As illustrated by the shaded areas on the chart, South Dakota excels in seven key categories, making it the overall trust jurisdiction of choice for advisors across the country and around the world. Click the categories below to learn more about the progressive trust laws and planning opportunities that set South Dakota apart from the nation’s leading trust jurisdictions.

	RecommendedSouth Dakota	Nevada	Wyoming	Alaska	Delaware
Dynasty Trusts	YesRanked #1 [1]	YesRanked #2 [1]	YesRanked #5 [1]	YesRanked #4 [1]	YesRanked #7
State Income Taxation	No	No	No	NoFuture uncertain	NoOnly for non-residents
Community Property Trusts	Yes [3]	No	No	YesFuture uncertain	No
Domestic Asset Protection Statute	Yes [4]2 yr statute · exception for child support	Yes [4]2 yr statute · no exceptions for child/spousal support	Yes [4]4 yr statute · exception for child support	Yes [4]4 yr statute · exception for divorcing spouse	Yes [4]4 yr statute · exceptions for child & spousal support
Trust Protector	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Directed Trusts	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Decanting Statute	YesRanked #1 [5]	YesRanked #2 [5]	YesRanked #14 [5]	YesRanked #9 [5]	YesRanked #3 [5]
Trust Privacy Provision	Yes — Total Privacy Seal Forever [2]Automatically attaches	No Total Privacy Seal [2]Subject to judge discretion	No Total Privacy Seal [2]Subject to judge discretion	No Total Privacy Seal [2]Subject to judge discretion	Yes — Three Year Privacy Seal [2]Subject to judge discretion
Special Purpose Entity	Yes [2]Codified by statute	No	No	No	No
Family Advisor	Yes	No	No	No	No
State Fiscal Health	Ranked #1 [6]	Ranked #18 [6]	Ranked #48 [6]	Ranked #50 [6]	Ranked #38 [6]

*Denotes superior distinction among jurisdictions.