Summary of Florida Laws on Revocation of a Will Explained
Full Question:
I am doing research on revocation of Wills in Florida and would like to know if you have a summary of the laws on this?
02/07/2017 |
Category: Wills and Es... ยป Revocation |
State: Florida |
#31706
Answer:
There are several ways to revoke a Will in Florida including the following:
- Making a new inconsistent Will or Codicil even if the new Will does not expressly revoke a prior Will but this revocation only applies to the inconsistent provisions. The other Will remains valid to the extent they are not inconsistent.
- By making a new Will or Codicil that expressly revoked the prior Will.
- By an act by the maker of the Will that shows intent to cancel or revoke such as burning, tearing, canceling, defacing, obliterating, or destroying it with the intent, and for the purpose, of revocation.
- If married and then there is a divorce, dissolution of marriage or annulment, the Will provisions for the surviving spouse are void.
- Getting married or having a child after you make a Will does not revoke it but the spouse and child still inherit under Florida law.
- Revoking a codicil does not revoke the Will to which the codicil was made.
- Revocation of a Will that revoked a prior Will does not revive the former Will.
The relevant sections of the Florida Probate Code provide the following in reference to revocation of Wills.
732.505 Revocation by writing.—A will or codicil, or any part of either, is revoked:
(1) By a subsequent inconsistent will or codicil, even though the subsequent inconsistent will or codicil does not expressly revoke all previous wills or codicils, but the revocation extends only so far as the inconsistency.
(2) By a subsequent will, codicil, or other writing executed with the same formalities required for the execution of wills declaring the revocation.
732.506 Revocation by act.—A will or codicil is revoked by the testator, or some other person in the testator’s presence and at the testator’s direction, by burning, tearing, canceling, defacing, obliterating, or destroying it with the intent, and for the purpose, of revocation.
732.507 Effect of subsequent marriage, birth, adoption, or dissolution of marriage.—
(1) Neither subsequent marriage, birth, nor adoption of descendants shall revoke the prior will of any person, but the pretermitted child or spouse shall inherit as set forth in ss. 732.301 and 732.302, regardless of the prior will.
(2) Any provision of a will executed by a married person that affects the spouse of that person shall become void upon the divorce of that person or upon the dissolution or annulment of the marriage. After the dissolution, divorce, or annulment, the will shall be administered and construed as if the former spouse had died at the time of the dissolution, divorce, or annulment of the marriage, unless the will or the dissolution or divorce judgment expressly provides otherwise.
732.508 Revival by revocation.—
(1) The revocation by the testator of a will that revokes a former will shall not revive the former will, even though the former will is in existence at the date of the revocation of the subsequent will.
(2) The revocation of a codicil to a will does not revoke the will, and, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, it shall be presumed that in revoking the codicil the testator intended to reinstate the provisions of a will or codicil that were changed or revoked by the revoked codicil, as if the revoked codicil had never been executed.
