How to Revoke a Last Will and Testament

You may choose to revoke a last will and testament at any time and for any reason you wish. After all, your will and its contents are entirely under your control.

In general, you should review your will every year or two, and also check it any time you have a major change in your life, such as a marriage, divorce, birth of a child or grandchild, major move, death of a spouse or beneficiary, a change in estate value or the sale or purchase of  business. If you find your will is not up to date, there are several ways you may revoke it:

• Destroy the document by shredding or burning it
• Attach an official codicil to revoke the will
• Create a new will that revokes the previous one, and make sure it’s dated

No matter which route you take, it should be clear to anyone that you have revoked your will. You could clarify this by including a notice of revocation with the next draft. However, if you do not make another will, make sure you have left behind evidence you revoked the previous versions of your will, including informing anyone who knows your will exists that it’s no longer valid.

But who should you tell, exactly? Legally, you do not have to tell anyone, but it is a good idea to at least inform any individuals to whom you have distributed copies of your will that the document they have in their possession is no longer valid. You could also distribute copies of your new will to these people, replacing the old version. They should be clearly marked as copies.

For more information on how to create, revise and revoke a last will and testament, speak with a dedicated Florida estate planning attorney at BaumannKangas Estate Law.