How do I revoke my will?

What happens if I want to revoke my will? Today we're looking at how to revoke a will.

A testator is free to revoke his/her will at any time during his/her lifetime. But there are two exceptions:

1. Where a mutual will establishes estate massing, the surviving spouse testator who accepts the benefit of the massing cannot alter the testamentary disposition of massed assets stipulated in the mutual will. (Go here to read more on estate massing).

2. Testamentary provisions cannot be departed from if they are contained in a duly registered antenuptial contract.

There are two essential elements that must be present in order for you to revoke a will, namely:

1. An intention to revoke; and

2. A legally recognized act by which this intention is manifested.

There are a few ways in which to revoke a will, namely by:

• Destroying the whole will.

• Destroying part of the will.

• Express revocation. This includes informal revocation.

• Implied revocation.

Express revocation

Express revocation is where the testator expresses his/her intention to revoke the will in writing. This usually takes the form of a revocation clause in a new will.

Implied revocation

Implied revocation is when the intention wasn’t expressed in writing. For instance, a testator executes a new will that has no clause revoking the previous will and the new will is inconsistent with the previous will. This inconsistency forms the implied revocation of the previous will.