Travel, custody and relocation in South Dakota
The passport rules are federal and read the same everywhere. This page is the other layer — what South Dakota law and South Dakota’s own court forms say about taking your child on a trip, moving, and who holds the passport between journeys.
See a different stateSouth Dakota
Getting a child’s passport, consent letters, the Hague Convention and what actually stops a departure are the same in all fifty states — they are on the main travel page. Start there, then come back here for the part that varies.
Which court decides — and why a trip does not change it
South Dakota custody jurisdiction sits under SDCL ch. 26-5B (§§ 26-5B-101 et seq.), “Uniform Child-Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act”. The home-state definition is at SDCL § 26-5B-102(7). The practical point for travel is this: a child’s home state is where they lived for six consecutive months before a case started, and a temporary absence counts toward that period. A summer with grandparents in another state does not start a clock there, and it does not let the other parent file somewhere new.
Abduction-prevention powers
South Dakota has enacted the Uniform Child Abduction Prevention Act at SDCL ch. 26-18 (§§ 26-18-1 et seq.), “Uniform Child Abduction Prevention Act” (SL 2007, ch. 169). On a finding of a credible risk of abduction the court enters an abduction prevention order under SDCL § 26-18-8. Measures include travel restrictions requiring a party traveling with the child outside a designated geographical area to give the other party “the travel itinerary of the child,” a list of addresses and phone numbers where the child can be reached, and “copies of all travel documents”; prohibitions on removing the child from the state or the United States; a requirement to register the order in another state as a prerequisite to letting the child travel there; and passport controls, including placing the child’s name in the U.S. Department of State’s Child Passport Issuance Alert Program, surrendering any U.S. or foreign passport issued in the child’s name, and barring a new or replacement passport or visa application.
Moving, and how much warning you owe
SDCL § 25-4A-17: “If an existing custody order or other enforceable agreement does not expressly govern the relocation of the principal residence of a child, a parent who intends to change his or her principal residence shall, provide reasonable written notice by certified mail or admission of service to the other legal parent of the child. Reasonable notice is notice that is given at least forty-five days before relocation or a shorter period if reasonable under the specific facts giving rise to the relocation. Proof of the notice shall be filed with the court of record unless notice is waived by the court.” No notice is needed if the relocation moves the child closer to the noncustodial parent, is within the child’s current school district, or in two protection-order/conviction situations. § 25-4A-18 requires the notice to state the new address and phone number, the purpose of relocating, why it is in the child’s best interest, and a proposed visitation plan. § 25-4A-19: the nonrelocating parent must request a hearing “within thirty days of the notice of relocation”; if no request is made, “the relocation is presumed to be consented to by the nonrelocating parent.”
Relocation and vacation are different questions, and orders often treat them in the same paragraph. A trip is temporary; a move changes the child’s residence. Read your own order for which one your plan actually is before you assume the relocation rule does not apply.
What the standard order says about travel
South Dakota publishes a statewide parenting form or guideline — South Dakota Parenting Time Guidelines – promulgated by the South Dakota Supreme Court under SDCL § 25-4A-10 and printed in SDCL ch. 25-4A (Supreme Court Rule 02-07, amended through Rule 22-10). That matters, because its default wording is what lands in a lot of orders unchanged, and it is where your travel terms probably came from.
These are real statewide defaults that become a court order on service: SDCL § 25-4A-11 – “Upon the filing of a summons and complaint for divorce or separate maintenance or any other custody action or proceeding, the plaintiff shall also file and serve upon the defendant a copy of the standard guidelines. The standard guidelines attached to the summons shall become an order of the court upon fulfillment of the requirements of service.” On vacations and notice: Guideline 1.10 (children 3-5) – “Upon 30 days advance written notice (by mail, email or text message), each parent is entitled to two separate periods of uninterrupted time for up to 5 days each with their children each year, not to conflict with the other parent’s holiday parenting time.” Guideline 2.6 (children 5 and older) – “Each parent is entitled to a vacation with the children totaling up to 14 days, with 7 days being the most that may be exercised at one time. When possible, each parent shall provide the other with 30 days advance notice of their intent to utilize their vacation time… In the event there is a dispute, the mother gets priority in choosing her vacation periods first in even-numbered years and the father gets priority in choosing his vacation periods first in odd-numbered years.” Guideline 2.8 – holidays take precedence over vacations, but vacations take precedence over the regular schedule. Guideline 4.4 – “Parents must always keep each other advised of their home and work addresses and telephone numbers.” During summer parenting time of three or more consecutive weeks the parent exercising it must arrange a 48-hour continuous period for the other parent, and during long vacations must make the children available for phone calls at least every three days. The Guidelines contain no itinerary requirement, no out-of-country travel clause and no passport provision.
Who holds the passport
Passports are addressed only in the UCAPA chapter, SDCL § 26-18-8(4), and only after a court finds a credible risk of abduction: Child Passport Issuance Alert Program enrollment, surrender of any U.S. or foreign passport issued in the child’s name (including a joint parent-and-child passport), and a bar on applying for a new or replacement passport or visa. The statewide Parenting Time Guidelines say nothing about passports, so absent an abduction-prevention order South Dakota has no default rule on who holds the child’s passport.
What catches people out in South Dakota
Sources for this page
- Custody jurisdiction statute: https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/26-5B
- Abduction Prevention Act: https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/26-18-8
- Relocation rule: https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/25-4A-17
- Statewide parenting form: https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/25-4A
Sources we could not reach when this page was built, recorded so you know what is missing rather than assuming it was checked: https://www.uniformlaws.org – renders enactment data only via JavaScript; no JS renderer available in this environment
Every fact above is taken from the source linked beside it. Where a figure could not be confirmed from an official source, this page says so rather than printing a plausible number. Found an error? Tell us — it goes on the corrections page with the date.