South Dakota's one state veterans home, in Hot Springs, may be the answer when a veteran parent needs more care than the family can give. The South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs counts 78 nursing beds and 24 domiciliary beds at the Michael J. Fitzmaurice State Veterans Home in Hot Springs. Before your parent moves in, know one rule the department's Veterans Home pages don't mention: under South Dakota law, the home files a claim against a resident's estate when the resident dies leaving no spouse or dependent.

In This Guide

South Dakota's State Veterans Home at a Glance

A State Veterans Home is owned, operated and managed by a state government, not by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, though VA must certify each State Veterans Home and then surveys it every year to make sure it still meets VA standards. Each state sets its own eligibility and admission rules for its State Veterans Homes. Our national guide to State Veterans Homes shows how the program works across the country.

South Dakota has one. The South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs runs the Michael J. Fitzmaurice State Veterans Home in Hot Springs, and the home's history reaches back to 1889, when the Dakota Territorial Legislature passed a bill establishing the Dakota Soldiers' Home in Hot Springs.

  • The building. Residents of the South Dakota Veterans Home moved into the current building in January 2016.
  • The beds. The South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs calls the Hot Springs home a 100-bed facility while listing 78 nursing beds and 24 domiciliary beds, which add up to 102, so ask the home how many beds of each kind it staffs today.
  • Who lives there. The department says the Hot Springs home offers a long-term care and independent living setting for eligible South Dakota veterans and their spouses, widows, and widowers.

Whether your parent would take a nursing bed or a domiciliary bed matters for how VA pays, as the section on when VA pays in full explains.

Who Can Live at the South Dakota Veterans Home?

South Dakota's veterans home law, SDCL Chapter 33A-4, admits eligible veterans, some spouses, some widows and widowers, and, when there is room, people who can pay their own way.

The veteran

Under SDCL 33A-4-25, which the department's Application Process page reproduces, a veteran as defined by SDCL 33A-2-1 is eligible for admission to the South Dakota State Veterans Home if the veteran is eligible for the payment of VA per diem for domiciliary care or nursing home care in a state home. SDCL 33A-4-25 also gives admission preference to two groups, each contingent on the veteran meeting all admission criteria:

  • a veteran domiciled in South Dakota within the past five years;
  • a veteran who is a member of a federally recognized Indian tribe located wholly or partially within South Dakota.

A five-year domicile is a preference under SDCL 33A-4-25, not a condition of admission. If your parent moved away from South Dakota years ago, ask the home how that affects the application rather than assuming the answer.

A spouse

SDCL 33A-4-26 gives the spouse of an eligible veteran two routes into the South Dakota State Veterans Home:

  • Moving in together. The spouse may be admitted with the veteran if the two have been married and living together for at least one year before applying, and if their combined income doesn't exceed four hundred dollars per year above the maximum income limit VA allows for pension benefits.
  • Following a veteran who is already in care. A spouse may be admitted if the veteran, otherwise eligible, is institutionalized for a physical or mental disability, which the department's page describes as living separately in a healthcare facility, as long as the spouse has been married to the veteran for at least one year.

Under SDCL 33A-4-26, a resident's status at the South Dakota State Veterans Home isn't affected by the death of a spouse.

A widow or widower

Under SDCL 33A-4-27, the widow or widower of a veteran may be admitted to the South Dakota State Veterans Home if all of these are true:

  • the veteran would have been eligible for admission;
  • the widow or widower has not remarried and is at least 60 years old;
  • the couple were married at least one year before the veteran's death and lived together during that time, unless they were separated because of the veteran's misconduct, through no fault of the spouse;
  • the widow or widower has lived in South Dakota for at least one year right before applying.

Someone who can pay the full cost

SDCL 33A-4-33 lets the superintendent of the South Dakota State Veterans Home, if there is room, admit a person who is otherwise eligible but has enough means for the person's own support and care, on payment of the cost of care.

Those same means can work against a resident later. Under SDCL 33A-4-32, a resident of the South Dakota State Veterans Home who has sufficient ability and means for self-support may be discharged, except a veteran with one hundred percent disability as defined by VA for pension and compensation purposes, and only on the superintendent's recommendation and an order of the secretary of veterans affairs.

