Personal Property Memorandum Requirements in Georgia

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law and eligible property

O.C.G.A. § 53-4-5 recognizes a separate written statement or list. It may dispose of tangible personal property that the will does not otherwise specifically dispose of, but not money. The section does not add separate exclusions for securities, title documents, evidences of debt, or property used in a trade or business; property still must be tangible personal property.

Will reference

The testator's will must refer to the writing. The reference may describe a writing “to be in existence at the time of the testator's death,” which permits the testator to prepare the list later without signing a new will.

Signature, date, and identification

The writing must be signed and dated by the testator. Section 53-4-5 states no handwriting, witness, notarization, or signature-placement requirement for the list. It separately requires the writing to describe the items and their recipients with reasonable certainty.

Timing and later changes

The writing may be prepared before or after the will is executed and may have no significance apart from its effect on the will's dispositions. The testator may also alter it after preparation, but the alteration must be signed and dated on the date of the alteration.

If more than one otherwise effective writing exists, the more recent writing revokes earlier terms only “to the extent of any conflict.” Nonconflicting terms of an earlier effective writing are not displaced by that priority rule.

Effect after death

A writing that meets subsection (b) disposes of the covered items under subsection (a). A 2025 amendment added subsection (c), which says the writing is not deemed to be the testator's will or a part of it. Section 53-4-5 states no separate probate-filing or delivery deadline for the writing.

What trips people up

Money is the only asset category that § 53-4-5 expressly excludes. Broader lists copied from other states can incorrectly exclude business property, securities, evidences of debt, or title documents as named Georgia exceptions. The controlling Georgia question is first whether the asset is tangible personal property and then whether the will already specifically disposes of it.

An alteration also needs more than an initial. The statute requires the altered writing to be signed and dated on the date of the alteration. For competing writings, recency matters only after each writing independently satisfies the statutory conditions.

Common questions

Can the list 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.

Must the list be witnessed or notarized?

Section 53-4-5 requires the testator's signature and date but states no witness or notarization requirement for the list.

Can the list give away cash?

No. Subsection (a) expressly excludes money.

Does a new list erase every earlier list?

Not automatically. A more recent otherwise effective writing revokes an older writing only to the extent the two conflict.

Statutes and sources

• O.C.G.A. § 53-4-5(a), (b)(1), and (b)(3) — eligible property, conflict priority, signature, date, will reference, timing, alteration, and independent- significance rules. Code Revision Commission/Public.Resource.Org release-86 Title 53: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/unicourt/cic-code-ga/master/transforms/ga/ocga/r86/gov.ga.ocga.title.53.html (accessed 2026-08-11).
• O.C.G.A. § 53-4-5(b)(2), (c) — current recipient-identification wording and the rule that the writing is not the will or part of it. Official signed 2025 H.B. 327, Act 310, § 50: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/238505 (accessed 2026-08-11; effective July 1, 2025).