Personal Property Memorandum Requirements in South Carolina

At a glance

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).