directs. Only if the document is silent does SDCL 55-1-21.8 supply a default: a trust created in a nonresiduary clause of a will passes under the will's residuary clause, and any other trust passes to the trustor's heirs under SDCL 29A-2-711.

Can a court cut the amount I leave to a South Dakota pet trust?

Yes. SDCL 55-1-21.2 lets a court reasonably reduce the property transferred to the trustee if the trust holds far more than its purposes require. The court should first consider letting the trust run for a reasonable period, and the amount it cuts passes as unexpended trust property under 55-1-21.8.

Can the trustee end a small South Dakota pet trust early?

Not under the small-trust rule. SDCL 55-3-27 lets a trustee terminate a noncharitable trust worth less than $150,000, but its last sentence says it does not apply to a purpose trust under subdivision 55-1-21(1), the trust for the care of an animal.

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Information current as of September 27, 2026

Settled Estate is not a law firm, and this content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Probate laws and procedures in South Dakota can change. Consult with a qualified attorney for advice specific to your situation. Full disclaimer.

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