Door 2 · South Dakota
South Dakota child support arrears forgiveness
Compromise authority — no branded program — No formal policy — worker discretion to negotiate (OCSS)
ESTIMATE — based on the rules South Dakota published, checked October 2026. Only the agency can approve a reduction, and approvals are discretionary.
What can be reduced
Workers have discretion to negotiate a lump sum at 75% of state-owed arrears. For family-owed arrears, if both parents agree, DCS has a forgiveness-of-arrears form filed for court approval
Who may be eligible to apply
- State-owed arrears (lump-sum negotiation)
- family-owed arrears if both parents agree
Where to apply
DCS / court approval (family-owed form)
The split still decides it
State-owed (assigned) arrears are the state's to compromise. Family-owed arrears can only be reduced by the other parent's voluntary, documented agreement — no agency can force it. Tennessee is the verified inversion: family-owed arrears are the compromisable slice there with court approval, and state-owed cannot be forgiven. If you do not know your split, the first move is a written request to the agency for the split as separate lines.
Interest and limits
Interest: no verified interest rate is published for this state on this site, so the calculator shows principal only unless you enter a rate from your own judgment or order — labeled as your figure.
What no one can do: a judge cannot erase arrears that already accrued for hardship, job loss, or incarceration when no modification was filed at the time (Bradley Amendment, 42 U.S.C. §666(a)(9)(C)). Arrears are not dischargeable in bankruptcy.
Federal lines: arrears over $2,500 can be certified for passport denial or revocation; only the state agency can request a release, and release practice is set by the state.
Run the arrears decoder for South Dakota
Source: HHS/ACF OCSS, "State Child Support Agencies with Debt Compromise Policies" (acf.hhs.gov/css/outreach-material/debt-compromise-policies; page crawled 2026-01-26, retrieved 2026-10-27), via sizing §1.1 — 'in-between categories' section, sizing §1.1: 'SD — no formal policy' · Rules checked October 2026.