Personal Property Memorandum Requirements in Minnesota

At a glance

Requirements one by one

The will and eligible property

Minn. Stat. § 524.2-513 permits a will to refer to a separate written statement or list for tangible personal property that the will does not otherwise specifically dispose of. The section excludes three categories: money, coin collections, and property used in trade or business.

The reference must appear in the will. The will may describe the writing as one that will exist at the testator's death, so the list itself need not exist when the will is executed.

Handwriting or signature and identification

Minnesota provides two alternatives. The writing must either be in the testator's handwriting or be signed by the testator. It must describe the items and the devisees with reasonable certainty. Section 524.2-513 states no date, witness, notarization, or signature-placement condition for the writing.

Timing, alterations, and multiple writings

The writing may be prepared before or after the will, may be altered after its preparation, and may have no significance apart from its effect on the will's dispositions. A writing may include multiple writings. If different writings give the same item to different people, “the most recent writing controls the disposition of the item.”

What trips people up

The list cannot displace a specific gift already made by the will. The statute reaches only tangible personal property “not otherwise specifically disposed of by the will.” It also excludes trade-or-business property even when an item is physically tangible.

The priority rule is item-specific. The most recent writing controls when an item is disposed of to different people by different writings; § 524.2-513 does not say that a newer writing automatically revokes every provision in an older one.

Common questions

Must the writing be dated?

Section 524.2-513 states no dating condition. A date may help establish which writing is most recent if the same item appears in inconsistent writings, but the section does not make dating an execution requirement.

Must it be witnessed or notarized?

No such condition appears in the section. The statutory alternatives are the testator's handwriting or the testator's signature, together with reasonably certain descriptions of the items and devisees.

Can the writing be changed after the will is signed?

Yes. The section expressly permits both preparation after will execution and alteration after the writing is prepared.

Statutes and sources

• Minn. Stat. § 524.2-513 — will reference, eligible property and exclusions, handwriting or signature, reasonable-certainty identification, timing, alteration, independent significance, multiple writings, conflict priority, and admissibility. Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/524.2-513 (accessed 2026-08-11; official 2025 compilation, with history through the 2000 amendment and no current-session bill found in the completed citation and phrase searches).