South Carolina: Personal Property Memorandum Requirements

Requirements one by one

The will and eligible property

S.C. Code § 62-2-512 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 current section excludes money and property used
in trade or business.

The will may refer to a writing that will exist at the testator's death. The
list therefore may be prepared later, but the statutory device still depends on
the will's reference to it.

Handwriting or signature and identification

South Carolina 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 62-2-512 states no date,
witness, notarization, or signature-placement condition for the writing.

Timing and later changes

The writing may be prepared before or after will execution, may be altered by
the testator after preparation, and may have no significance apart from its
effect on the will's dispositions. The section does not state that the latest
of multiple writings controls or that a replacement writing automatically
revokes every earlier provision.

What trips people up

Older exclusion lists are stale. The official page says the 2013 amendment
deleted evidences of indebtedness, documents of title, and securities from the
section's express exclusions. The current text expressly excludes money and
trade-or-business property and otherwise limits the device to tangible personal
property.

The list also cannot displace a specific gift already made by the will. Section
62-2-512 reaches only property “not otherwise specifically disposed of by the
will.”

Common questions

Must the writing be dated?

Section 62-2-512 states no dating condition.

Must it be witnessed or notarized?

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

Can the writing be prepared or changed after the will is signed?

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

Does the newest of two writings automatically control?

Section 62-2-512 states no competing-writing priority rule. Determining the
effect of inconsistent writings therefore requires analysis beyond that
section's express conditions.

Statutes and sources

• S.C. Code § 62-2-512 — will reference, eligible property and exclusions,
  handwriting or signature, reasonable-certainty identification, timing,
  alteration, independent significance, and admissibility. South Carolina
  Legislature:
  https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t62c002.php (accessed 2026-08-11; current
  Title 62, Chapter 2 page, with history through the 2013 amendment and no
  current-session bill found in the completed citation and phrase searches).