Kentucky: Personal Property Memorandum Requirements
The short answer
Kentucky has no statute for a freely updatable personal property memorandum. Its common-law incorporation-by-reference route can make an existing, clearly identified separate writing part of a valid will, but the writing must exist when the will is executed. Later informal amendments are disregarded; a binding later change must satisfy will formalities.
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This is the general rule in Kentucky. Ask about your specific facts and see which parts of current Kentucky law apply, with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law and device recognized | Limited common-law incorporation route, not a freely updatable statutory memorandum (Stouse; current KRS ch. 394 index) |
|---|---|
| Will reference required | Yes; a valid will must identify the existing writing clearly and certainly (Tuttle; Stouse) |
| Eligible property and exclusions | No memorandum-specific tangible-property definition, exclusion list, or value cap; incorporation is a general extrinsic-writing doctrine |
| Signature, handwriting, and date | No separate memorandum statute; Tuttle addresses even an unexecuted paper if clearly identified, while the incorporating will must satisfy § 394.040 |
| Item and devisee identification | No personal-property item-and-recipient formula; the will must clearly and certainly identify the separate writing (Tuttle) |
| Timing before or after the will | Writing must exist when the will is executed; Stouse upheld a document executed immediately before the same-day will |
| Alteration, replacement, and conflict priority | Later informal amendments are disregarded; binding changes require will formalities (Stouse; § 394.080) |
| Probate use, effect, and failure consequence | Qualifying writing becomes part of the will; the will is not evidence until probated (§ 394.130), and Chapter 394 states no separate-list procedure |
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Kentucky uses fixed incorporation
Kentucky's current Chapter 394 contains no special statute for a separate,
freely updatable tangible-personal-property list. Kentucky decisions instead
recognize a narrower common-law incorporation-by-reference route.
In Stouse v. First National Bank of Chicago, the court upheld incorporation
of an “existing, well-identified document.” The trust instrument there was
executed immediately before the will on the same day, and the will identified
it by its date, settlor, trustees, and terms. The writing therefore must exist
when the will is executed, and the valid will must identify the writing.
Tuttle v. Berryman states the identification rule directly:
“It must be clearly and certainly identified.”
The court explained that a properly attested and probated will can establish
the referenced paper as part of the will. But it rejected the memoranda in that
case because they did not correspond to the deeds that the will said had been
made. A general reference cannot be repaired by testimony that substitutes a
different kind of paper after death.
Because this is a general incorporation doctrine rather than a memorandum
statute, Chapter 394 states no special tangible-property definition,
asset-exclusion list, value ceiling, handwriting condition, date condition, or
item-and-recipient formula for the separate paper. Section 394.040 still governs
the incorporating will: it must be written and subscribed as that section
requires, with two subscribing witnesses when the will is not wholly written by
the testator.
What trips people up
The incorporated writing is fixed at will execution. Stouse held that later
amendments executed with will formalities could be upheld, but that informal
amendments must be disregarded while the original incorporated terms remain in
effect. A person therefore cannot revise the list casually after signing the
will and expect the old reference to make the revision binding.
KRS § 394.080 reinforces the formal route. It permits revocation of a will or
codicil by a later will or codicil, by another writing executed in the manner
required for a will, or by one of the physical acts stated in the section with
revocatory intent. A binding later change to incorporated testamentary terms
must use the applicable will-formal route rather than an informal list update.
Common questions
Must the separate writing be signed, witnessed, handwritten, or dated?
Kentucky has no memorandum statute imposing those separate conditions.
Tuttle discusses even an unexecuted referenced paper, but requires the will
itself to identify the paper clearly and certainly. The incorporating will must
independently satisfy KRS § 394.040.
Can the writing be prepared after the will?
Not through the incorporation route described in Stouse. The incorporated
document must already exist when the will is executed. A document executed
immediately before the will on the same day can satisfy that timing rule.
What happens if a later informal revision conflicts with the original?
Stouse says the informal amendment is disregarded and the original
incorporated document is given effect. A later amendment may be binding if it
is executed with the formalities required for a will.
How is the writing used in probate?
When the identification and timing requirements are met, Tuttle treats the
paper as part of the probated will. KRS § 394.130 states that no will may be
received in evidence until a District Court allows it and admits it to record.
Chapter 394 states no separate memorandum filing or delivery procedure.
Statutes and sources
- KRS Chapter 394 — complete current wills chapter index, including the
electronic-wills provisions effective July 15, 2026, but no separate-writing
or personal-property-memorandum section. Kentucky Legislative Research
Commission:
https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/chapter.aspx?id=39195 (accessed
2026-08-11). - KRS § 394.040 — written-will subscription and witness requirements.
Kentucky Legislative Research Commission:
https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=36237 (accessed
2026-08-11). - KRS § 394.080 — permitted methods for revoking a will or codicil.
Kentucky Legislative Research Commission:
https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=36244 (accessed
2026-08-11). - KRS § 394.130 — probate before a will may be received in evidence.
Kentucky Legislative Research Commission:
https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=36251 (accessed
2026-08-11). - Stouse v. First National Bank of Chicago, 245 S.W.2d 914 (Ky. 1951) —
existing, well-identified document and treatment of later formal and informal
amendments. https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1507832/ (accessed
2026-08-11). - Tuttle v. Berryman, 94 Ky. 553, 23 S.W. 345 (1893) — clear-and-certain
identification, mismatch failure, and probate effect.
https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/7220758/ (accessed 2026-08-11).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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