Colorado: Personal Property Memorandum Requirements

Requirements one by one

Governing law and eligible property

C.R.S. § 15-11-513 recognizes a separate written statement or list for tangible
personal property that the will does not otherwise specifically dispose of.
Money is expressly excluded. The section does not name additional exclusions
for business property, securities, title documents, or evidences of debt, but
the asset still must be tangible personal property.

Will reference

The testator's will must refer to the writing. It may describe a writing “to be
in existence at the time of the testator's death,” so the list may be prepared
after the will without executing a new will.

Handwriting or signature and identification

Colorado provides two alternatives. The writing may be in the testator's
handwriting, or it may be signed by the testator. It must describe both the
items and the devisees with reasonable certainty. Section 15-11-513 states no
date, witness, notarization, or signature-placement condition for the writing.

Timing and later changes

The writing may be prepared before or after will execution, may be altered after
preparation, and may have no significance apart from its effect on the will's
dispositions. Section 15-11-513 does not state a date requirement or a rule that
the newest of multiple writings automatically controls. An altered writing must
still satisfy the statute's handwriting-or-signature and reasonable-certainty
conditions to be admissible under the section.

What trips people up

The list cannot displace a specific gift already made by the will. Section
15-11-513 reaches only tangible personal property “not otherwise specifically
disposed of by the will.” A conflict clause in the list cannot expand that
statutory boundary.

Dating the writing may be useful for proof, but it is not an execution condition
stated in § 15-11-513. The section also does not say that the most recently dated
writing controls an inconsistency. A form should not present either proposition
as Colorado's statutory rule.

Common questions

Must the writing be dated?

No date requirement appears in § 15-11-513.

Must it be witnessed or notarized?

No. The section requires handwriting or a testator signature and reasonably
certain item and devisee descriptions, not witnesses or a notary.

Can it be prepared after the will?

Yes. The will may refer to a writing to exist at death, and the writing may be
prepared before or after will execution.

Which of two conflicting lists controls?

Section 15-11-513 states no general most-recent-writing rule. Multiple
inconsistent writings can therefore raise a proof or construction question
beyond the section's express conditions.

Statutes and sources

• C.R.S. § 15-11-513 — complete current rule for eligible property, will
  reference, handwriting or signature, reasonable-certainty identification,
  timing, alteration, independent significance, and admissibility. Colorado
  Office of Legislative Legal Services 2025 Title 15 printout:
  https://olls.info/crs/crs2025-title-15.pdf (accessed 2026-08-11; source
  history through the 1995 amendment, with the completed 2026 bill sweep finding
  no later change).