How to Update or Revoke a Will: 2026 Guide
Update or revoke a will anytime using a codicil or new will. Learn legal methods, the codicil-vs-new-will decision, and what divorce does automatically.
How Do You Legally Update or Revoke a Will?
You can update a will at any time by adding a formal amendment called a codicil or by executing an entirely new will that explicitly revokes all previous versions. You can revoke a will by physical destruction or by a new testamentary document. You must have testamentary capacity, follow your state's signing and witnessing rules, and obtain no court approval — the right to change your will is absolute while you are alive and mentally competent.
Key takeaways
- A new will with a written revocation clause is the safest update method — destroy all old copies afterward.
- Use a codicil only for small, isolated changes; use a new will whenever the changes affect more than one or two provisions.
- Divorce automatically voids provisions for a former spouse in nearly every state, but marriage rarely revokes the whole will — the rules differ sharply by state.
- Crossing out text or writing in margins does not legally amend a typed will in most states; courts usually ignore those marks or void the affected section.
- You lose the ability to revoke or update your will permanently the moment you die or become mentally incapacitated.
The Hidden Part Most People Miss: Your Will May Already Be Partially Revoked
Every article you'll find online treats updating a will as something you choose to do. The missing piece is that your will can already be partially revoked right now — without any action on your part — because a life event triggered what lawyers call revocation by operation of law.
This automatic revocation is not a safety net. It is a patchwork of state rules that produces wildly different outcomes depending on where you live. Divorce is the most common trigger. In Florida, any provision of a will affecting a spouse becomes void the moment a divorce or annulment is finalized, and the law reads the will as if the former spouse died before the testator (Fla. Stat. § 732.507(2)). Texas achieves the same result under Tex. Estates Code § 123.001. The Uniform Probate Code § 2-804, adopted in roughly twenty states, goes further and extends revocation to gifts made to the former spouse's relatives as well.
California takes a different approach. A finalized divorce creates a legal presumption that gifts to a former spouse are revoked, but that presumption can be rebutted with evidence — making California's automatic protection weaker and more litigable than Florida's or Texas's.
A worked example: Suppose Sarah executes a will in 2021 leaving her $500,000 estate to her husband Tom and naming him executor. She divorces Tom in 2025 and dies in 2026 without updating her will.
- In Florida: Tom's bequest and his appointment as executor are automatically void under Fla. Stat. § 732.507(2). The estate passes to Sarah's named alternate beneficiary, or to her heirs under intestacy if there is none.
- In California: A rebuttable presumption arises that Tom's gifts are revoked, but Tom's attorney could attempt to present evidence that Sarah intended him to remain a beneficiary — opening the door to costly litigation.
- In New York: Under N.Y. EPTL § 5-1.4, divorce revokes all dispositions to a former spouse and any nomination of the former spouse as executor, treating the former spouse as having predeceased the testator.
Marriage creates a different and often overlooked problem. Most states do not fully revoke a pre-marital will when you marry, but they do give a new spouse the right to claim an intestate share — which may override specific bequests you intended for other people. Oregon Revised Statutes § 112.305 is one of the few statutes that can revoke an entire will upon marriage unless the will was made in contemplation of that marriage.
One critical exception: ERISA-governed accounts (401(k)s, pensions, group life insurance) are not governed by state divorce-revocation rules. A federal preemption doctrine means that if you named your ex-spouse as beneficiary on a 401(k) and never changed it, your ex can still collect that money even in states where wills are automatically cleansed on divorce. Updating beneficiary designations on financial accounts is a separate, mandatory task that no will change can accomplish.
Codicil or New Will: How to Choose
The practical decision most people face is not whether to update but how. A codicil is a formal supplemental document that modifies specific provisions while leaving the rest of the will intact. A new will is a complete replacement.
| Situation | Best approach | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Changing one executor | Codicil | Isolated change, low ambiguity risk |
| Adding one new bequest | Codicil | Simple, won't conflict with other provisions |
| Marriage or divorce | New will | Multiple provisions typically affected |
| Birth or adoption of a child | New will | Guardianship, inheritance shares, and executor may all need updating |
| Removing or adding multiple beneficiaries | New will | Stacked codicils create contradictions |
| You already have one codicil | New will | Second codicil significantly raises probate confusion risk |
| Moving to a new state | New will | Execution formalities and property rules differ |
| Significant asset change (sold home, inherited wealth) | New will | Asset-specific bequests likely need wholesale revision |
The American Bar Association has noted that codicils are increasingly an anachronism — a relic from the era when wills were handwritten and redrafting cost days of effort. Today, generating a clean replacement will takes roughly the same effort as drafting a codicil, with far less risk of conflicting language. See our guide to how to change a will for a deeper look at the codicil process.
How to Update Your Will: Step-by-Step
Step 1: Decide — codicil or new will. Use the decision table above. If in doubt, default to a new will. A new will eliminates every ambiguity that a codicil inherits from the original document.
