Alaska: Will Revocation and Revival Requirements
The short answer
Alaska revokes a will by a subsequent will that revokes it expressly or by inconsistency, or by a revocatory act — burning, tearing, canceling, obliterating, or destroying the will or any part of it — done with revocatory intent, including by another person in the testator's conscious presence and at the testator's direction. Two presumptions decide whether a later will replaces or supplements an earlier one, each rebuttable only by clear and convincing evidence. Divorce revokes provisions for the former spouse and the former spouse's relatives. Alaska has a full revival statute whose answer turns on how the later will was itself revoked.
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This is the general rule in Alaska. Ask about your specific facts and see which parts of current Alaska law apply, with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law and scope | AS 13.12.507 (revocation), 13.12.508 (change of circumstances), 13.12.509 (revival), and 13.12.804 (divorce/annulment), within Alaska's Uniform Probate Code. AS 13.06.068 adds a choice-of-law overlay that can send the revocation question to another jurisdiction's law. No electronic-will statute; the wills article uses 'will' throughout with no codicil-specific provision. |
|---|---|
| Later will, codicil, or writing | A will or part is revoked 'by executing a subsequent will that revokes the previous will or part expressly or by inconsistency' (§ 13.12.507(a)(1)). Where the later will does not expressly revoke, it 'wholly revokes the previous will by inconsistency if the testator intended the subsequent will to replace rather than supplement' it (subsection (b)). No separate non-will revocation writing exists, so a revoking instrument must satisfy AS 13.12.502: writing, signed by the testator or by another in the testator's conscious presence and at the testator's direction, and signed by at least two witnesses each within a reasonable time after witnessing the signing or the testator's acknowledgment — or qualify as a holographic will with signature and material portions in the testator's handwriting. |
| Physical or electronic revoking act | A 'revocatory act on the will' done 'with the intent and for the purpose of revoking the will or part of the will' (§ 13.12.507(a)(2)). The defined acts are burning, tearing, canceling, obliterating, or destroying the will or any part of it, and the act counts 'whether or not the burn, tear, or cancellation touched any of the words on the will.' No deletion, electronic-record, or signature-specific route is stated. |
| Act by another person | Permitted where another individual performed the act 'in the testator's conscious presence and by the testator's direction' (§ 13.12.507(a)(2)). Conscious presence, not physical line of sight, is the test. No witness count, writing, or separate proof requirement applies to the directed act. |
| Partial revocation | Allowed by both routes. The instrument route reaches 'a part' expressly (§ 13.12.507(a)(1)), and the § 13.12.507(d) supplement presumption leaves both wills operative except where inconsistent. The act route reaches 'the will or part of the will' and 'any part of it' (§ 13.12.507(a)(2)). |
| Intent, proof, and presumptions | Revocatory intent is required for the act route. Two statutory presumptions govern later wills, each rebuttable only 'by clear and convincing evidence': a subsequent will making a complete disposition of the estate is presumed to REPLACE, so the previous will is revoked and only the later one operates (§ 13.12.507(c)); one not making a complete disposition is presumed to SUPPLEMENT, revoking only to the extent of inconsistency (§ 13.12.507(d)). No presumption of revocation arises from a missing or mutilated original. A signature on a self-proving affidavit attached to a will counts as a signature on the will if needed to prove due execution (§ 13.12.504(c)). |
| Divorce, annulment, and other family events | Divorce or annulment revokes revocable dispositions, appointments, powers of appointment, and fiduciary nominations for the former spouse AND for a relative of the former spouse, and severs joint tenancies with right of survivorship into tenancies in common (§ 13.12.804(a)). Excepted by the instrument's express terms, a court order, or a marital-division contract. Revoked interests take effect as if disclaimed; revoked fiduciary nominations as if the person died immediately before the divorce (subsection (c)). Provisions revoked solely by the section are revived by remarriage to the former spouse or by nullification of the divorce or annulment (subsection (d)). A separation decree that does not terminate marital status is not a divorce (subsection (j)(2)). Otherwise 'a change of circumstances does not revoke a will or a part of it' (§ 13.12.508), except felonious killing under § 13.12.803. |
| Revival after a later will or revoking act | Alaska has a full revival statute, and the answer depends on HOW the later will was revoked (§ 13.12.509). If the later will WHOLLY revoked the earlier one and is then revoked by a physical act, the earlier will stays revoked unless the circumstances of that revocation or the testator's contemporary or subsequent declarations make it evident the testator intended it to take effect — a default AGAINST revival (subsection (a)). If the later will only PARTLY revoked the earlier one and is then revoked by a physical act, the revoked part IS revived unless it is evident the testator did not so intend — a default FOR revival (subsection (b)). If the later will is instead revoked by another, still later will, the earlier will stays revoked except to the extent the terms of that later will show the testator intended it to take effect (subsection (c)). |
| Reexecution, republication, and codicil effect | No reexecution or republication section. Revival under § 13.12.509 is the statutory restoration route, and subsection (c) makes the terms of a later will the only evidence that counts when the revocation was by a later instrument. A separate writing may be incorporated by reference if it existed when the will was executed and the will's language identifies it (§ 13.12.510). A restoring instrument must be executed as a will under § 13.12.502. |
Compare this rule across all 50 states + DC →
Alaska adopted the Uniform Probate Code's wills article essentially intact, which means
it answers the revival question that many states leave open — and answers it three
different ways depending on how the later will was itself revoked.
