Will Revocation and Revival Requirements in California

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law and scope

California's main rules are Probate Code §§ 6120 through 6124. The definition in § 88 matters throughout the chapter: “will” includes a codicil and a testamentary instrument that merely revokes or revises another will. The same revocation and revival framework therefore reaches codicils rather than treating them as a separate class of document.

Later will, codicil, or writing

Section 6120(a) permits a subsequent will to revoke a prior will or part either expressly or by inconsistency. Because § 88 includes a revocation-only testamentary instrument within “will,” California does not require the later instrument to make a new gift merely to fit the statutory definition. Section 6120 does not create a route for an informal non-testamentary note.

Physical or electronic revoking act

Section 6120(b) lists five acts: burning, tearing, canceling, obliterating, or destroying. The act must be performed with both the intent and the purpose of revoking the instrument. The chapter states no separate deletion, record-control, or other electronic-will act.

Act by another person

Another person may perform the listed act only in the testator's presence and at the testator's direction. Section 6120(b) states no separate witness count for that directed act.

Partial revocation

The opening words of § 6120 reach “a will or any part thereof.” That language applies to both statutory routes: a later will may revoke part expressly or by inconsistency, and a listed destructive act may target part when the required revocatory intent and purpose are present.

Intent, proof, and presumptions

The destructive-act route requires intent and purpose to revoke. Section 6124 adds a specific missing-original rule: when the will was last in the testator's possession, the testator remained competent until death, and neither the will nor a duplicate original can be found, the law presumes intentional destruction. The statute labels this a presumption affecting the burden of producing evidence, not an irrebuttable conclusion.

Divorce, annulment, and other family events

Unless the will says otherwise, § 6122 revokes former-spouse property dispositions, powers of appointment, and nominations as executor, trustee, conservator, or guardian when the marriage is dissolved or annulled. The affected terms operate as if the former spouse did not survive. Remarriage revives provisions revoked solely by that section.

Probate Code § 6122.1 applies the same structure to termination of a domestic partnership for wills executed on or after January 1, 2002. Establishing another domestic partnership with the former partner revives provisions revoked solely by that section. Section 6122(e) otherwise rejects revocation merely because circumstances changed.

Revival after a later will or revoking act

Section 6123 separates two routes. If the second will is revoked by a § 6120 or § 6121 act, the first will remains revoked unless the circumstances of that act or the testator's contemporary or later declarations show an intent for the first will to take effect as executed. If a third will revokes the second, the first remains revoked except to the extent the third will's terms show an intent to restore it.

Reexecution, republication, and codicil effect

This chapter states no standalone rule making reexecution the exclusive restoration method. Instead, § 6123 uses the testator's shown intent after a revoking act or the terms of a third will. Because § 88 includes a codicil within “will,” a codicil can operate within those later-instrument rules; merely keeping the older original does not itself satisfy § 6123's intent test.

What trips people up

A duplicate original is not just a spare photocopy for purposes of § 6121. When a will was executed in duplicate, intentionally burning, tearing, canceling, obliterating, or destroying one duplicate under the stated conditions revokes the will or affected part even though the other duplicate still exists.

A separate paper saying “I revoke my will” must still fit California's statutory route. Sections 88 and 6120 together recognize a testamentary instrument that merely revokes another will, but they do not turn every informal note, email, or spoken instruction into a subsequent will.

Common questions

Do these sections also revoke a revocable living trust?

No. Sections 6120 through 6124 govern wills, including codicils under § 88. Trust revocation follows a different statutory framework and is outside this survey.

Does the missing-will presumption decide the entire probate case?

No. Section 6124 allocates a burden of producing evidence when its possession, competency, and missing-original conditions are met. It does not set out the separate procedure for proving or admitting a lost or destroyed will.

Statutes and sources

• Cal. Prob. Code § 88 — meaning of will. Includes a codicil and a testamentary instrument that merely revokes or revises another will. Official 1990 chapter law (accessed 2026-08-01).
• Cal. Prob. Code §§ 6120–6121 — revocation methods and duplicate originals. States the later-will route, listed destructive acts, partial reach, intent requirement, and directed-person conditions. Official 1990 chapter law (accessed 2026-08-01).
• Cal. Prob. Code §§ 6122–6122.1 — former spouses and domestic partners. Revokes the listed provisions, supplies the failed-survival construction, and states the remarriage and renewed-partnership revival rules. Official 2001 chapter law (printed pp. 7313–7314; accessed 2026-08-01).
• Cal. Prob. Code § 6123 — revival after a second will is revoked. Makes revival depend on circumstances and declarations after a revoking act or on the terms of a third will. Official 1990 chapter law (accessed 2026-08-01).
• Cal. Prob. Code § 6124 — missing-will presumption. Creates a rebuttable production-burden presumption when its possession, competency, and missing-original conditions are met. Official 1990 chapter law (accessed 2026-08-01).