Step 2: Write the revocation clause first. Every new will should open with language such as: "I revoke all prior wills and codicils I have previously made." Under Tex. Estates Code § 253.002, a new will that is executed with the same formalities as the original operates as a valid revocation. New York's EPTL § 3-4.1 requires the same formalities — signature plus two witnesses for most situations.
Step 3: Update guardianship, executor, and beneficiary designations together. Don't revise asset distribution without reviewing who is named to administer the estate and, if you have minor children, who will care for them. These three elements interact; a change in one often requires changes in the others.
Step 4: Sign and witness according to your state's rules. Most states require the testator's signature and two adult witnesses who are not beneficiaries. Some states additionally require or strongly recommend a self-proving affidavit notarized at the time of signing — this affidavit allows the will to be admitted to probate without requiring the witnesses to testify in court. If you are in Texas, use Tex. Estates Code § 251.104 for the self-proving affidavit form. Florida uses Fla. Stat. § 732.503.
Step 5: Destroy every copy of the old will. Shred, tear, or burn every copy you can locate — the copy at your home, the one your attorney holds, the one in your safe deposit box, and any digital scans. In most states, a missing will that was last in your possession carries a legal presumption that you intentionally destroyed it. But courts in some jurisdictions — including Texas, following In re Estate of Catlin, 311 S.W.3d 697 (Tex. App. 2010) — have admitted photocopies without requiring an explanation for the missing original. Destroying copies eliminates that risk entirely.
Step 6: Store the new will and tell your executor where it is. A will that cannot be found at death is almost as damaging as no will at all. See our overview of what happens if you die without a will for what your state's intestacy formula would do with your estate.
Step 7: Update beneficiary designations on financial accounts separately. This step is outside the will entirely. Retirement accounts, IRAs, life insurance, and payable-on-death bank accounts pass directly to named beneficiaries and bypass your will entirely. Update these designations with each institution right after your new will is signed.
You can create your will online through Pactlio Wills, which generates a state-specific draft in a guided plain-English interview and includes execution instructions for witnesses and self-proving affidavits where available across all 50 states.
How Divorce and Marriage Affect Your Will by State
The table below summarizes the rules for the states where this question comes up most often. Verify current law with a licensed attorney in your state before relying on any automatic protection.
| State | Divorce effect on will | Marriage effect on will |
|---|---|---|
| Florida | Provisions to former spouse automatically void (Fla. Stat. § 732.507(2)) | Omitted spouse may claim intestate share; will not fully revoked |
| Texas | Provisions to former spouse automatically void (Tex. Est. Code § 123.001) | Omitted spouse may claim intestate share; will not fully revoked |
| California | Rebuttable presumption gifts to former spouse are revoked; not automatic | New spouse can claim intestate share as "omitted spouse" |
| New York | Provisions to former spouse and their nominations revoked (EPTL § 5-1.4) | Omitted spouse entitled to intestate share (EPTL § 5-1.2) |
| Oregon | Divorce revokes provisions to former spouse; marriage can revoke entire will unless will states it was made in contemplation of marriage (ORS §§ 112.305, 112.315) | Marriage may fully revoke pre-marital will under ORS § 112.305 |
| UPC states (approx. 20) | Divorce revokes dispositions to former spouse AND former spouse's relatives (UPC § 2-804) | Omitted spouse receives intestate share; will not fully revoked |
For state-specific detail, see Pactlio Wills and the state pages for Florida, Texas, California, and New York.
One planning note for second marriages and blended families: if you want assets to pass to your current spouse despite language in a prior will, explicitly state that intent in a new will. Relying on automatic legal protections alone — while rational — has produced litigation in every state listed above. If you are weighing whether a will is the right tool at all, a revocable living trust avoids probate entirely and can be amended more simply in many circumstances.
Also consider: if you are thinking about removing someone from your will rather than adding, the rules around intentional exclusion have their own wrinkles — our guide to how to disinherit someone covers the safeguards that protect you from a legal challenge.
What About Handwritten Changes and Holographic Wills?
Some people assume they can update a typed will by writing in it. In virtually every state, handwritten additions or deletions on a typed will are legally ineffective. Courts ignore those marks and enforce the original printed text. In some jurisdictions, extensive unauthorized markings can raise questions about the validity of the entire document.
A separate document called a holographic will — written entirely by hand and signed, with no witnesses required in the roughly half of states that recognize them — is a legal instrument. But a handwritten note that sits alongside a typed will, or handwritten changes in the margins of a typed will, does not meet the holographic standard because the document is not wholly in the testator's handwriting. Our dedicated guide to holographic wills explains which states recognize them and what the strict handwriting requirements mean in practice.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Revoking a will without having a signed replacement ready. Destroying your will before a new one is executed leaves your estate in intestacy — governed by a state formula you never chose.
- Forgetting to destroy old copies. A probate court that finds an outdated will alongside a newer one must try to reconcile both documents; contradictions generate disputes.
- Omitting the revocation clause from a new will. Without explicit revocation language, a court may try to read old and new wills together, creating ambiguities that fuel litigation.
- Assuming divorce handles everything. Automatic revocation clears your will but not your retirement account beneficiary designations, which are governed by federal ERISA rules and require a separate update with each plan administrator.
