South Dakota’s Uniform Power of Attorney Act Took Effect July 1, 2020

On July 1, 2020, South Dakota’s SB 148, adopting the Uniform Power of Attorney Act, went into effect.  The bill had been signed into law on March 20, 2020, joining twenty-five other states in adopting that uniform statute.

The Act creates Sections 59-12-1 through 59-12-43 of the South Dakota Codified Laws, addressing the definitions, powers, limitations, and applicability of powers of attorney outside the healthcare context.  South Dakota’s existing statutory structure for healthcare powers of attorney remains in place.

In the notarial context, the new Act requires, among other things, that a power of attorney to be signed by the principal or in the principal’s conscious presence by another individual directed by the principal to sign the principal’s name on the power of attorney.  A power of attorney must also be acknowledged before a notary or other individual authorized to take acknowledgments.