Requirements one by one
Executing a subsequent will
Section 13.12.507(a)(1) revokes a will or part "by executing a subsequent will that
revokes the previous will or part expressly or by inconsistency."
Subsection (b) fills in the silent case: where the later will says nothing about
revocation, it "wholly revokes the previous will by inconsistency if the testator
intended the subsequent will to replace rather than supplement the previous will."
Alaska names no separate revocation writing. A document whose purpose is to revoke has
to satisfy AS 13.12.502 — writing, signature by the testator or by another in the
testator's conscious presence and at the testator's direction, and signatures by at
least two individuals, each signing within a reasonable time after witnessing the
signing or the testator's acknowledgment. Alternatively it can be holographic: valid
whether or not witnessed if the signature and material portions are in the testator's
handwriting.
The revocatory act
Section 13.12.507(a)(2) requires the act be done "with the intent and for the purpose of
revoking the will or part of the will." The defined acts are burning, tearing,
canceling, obliterating, or destroying the will or any part of it.
The subsection then removes the most common defense:
a "revocatory act on the will" includes a burning, tearing, or canceling whether or
not the burn, tear, or cancellation touched any of the words on the will.
A line drawn across a blank margin can revoke. So can a scorch that missed the text.
The rule cuts both ways — it makes deliberate revocation easier and accidental damage
riskier.
Conscious presence
Another individual may perform the act, but only "in the testator's conscious presence
and by the testator's direction." Conscious presence is broader than line of sight: it
asks whether the testator was aware of the act through sight, hearing, or general
consciousness of what was happening. Both elements are required.
The replace/supplement presumptions
One question decides most two-will cases: does the later will dispose of everything?
- Complete disposition → replace. The testator is presumed to have intended the
later will to replace. Unless rebutted by clear and convincing evidence, "the previous
will is revoked; only the subsequent will is operative." § 13.12.507(c). - Incomplete disposition → supplement. The testator is presumed to have intended it
to supplement. Unless rebutted by clear and convincing evidence, it revokes "only to
the extent the subsequent will is inconsistent," and both wills stay fully operative
where they do not conflict. § 13.12.507(d).
Clear and convincing evidence is a demanding standard, well above the ordinary
more-likely-than-not test.
Revival: three rules, not one
Section 13.12.509 is the section most states either lack or compress. Its answer turns
on two facts — did the later will revoke the earlier one wholly or partly, and was the
later will itself revoked by a physical act or by a still-later will?
- Later will wholly revoked the earlier one, then was destroyed. The earlier will
"remains revoked unless it is revived." It is revived only if intent to revive is
"evident from the circumstances of the revocation of the subsequent will or from the
testator's contemporary or subsequent declarations." The default is against
revival. § 13.12.509(a). - Later will only partly revoked the earlier one, then was destroyed. The revoked
part "is revived unless it is evident" the testator did not so intend. The default
flips toward revival. § 13.12.509(b). - Later will was revoked by another, still-later will. The earlier will stays
revoked, and is revived only "to the extent it appears from the terms of the later
will" that the testator intended it to take effect. Here only the document's own
words count — circumstances and spoken declarations drop out. § 13.12.509(c).
Divorce and annulment
Section 13.12.804(a) revokes, on divorce or annulment, every revocable disposition,
appointment, power of appointment, and fiduciary nomination in favor of the former
spouse and in favor of "a relative of the divorced individual's former spouse" —
defined as someone related to the former spouse by blood, adoption, or affinity who is
no longer related to the divorced individual after the split.
