Personal Property Memorandum Requirements in Nevada

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Two references and the property boundary

NRS 133.045 requires a connection in both directions. The will must refer to a written statement or list, and the statement or list must contain a reference to the will to which it relates. The will may refer to a writing that will exist at the testator's death.

The device reaches tangible personal property that the will does not otherwise specifically dispose of. It excludes money, evidences of indebtedness, documents of title, securities, and property used in a trade or business. The section states no per-item or aggregate value ceiling.

Required contents and signature

The statement or list must contain its execution date and a title indicating its purpose. It also must contain a reasonably certain description of the items and the names of the devisees. The required signature is the testator's handwritten signature or electronic signature.

Section 133.045 states no witness, notarization, or signature-placement condition for the separate statement or list. The section applies whether or not Nevada's provisions for electronic and holographic wills apply.

Electronic form, timing, and alteration

The statute expressly allows the statement or list to be contained in an electronic record. It may be prepared before or after execution of the will, and it may have no significance apart from its effect on the will's dispositions.

The testator may alter the writing after preparation. The section does not prescribe a replacement method or say which of two conflicting writings controls. Any version offered under the section still must contain every item listed in subsection 2.

Evidentiary effect

A statement or list that contains the subsection 2 elements is admissible as evidence of the intended disposition. The section states no separate probate filing or delivery procedure and no lapse or savings rule.

The statute frames the listed elements as conditions of admissibility. It does not separately classify every possible defect, so a missing date, title, will reference, description, devisee name, or qualifying signature should not be assigned a different invented consequence.

What trips people up

The list's own reference to the related will is not a substitute for the reference required in the will. Both are stated conditions of Nevada's device.

A typed electronic document is expressly possible, but it still must carry the testator's electronic signature and every other required element, including an execution date and purpose-indicating title.

Common questions

Can the list be created after the will is signed?

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

Can I use the list for money or stock certificates?

No. Money and securities are expressly excluded, as are evidences of indebtedness, documents of title, and trade-or-business property.

Must the list be witnessed or notarized?

Section 133.045 requires the testator's handwritten or electronic signature but states no witness or notary condition for the separate statement or list.

Which of two conflicting lists controls?

Section 133.045 permits alteration but states no conflict-priority rule. It is not safe to assume that a newer date alone supplies a statutory answer to a conflict.

Statutes and sources

• Nev. Rev. Stat. § 133.045 — electronic-record option, will and list references, property scope and exclusions, execution date, title, signature, identification, timing, alteration, independent significance, and admissibility. Nevada Legislature: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-133.html#NRS133Sec045 (accessed 2026-08-11; official chapter stamped Revised April 15, 2026--2025).