How to modify child support or alimony in South Dakota

Sources last checked: 4 November 2026. Information only, not legal advice. The Cusp is not a law firm.

South Dakota divorce kit How child support is calculated Alimony in South Dakota Legal aid in South Dakota After your divorce

The short version

South Dakota’s alimony section, SDCL 25-4-41, is headed “Allowance for support when divorce granted”. It says the court “may from time to time modify its orders in these respects”, and it states no test for doing so. Child support is different. The courts say the circuit court judge is the only person who can change a child support order, and the test depends on when the order was made. An order in effect before 1 July 2026 can be modified without showing a change in circumstances. An order made after that date can be modified only if it is three years old or more when you file, or if there has been a substantial change in circumstances. The state’s form is the Petition for Modification of Child Support, DSS-SE-415 (07/2026), which comes with a $50 filing fee unless you receive certain benefits or ask for a waiver. We read no South Dakota form for changing alimony. See “What we could not confirm” below.

What must be shown

Child support, order in effect before 1 July 2026: the courts’ child support page says such an order “may be modified without showing any change in circumstances”. SDCL 25-7-6.13 says the same.
Child support, order entered after 1 July 2026: the courts’ page says it may be modified only if “it was entered three years or more from the date the petition is filed”, or if “a substantial change in circumstances has occurred since the entry of the order”. The Department of Social Services (DSS) page gives the same two routes. The petition form asks you to say why you want the amount changed if the order is under three years old.
The petition statute: SDCL 25-7A-22 lets an obligor, an obligee or the assignee file a petition “on forms prescribed by the department”. For orders entered or modified after 1 July 1997, it allows a change on showing a “substantial change in circumstances” if the petition is filed within three years of the order, or with no change shown if it is filed after three years. We do not reconcile that wording with the 1 July 2026 dividing line the courts and DSS describe.
Alimony: section 25-4-41 lets the court modify its support orders “from time to time”. It sets no standard, such as a change in circumstances, and we read no case that does.
Amounts already due: SDCL 25-7-7.3 says support payments that have become due, paid or unpaid, are not subject to modification, except those accruing “in any period in which there is pending a petition for modification”, and then “only from the date that notice of hearing of the petition has been given”. The section speaks of support payments in general. We read nothing that treats alimony separately.

What a petition can ask for

Deviations from the schedule: SDCL 25-7-6.10 says a deviation “must be considered if raised by either party” and made only on specific findings based on listed factors. They include a subsequent spouse’s income (only if the schedule causes a financial hardship), a financial condition that makes the schedule inequitable, a child’s special education or health care needs, agreements between the parents, support for subsequent children, voluntary and unreasonable unemployment or underemployment, and federal income consequences of claiming the child. The petition form says you must ask for a deviation at the hearing and present evidence.
Hardship presumption: the same section presumes a financial hardship on the obligor if the obligation, with health insurance and child care adjustments, exceeds fifty percent of the obligor’s monthly net income. The presumption can be rebutted.
Subsequent children: the section says “an existing support order may not be modified solely for this reason”.
Parenting-time abatement: SDCL 25-7-6.14 says that if the child lives with the obligor six or more nights in a month under a custody order, the court may grant an abatement of not less than thirty-eight percent nor more than sixty-six percent of the basic obligation for those nights. The burden is on the noncustodial parent to show the increased costs.
Other factors on the form: the petition lists cross credit for shared parenting, travel costs for parenting time, health insurance for the children, and child care costs.
Phasing in: SDCL 25-7-6.17 says that where support changes by more than twenty-five percent, the court may phase in the adjustment over time.
After incarceration: section 25-7-6.13 says if a parent jailed for more than 180 days is released, the order in effect at release continues until either parent files a petition for modification.
Written findings: SDCL 25-7-6.29 says findings that rebut the schedule must state what the schedule amount would have been and justify the deviation.

