Long-Distance Parenting Plans in South Dakota

When Distance Changes Everything

A parenting plan that works when both parents live in Sioux Falls falls apart when one parent relocates to Denver, Minneapolis, or a military installation in another state. South Dakota's standard Parenting Guidelines (Form UJS-302) include a specific long-distance schedule template for parents who live 200 or more miles apart, and it looks fundamentally different from the regular alternating-weekends model.

The core challenge with long-distance parenting is replacing frequent, short visits with fewer, longer blocks of time. The child cannot alternate weekends when the drive takes four hours each way. So the schedule shifts to consolidated periods — extended school breaks, summer vacation, and holiday blocks — that maximize the quality and continuity of time with the distant parent while minimizing the disruption of constant travel.

The Standard Long-Distance Schedule

Under South Dakota's guidelines, the long-distance template allocates time like this:

• Summer break — the noncustodial parent receives the entire summer, except for 10 days the primary custodial parent may designate
• Thanksgiving — typically from school release for the week through the children's return to school the following week
• Winter break — the break runs from school release through the morning of return to school, alternating by year
• Spring break — alternates between parents
• Three-day weekends — the noncustodial parent may request extended weekends around federal holidays when distance is manageable, though these are not guaranteed in the long-distance template

This schedule frontloads time with the noncustodial parent into the summer months, which means the school-year relationship is maintained primarily through phone calls, video chats, and school-break visits.

Transportation Costs and Logistics

Long-distance parenting is expensive. Flights, gas, and travel time add up fast, and disputes over who pays are among the most common sources of ongoing conflict. A strong long-distance plan addresses transportation explicitly:

• Cost allocation — many agreements split travel costs proportionally to income, rather than 50/50. If one parent earns significantly more, they may bear a larger share.
• Who travels — for younger children, the agreement should specify whether the child flies as an unaccompanied minor, which parent accompanies them, or whether the visiting parent does the driving.
• Booking responsibility — designate who is responsible for purchasing flights or coordinating travel. One parent books; the other reimburses their share within a specified timeframe.
• Backup plans — weather delays, flight cancellations, and car trouble are inevitable. The agreement should state what happens if a scheduled exchange cannot occur on time.

Virtual Visitation

Between in-person visits, consistent virtual contact is how the distant parent stays present in the child's daily life. South Dakota's 2026 updated Parenting Guidelines explicitly address digital communication:

• Parents must provide a primary, unmonitored telephone accessible to both parents
• Video calls are highly encouraged
• Neither parent may block or monitor the child's communication with the other parent (though parents are entitled to access the child's social media accounts)

A practical long-distance plan goes further and specifies:

• A regular video call schedule (e.g., every Tuesday and Thursday at 7:00 PM, the child's time zone)
• That the custodial parent is responsible for ensuring the child is available and the technology works
• That calls are not recorded or listened to by the other parent (in practice, this builds trust)

Unmarried Fathers and Paternity

Long-distance parenting plans often arise when unmarried parents live in different states. Under SDCL § 25-5-10, an unmarried mother holds sole legal and physical custody of her child by default until the father takes affirmative legal action. This means an unmarried father has no court-enforceable parenting time — no matter how involved he has been — until he:

1. Establishes paternity. This can be done voluntarily through a signed Acknowledgment of Paternity (filed with the South Dakota Department of Health) or through a court-ordered paternity test.
2. Requests custody or parenting time in a court proceeding. Establishing paternity alone does not create a custody order. The father must request specific parenting time or custody from the court.

For an unmarried father who lives out of state, establishing jurisdiction can be complicated. If the child has lived in South Dakota for six consecutive months, South Dakota generally has home-state jurisdiction under the UCCJEA, subject to the full jurisdictional analysis.

The key takeaway: if you are an unmarried father and you want enforceable parenting time, do not rely on informal arrangements. Get a court order. Informal agreements are not court-enforceable, and if the relationship deteriorates, a parent needs a court order to enforce parenting time.

Making Long-Distance Work

The research on long-distance parenting is clear: consistency matters more than frequency. A child who reliably talks to the distant parent three times a week and spends an uninterrupted summer together adjusts better than a child who gets sporadic, unpredictable contact. The plan should build in:

• Predictability — the child knows when the next call is, when the next visit is, and what the summer schedule looks like
• Involvement in daily life — the distant parent stays informed about school, activities, and friendships through regular communication and access to school portals, not just holiday catch-ups
• Transition support — the first and last days of long visits can be emotionally difficult. Build in a low-key adjustment period rather than scheduling activities immediately after arrival or departure

The South Dakota Child Custody & Parenting Plan Guide includes a parenting-time schedule planner designed for both local and long-distance arrangements — it helps you map out the entire year's schedule including summer blocks, holiday rotations, and travel logistics so the plan you submit to the court covers the details that actually prevent conflict.

See more South Dakota guides →