It also severs joint tenancies with right of survivorship into tenancies in common,
subject to a third-party protection in subsection (b) for someone who acquired an
interest for value and in good faith before any severance writing was recorded.
Three things defeat the section: the instrument's express terms, a court order, or a
marital-division contract between the divorced individuals.
Construction follows in subsection (c): revoked interests take effect as if the former
spouse and relatives had disclaimed them, while revoked fiduciary nominations take
effect as if those persons died immediately before the divorce.
Subsection (d) restores: provisions revoked solely by the section "are revived by the
divorced individual's remarriage to the former spouse or by a nullification of the
divorce or annulment." A separation decree that leaves marital status intact is not a
divorce here.
No other change of circumstances
Section 13.12.508 closes the family-events question: "a change of circumstances does not
revoke a will or a part of it," except for divorce under § 13.12.804 and felonious
killing under § 13.12.803. Marriage, birth, and adoption do not revoke an Alaska will.
What trips people up
- Which revival rule applies depends on facts you may not control. Destroying a
later will that had wholly replaced an earlier one leaves the earlier one revoked by
default. Destroying one that had only partly changed it restores the changed parts by
default. The two defaults point in opposite directions, and both are rebuttable. - When the later will is revoked by a still-later will, your words don't count.
Under § 13.12.509(c), only the terms of the later will can show revival intent.
Statements to family, notes in a file, and the circumstances of signing all drop out. - A tear that misses the words still revokes. Section 13.12.507(a)(2) says so
expressly for burning, tearing, and canceling. - Whether your new will is "complete" decides the old one's fate. A new will with a
residuary clause disposing of everything triggers the replace presumption; a document
handling only a few assets triggers the supplement presumption and leaves the old will
alive beside it. - Divorce reaches your former in-laws and your joint title. Gifts and fiduciary
appointments to relatives of the ex-spouse fall, and survivorship tenancies convert to
tenancies in common. - Another state's law may decide whether your Alaska will was revoked. AS
13.06.068(f) sends the question of whether a disposition of personal property was
effectively revoked by a later instrument or a physical act to the law of the
jurisdiction where the testator was domiciled when that instrument was executed or
that act performed. Moving between states between signing and revoking can change the
governing rule.
Common questions
I tore up my newest will. Does my older one come back?
It depends on what the newer will had done. If it wholly replaced the older will, the
older one stays revoked unless the circumstances or your statements around the tearing
make your intent to revive it evident. If the newer will had only changed part of the
older one, those changed parts come back unless it is evident you did not want them to.
Can someone else destroy my will for me?
Yes, in your conscious presence and at your direction. Both conditions must hold; a
relative acting on their own has revoked nothing.
Is a signed letter saying "I revoke my will" enough?
Not by itself. Alaska's only instrument route is a subsequent will, so the document must
meet AS 13.12.502 — two witnesses — or be handwritten and signed as a holographic will.
If I remarry my ex-spouse, do the gifts to them come back?
Yes. Section 13.12.804(d) revives provisions revoked solely by that section on
remarriage to the former spouse, and also on nullification of the divorce or annulment.
Statutes and sources
- AS 13.12.507 — the two revocation routes, the defined revocatory acts, the
touched-no-words rule, the conscious-presence directed act, the inconsistency rule,
and the replace/supplement presumptions with their clear-and-convincing rebuttal
standard. Official statute
text
(accessed 2026-08-01). - AS 13.12.509 — the three revival rules: default against revival after a physical
act revoking a wholly-revoking will, default toward revival after a physical act
revoking a partly-revoking will, and terms-of-the-later-will only when the revocation
was by a further instrument. Official statute
text
(accessed 2026-08-01). - AS 13.12.508 — no revocation by change of circumstances outside the divorce and
homicide sections. Official statute
text
(accessed 2026-08-01). - AS 13.12.804 — divorce and annulment revoking provisions for the former spouse and
the former spouse's relatives, tenancy severance, disclaimer and predecease
construction, and revival on remarriage or nullification. Official statute
text
(accessed 2026-08-01). - AS 13.12.502 — witnessed and holographic execution, the formalities any revoking or
restoring instrument must meet. Official statute
text
(accessed 2026-08-01). - AS 13.06.068(f) — choice of law for whether a disposition of personal property was
effectively revoked by a later instrument or a physical act. Official statute
text
(accessed 2026-08-01). - AS 13.12.510 — incorporation by reference of a writing in existence when the will
was executed. Official statute
text
(accessed 2026-08-01).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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