Forms and steps

Form: the DSS packet DSS-SE-415 (07/2026) has a checklist, the Petition for Modification of Child Support, an information-on-parents form, a Financial Statement (DSS-SE-415A) and the Child Support Order Filing Data form (UJS/DSS 089). The instructions say incomplete packets are returned by mail and delay the process. The courts’ child support page also links an online Guide and File tool that builds the petition from your answers, but we did not open that tool.
Attachments: the most recent child support order, financial documents (the checklist asks for a paycheck stub and a federal tax return, or three years of returns if you are self-employed), and, if you ask for a parenting-time abatement or cross credit, your parenting time order.
Where it goes: you mail the packet to the Division of Child Support, Attn: Modification Unit, 700 Governors Drive, Pierre, SD 57501-2291. DSS reviews it and files the petition with the Clerk of Courts in the county where the order was entered. The Modification Unit’s number on the form is (605) 773-4724.
Fee: the form says a $50 filing fee, payable by check or money order to the Clerk of Courts, or a waiver request, or an indication that you receive Title 28 benefits such as TANF, SNAP or Medicaid. You need a separate fee or waiver for each petition. DSS says send the waiver or the fee, not both, or the waiver will not be considered. If the fee is not paid within 10 days, the action is not referred to the referee.
Referee hearing: a court-appointed referee mails both parties notice of the hearing, which DSS says usually happens within 30 days of filing. You must attend in person or by telephone or the petition may be dismissed. You do not need a lawyer, but only licensed attorneys may represent a party.
No private deal once filed: DSS says that after a petition is filed, the parents may not make a voluntary agreement on support without the referee’s written approval.
Referee’s report and objections: DSS says the report usually arrives within 60 days of the hearing. Under section 25-7A-22 a party has ten days from service of the report to file objections, and the other party has five more days to respond. With no objection, the court may enter its order without further notice. With an objection, the court hears it on the record made before the referee and may adopt, modify, or reject and remand the report.
Order and appeal: the order is served by certified mail, and DSS says a party who disagrees may appeal to the South Dakota Supreme Court within 30 days.
Privacy: the instructions say financial documents are confidential from the public, but the other party may have access. DSS warns your address may be released to the other party even if a protection order exists.
Alimony: we found no South Dakota form or instructions for modifying alimony on the courts’ self-help pages we read.

Before you file

Court staff cannot give legal advice. See legal aid in South Dakota for free or low-cost help, or the South Dakota divorce kit for the wider process.
Timing matters: under section 25-7-7.3, payments that have already come due generally cannot be changed, so a change reaches back at most to the date notice of hearing is given. Do not wait if your circumstances have changed.
Gather your most recent order, income records, and any proof of health insurance or child care costs. Check which side of 1 July 2026 your order falls on.
Money at stake in a hearing: SDCL 25-7A-57 lets the referee recommend attorney fees and costs in a modification hearing, and additional costs if the filing is “frivolous or vexatious”.
Child support amounts follow the state schedule. See how child support is calculated in South Dakota and alimony in South Dakota. For other changes after a divorce, see After your divorce.

What we could not confirm

Any South Dakota form for modifying alimony. The courts’ child support, divorce and pro se forms pages do not mention alimony changes. We did not use the court form search, which needs JavaScript. We name no alimony form.
The test for changing alimony. Section 25-4-41 states none. We read no court opinions, so we do not say what a judge needs to find.
Ending alimony on remarriage, cohabitation or death. The section we read says nothing about it. We read no other statute on this.
Whether an alimony change can reach back. We read nothing that says so for alimony.
How sections 25-7-6.13 and 25-7A-22 fit together. The first sets the 1 July 2026 dividing line. The second, as we read it, still describes the three-year test for orders after 1997. We followed the wording of the courts and DSS pages.
Objection deadline. The statute says ten days from service of the report. DSS’s process chart says 10 business days. We give the statute’s wording, and you should check the deadline on the report you are served.
Guide and File tool. It is on a separate site that we did not open.
The child support schedule and amounts. We read none of the schedule, so we give no figures.
Procedure for modifying alimony. Service, notice and hearing steps for an alimony motion are in court rules we did not read.
Fee for an alimony motion. The only fee we read is the $50 for the child support petition.
Orders from another state. DSS says they may be registered in South Dakota for modification if conditions are met. We read none of those conditions.
Local practice. We did not read any county’s rules.

Spot something out of date? Laws change, and we note those changes as updates. See our corrections page or email hello@thecusp.app.