What Does the South Dakota Veterans Home Cost?

We found no published daily or monthly rate for the Hot Springs home. What South Dakota law does say is this: SDCL 33A-4-12 requires each resident of the South Dakota State Veterans Home to contribute to the resident's maintenance, care, or support, in contributions the secretary of veterans affairs determines, and those contributions may not exceed the actual cost of care at the home. Call the home at 605-519-5445 and ask what your parent's contribution would be at the level of care your parent needs.

VA money helps cover a veteran's care. Under VA's State Veterans Home per diem, VA pays the state for each eligible veteran in a State home at the lesser of one-half of the daily cost of care or the basic per diem rate VA sets each fiscal year, and federal law caps VA's per diem at half the cost of that veteran's care.

A veteran who receives VA's Aid and Attendance benefit, a monthly payment added to the VA pension, may have more monthly income to put toward the resident contribution. Our guide to Aid and Attendance for a nursing home in South Dakota walks through how that benefit works.

A spouse who never served faces a harder bill. VA does not pay a State Veterans Home for the care of non-veterans, so a non-veteran spouse, widow or widower at the Hot Springs home has no VA per diem behind the charge. For how South Dakota Medicaid handles a nursing home stay, see our guide to South Dakota Medicaid and nursing home care.

When VA Pays for Nursing Care in Full

For some veterans, the nursing care bill at a State Veterans Home is covered entirely by VA. Under 38 U.S.C. 1745 and 38 CFR 51.41, VA's payment to a State Veterans Home is payment in full for the nursing home care of a veteran who needs that care for a VA adjudicated service-connected disability, a veteran with a service-connected disability rated at 70 percent or more, or a veteran with a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU). Under a State home care agreement, the State Veterans Home may not charge the veteran, an insurer or anyone else besides VA for the nursing home care VA paid for.

The federal payment-in-full rule in 38 U.S.C. 1745(a) covers nursing home care. The Hot Springs home also has domiciliary beds, so a veteran in a domiciliary bed there should ask the South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs what the resident contribution would be. Have the veteran's current VA rating letter in hand for that call.

What Happens to Your Parent's Estate

This is the part of South Dakota law families are least likely to hear about from the home's own pages, and it matters if your parent owns a house or has savings.

  • A claim at death. Under SDCL 33A-4-18, when a resident of the South Dakota State Veterans Home dies leaving an estate and no surviving spouse or dependent, the home shall file a claim against the estate for the full maintenance charge for each month the resident was in the home, back to the date of admission, with credit for the resident's own payments but not for state allowances.
  • A claim later, when there is a spouse. Under SDCL 33A-4-19, if the resident leaves a spouse or other dependent, the estate goes to that person, but when that person dies the home shall file a claim against the spouse's or dependent's estate, and that claim is a preferred claim.
  • The home as heir. Under SDCL 33A-4-16, a resident who dies without legal dependents has the resident's property distributed to the State Veterans Home as sole heir, though the resident may still leave the estate by will, subject to the home's preferred claim.
  • A non-veteran spouse is covered too. Under SDCL 33A-4-28, an admitted non-veteran spouse, widow or widower is subject to the same statutes affecting the person, property and estate of a veteran resident.
  • Transfers can be undone. Under SDCL 33A-4-20, any transfer of property made to avoid paying a claim of the South Dakota State Veterans Home is voidable.

Put plainly: if Dad is widowed and owns the house he hoped to leave to the kids, SDCL 33A-4-18 means the South Dakota State Veterans Home files a claim against his estate for the full maintenance charge for every month of his stay. If Mom outlives him, SDCL 33A-4-19 moves that claim to her estate when she dies. None of this is a reason to turn down good care for your parent. It is a reason to plan now, while your parent can still take part in the decisions.

Planning ahead is the caring step here, and South Dakota law gives families a way to settle up during life. SDCL 33A-4-15 lets a resident or former resident of the South Dakota State Veterans Home pay the home in advance of death the full maintenance charge for each month the resident was in the home, notwithstanding the estate-claim sections. Talk with an elder law attorney before admission if the family home is part of the plan. South Dakota Medicaid runs its own recovery program too; see our guide to South Dakota Medicaid estate recovery.

