Personal Property Memorandum Requirements in Missouri

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law and eligible property

RSMo § 474.333 recognizes a separate written statement or list through a will. It covers tangible personal property that the will does not otherwise specifically dispose of, but excludes “money, evidences of indebtedness, documents of title, securities and property used in trade or business.” A physically tangible item therefore can remain outside the device because it falls within an express exclusion.

Handwriting or signature, date, and identification

The writing must either be in the testator's handwriting or be signed by the testator. It also must be dated and must describe both the items and the devisees with reasonable certainty. Section 474.333 states no witness, notarization, or signature-placement condition.

Timing and later changes

The will may refer to a writing “to be in existence at the time of the testator's death.” 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. The section does not say that the newest of multiple writings automatically controls an inconsistency.

What trips people up

Dating is a separate mandatory condition. A writing does not avoid the date requirement merely because it is entirely in the testator's handwriting. And a typed writing must be both signed and dated.

The list also cannot displace a specific gift already made by the will. Section 474.333 reaches only property “not otherwise specifically disposed of by the will.” A conflict clause in the list cannot expand that statutory boundary.

Missouri permits alteration, but § 474.333 does not create a blanket rule that the most recently dated writing controls every earlier writing. Nor does it prescribe initials, a separate change log, or witnesses or notarization for an alteration. The writing relied on still must satisfy the statute's handwriting- or-signature, date, and reasonable-certainty conditions.

Common questions

May the writing be prepared after the will?

Yes. The will may refer to a writing to exist at death, and § 474.333 expressly permits preparation before or after will execution.

Must the writing be witnessed or notarized?

No such condition appears in § 474.333. The section requires handwriting or a testator signature, a date, and reasonably certain descriptions of the items and devisees.

Which of two conflicting lists controls?

Section 474.333 states no general newest-writing priority rule. Multiple inconsistent writings can therefore raise a proof or construction question beyond the section's express conditions.

Does the statute prescribe a probate filing deadline?

No. Section 474.333 makes a qualifying writing admissible as evidence of the intended disposition but states no separate filing or delivery deadline.

Statutes and sources

• RSMo § 474.333 — complete current rule for property scope and exclusions, will reference, handwriting or signature, dating, reasonable-certainty identification, timing, alteration, independent significance, and admissibility. Missouri Revisor of Statutes: https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=474.333 (accessed 2026-08-11; operative version effective May 23, 1996).