Revocation of will by act refers to the process by which a person may make a will invalid through action. The person must intend to revoke the will and act to revoke the will for the revocation to be valid. Frequently acceptable acts to demonstrate revocation include burning, tearing, canceling, obliterating, or destroying the will. Revocation by act can usually be carried out by the testator or a person acting at the direction of the testator. Revocation by act differs from revocation by instrument, which revokes a will through the execution of a new will or other writing.
The specific acts that will qualify to revoke a will vary by jurisdiction. For example, New York Estates, Powers, and Trusts Law §3-4.1 provides that a will may be revoked by “an act of burning, tearing, cutting, cancellation, obliteration, or other mutilation or destruction performed by: (i) The testator. (ii) Another person, in the presence and by the direction of the testator.” Similarly, California Probate Code §6120 provides that a will can be revoked by “being burned, torn, canceled, obliterated, or destroyed, with the intent and for the purpose of revoking it, by either (1) the testator or (2) another person in the testator's presence and by the testator's direction.”
[Last updated in April of 2024 by the Wex Definitions Team]
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