- Having a beneficiary witness the updated will. Most states void the bequest to any witness who is a beneficiary, even if the change they witness is a codicil to an earlier, valid will.
- Ignoring guardianship when a child is born. A will that names an executor but says nothing about a new child's guardian can leave that decision to a probate judge.
If you are ready to replace your current will or create one from scratch, create your will online with Pactlio's guided AI interview — it covers all 50 states, generates state-specific execution instructions, and produces a review-ready draft.
Sources
- Texas Estates Code § 253.002 – Revocation of Will: https://law.justia.com/codes/texas/estates-code/title-2/subtitle-f/chapter-253/section-253-002/
- Texas Estates Code § 123.001 – Effect of Divorce or Annulment on Will: https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ES/htm/ES.123.htm
- Florida Statute § 732.507(2) – Effect of Dissolution of Marriage: https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0732/Sections/0732.507.html
- New York EPTL § 3-4.1 – Revocation of Wills; Effect on Codicils: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/EPT/3-4.1
- New York EPTL § 5-1.4 – Revocation of Probate and Nonprobate Transfers by Divorce: https://law.justia.com/codes/new-york/ept/article-5/part-1/5-1.4/
- Uniform Probate Code § 2-804 – Revocation of Probate and Nonprobate Transfers by Divorce: https://www.sampsoncollaborativelaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/2021.03.02-Excerpt-Uniform-Probate-Code-2-804.pdf
- Oregon Revised Statutes § 112.305 – Revocation by Marriage: https://oregon.public.law/statutes/ors_112.305
- Oregon Revised Statutes § 112.315 – Revocation by Divorce or Annulment: https://oregon.public.law/statutes/ors_112.315
- Idaho Code § 15-2-508 – Revocation by Divorce: https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/title15/t15ch2/sect15-2-508/
- Massachusetts G.L. c. 190B, § 2-804 – Revocation on Divorce (MUPC): https://www.probatetrial.com/u-s-supreme-court-upholds-retroactive-application-of-revocation-on-divorce-statutes/
- Sveen v. Melin, No. 16-1432 (U.S. Supreme Court, June 11, 2018) – Retroactive application of revocation-on-divorce statutes upheld: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/16-1432_b97c.pdf
- In re Estate of Catlin, 311 S.W.3d 697 (Tex. App. 2010) – Texas court admitted copy of will despite missing original: https://www.texasinheritance.com/revoking-a-will-in-texas/
- American Bar Association – Caution on codicil use and confusion risk: https://www.texasinheritance.com/revoking-a-will-in-texas/
This article is general information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction. Pactlio generates professional drafts for review — have a licensed attorney review anything important.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I update my will without starting over?▾
Add a codicil — a formal written amendment that changes only the provisions you specify. It must be signed and witnessed with the same formalities as the original will. A codicil works best for one or two isolated changes, such as swapping an executor or adding a single bequest. For structural changes, execute a new will instead.
Does a new will automatically cancel an old will?▾
A new will that is inconsistent with an old one generally supersedes it, but relying on implied revocation is risky. The safe approach is to include an explicit revocation clause near the top of the new will — 'I revoke all prior wills and codicils' — and then physically destroy every copy of the old document.
Does divorce automatically revoke a will?▾
In most U.S. states, divorce automatically voids provisions in favor of a former spouse — the law treats the ex-spouse as if they predeceased you. However, the effect varies: Florida and Texas automatically void those provisions, while California creates only a rebuttable presumption of revocation. Always update your will after divorce.
Can I just cross out parts of my will to change them?▾
No. Writing in margins, crossing out text, or making handwritten additions to a typed will is legally ineffective in most states. Courts typically ignore those marks and enforce the original printed text. In some states, unauthorized alterations can cast doubt on the entire document. Use a proper codicil or a new will.
Does getting married revoke my existing will?▾
It depends on your state. A few states still follow rules that revoke a pre-marital will entirely upon marriage. Most states instead give an omitted spouse the right to claim an intestate share. Oregon Revised Statutes § 112.305, for example, revokes a will upon subsequent marriage unless the will states otherwise or was drafted in contemplation of the marriage.
What happens if I revoke my will without making a new one?▾
Your estate passes under your state's intestate succession laws, which divide assets according to a formula — not your wishes. Estranged relatives could inherit while close friends get nothing. Estate planning attorneys consistently advise against revoking a will until a signed replacement is already in your hands.
Can I revoke my will verbally?▾
Not in most states. Oral revocation is generally ineffective for typed wills. New York and a handful of other states allow a nuncupative (oral) declaration to revoke a will only under narrow circumstances, such as military service. For everyone else, revocation requires either a new testamentary writing or physical destruction of the document.
How many times can I update my will?▾
As many times as you want. There is no legal limit. Each new will or valid codicil supersedes or modifies the prior one. The practical constraint is quality, not quantity: multiple codicils stacked on an aging will create confusion at probate. Most estate planners recommend starting fresh after a second or third amendment.