How to Apply to the South Dakota Veterans Home

Under SDCL 33A-4-30, applications for admission to the South Dakota State Veterans Home are approved by the South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs.

1
Step 1

Call the home

The department's Application Process page directs questions to the Michael J. Fitzmaurice Veterans Home at 605-519-5445; ask for admissions and ask which kind of bed, nursing or domiciliary, fits your parent.

2
Step 2

Get the application forms

SDCL 33A-4-29 requires every application to be made on forms the South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs furnishes.

3
Step 3

Gather what the application must include

Under SDCL 33A-4-29, the South Dakota application must include information on military service, a full financial statement and essential medical information.

4
Step 4

Check every answer

The application also carries a stipulation that if any claims on it prove false, the applicant forfeits any right to residency at the South Dakota State Veterans Home.

5
Step 5

Follow up on the decision

Call 605-519-5445 to confirm the packet arrived complete and to ask when to expect the department's decision.

If your parent needs help pulling together VA records or a rating letter, our guide to VA benefits for senior care in South Dakota covers where to get free help.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will Dad lose his room if he goes into the hospital?

Not for a medical leave. Under SDCL 33A-4-25, residency status at the South Dakota State Veterans Home isn't affected by a medical leave of absence in a VA facility or another hospital. A long non-medical absence is different: under SDCL 33A-4-31, a South Dakota State Veterans Home resident on furlough for more than ninety days is treated as having given up the room and goes on the regular waiting list on return.

Can Mom still vote at home after moving to Hot Springs?

Yes. Under SDCL 33A-4-36, a resident of the South Dakota State Veterans Home is treated as a resident of the county where the resident lived at admission, and doesn't lose residence or the right to vote in that county.

Will Medicare pay for a long stay at the South Dakota Veterans Home?

No. Medicare Part A covers skilled nursing facility care only on a short-term, post-acute basis and doesn't cover long-term custodial care, so a long stay at the South Dakota State Veterans Home has to be paid some other way.

What if Dad's service-connected claim is still pending when he moves in?

Keep pushing the claim. Under 38 CFR 51.41, when a veteran receives a retroactive service-connected rating that brings the veteran within VA's payment-in-full rule for nursing home care, the State Veterans Home can request payment under its State home care agreement back to the rating's effective date or February 2, 2013, whichever is later. Ask the Hot Springs home how a retroactive rating would change your parent's contribution.

What happens to cash or belongings left at the home?

Under SDCL 33A-4-17, the superintendent of the South Dakota State Veterans Home may turn cash or personal property left at the home over to the South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs without administration, subject to refund within three years to a creditor, legal dependent or heir who proves a right to it. If something is missing after a death, ask the department in writing within that three-year window.

Learn More

VA BenefitsState Veterans Homes: Who Gets In, What It Costs, and How to ApplyState veterans homes are state-run, VA-certified care homes. See who gets in, how VA per diem and the 70% rating rule shape the cost, and find your state. VA BenefitsVA Benefits You Can Use for Senior Care in South DakotaA complete guide to VA senior care benefits in South Dakota: home care, nursing homes, Aid and Attendance, the state veterans home, and how to access them. VA BenefitsHow VA Aid and Attendance Helps Pay for a Nursing Home in South DakotaHow VA Aid and Attendance helps pay for a South Dakota nursing home in 2026: benefit rates, who qualifies, the $90 Medicaid pension cap, and how to apply free. VA BenefitsVA Nursing Homes and Community Living Centers: Who Qualifies and What the VA PaysVA community living centers, contracted nursing homes, and state veterans homes: who VA must cover, what the 70% rule means, 21 free days, and the daily copay. MedicaidSouth Dakota Medicaid and Nursing Home Care: Coverage, Costs, and EligibilityHow South Dakota Medicaid covers nursing home care in 2026: eligibility, the asset limit, Miller Trusts, what you pay, spousal protection, and estate recovery. MedicaidSouth Dakota Medicaid Estate Recovery: Why Non-Probate Assets Are Not SafeSouth Dakota is an expanded-estate state: Medicaid estate recovery reaches joint tenancy, life estates, and trusts, not just probate. What DSS can recover.

Find personalized help deciding whether the South Dakota Veterans Home fits your family at brevy.com.

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.

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