Will Revocation and Revival Requirements in Colorado

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law and scope

Colorado's ordinary revocation and revival rules are §§ 15-11-507 through 15-11-509, supplemented by the harmless-error rule in § 15-11-503 and the divorce rule in § 15-11-804. Section 15-10-201(59) includes codicils and testamentary instruments that merely revoke or revise another will within the word “will.” Electronic wills are wills for all Colorado-law purposes, subject to the special revocation rule in § 15-11-1307.

Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-508 provides that a change of circumstances does not revoke a will or any part of it except as §§ 15-11-803 and 15-11-804 provide.

Later will, codicil, or writing

A subsequent will may revoke the earlier will or part expressly or by inconsistency. A later will that completely disposes of the estate is presumed to replace the earlier will. One that does not make a complete disposition is presumed to supplement it and revokes only inconsistent provisions. Clear and convincing evidence is needed to rebut either presumption.

Colorado's harmless-error rule can also validate a document or writing that missed § 15-11-502's execution requirements if clear and convincing evidence shows the decedent intended a partial or complete revocation. The document must satisfy § 15-11-503's signature or acknowledgment limit.

Physical or electronic revoking act

For an ordinary will, a revocatory act includes burning, tearing, canceling, obliterating, or destroying the will or part with the intent and purpose to revoke. A burn, tear, or cancellation can qualify even if it does not touch the will's words.

For an electronic will, § 15-11-1307 uses a separate “physical act” rule. The act and revocatory intent must be established by clear and convincing evidence.

Act by another person

Another individual may perform the ordinary revocatory act only in the testator's conscious presence and at the testator's direction. For an electronic will, a directed physical act must be performed in the testator's physical presence, and the clear-and-convincing standard applies.

Partial revocation

Both the ordinary and electronic statutes expressly permit partial revocation. A later will may revoke only part, and an intent-based physical act may likewise target part rather than the whole instrument.

Intent, proof, and presumptions

The ordinary physical-act route requires both intent and purpose to revoke. The complete-disposition and incomplete-disposition presumptions divide replacement from supplementation and require clear and convincing evidence to rebut. Electronic physical-act revocation also requires clear and convincing proof of intent and conduct.

Section 15-11-503 adds a separate curative route. On clear and convincing evidence, a court may treat a signed or acknowledged defective document as a partial or complete revocation or revival. Whether the section applies is a question of law for the court in formal proceedings.

Divorce, annulment, and other family events

Under Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-804(2), divorce or annulment revokes revocable dispositions, powers of appointment, and fiduciary nominations for the former spouse and qualifying relatives. The rule yields to contrary express terms in the governing instrument, a court order, or a qualifying marital-estate contract. Revoked terms operate as though the former spouse and relatives disclaimed them, or died immediately before the divorce for a fiduciary nomination.

Remarriage to the former spouse or nullification of the divorce or annulment revives provisions revoked solely by § 15-11-804. Apart from the changes identified in §§ 15-11-803 and 15-11-804, a circumstance change does not revoke a will or part.

Revival after a later will or revoking act

If a later will wholly revoked the earlier one and is then revoked by physical act, the earlier will remains revoked unless the circumstances or the testator's contemporary or later declarations show an intent to revive it.

If the later will revoked only part, physical revocation presumptively revives the prior part unless circumstances or declarations show that the testator did not want it restored. If another later will revokes the intervening instrument, revival reaches only as far as that newest will's terms show revival intent.

Reexecution, republication, and codicil effect

A codicil is a will under § 15-10-201(59), so it can operate through the same later-instrument rules. Colorado does not state a universal reexecution-only formula for restoration. Section 15-11-509 supplies the principal revival tests, while § 15-11-503 can validate a signed or acknowledged defective revival writing on clear and convincing proof.

What trips people up

Colorado uses different presence and proof language for ordinary and electronic wills. The ordinary directed act must occur in the testator's conscious presence. The electronic-will rule requires physical presence and clear and convincing proof of the act and revocatory intent.

Destroying the later will also has opposite default effects depending on its scope. A prior will wholly displaced by the later one stays revoked unless revival intent appears; a prior part displaced by the later one generally returns unless contrary intent appears.

Common questions

Must a revoking mark touch the words of a Colorado paper will?

Not always. Section 15-11-507 says a burn, tear, or cancellation may qualify even when it does not touch any words, but the required intent and purpose still must be shown.

Can a defective revocation writing ever work?

Potentially. Section 15-11-503 permits harmless-error treatment when its signature or acknowledgment condition is met and clear and convincing evidence shows revocation intent.

Does destroying the newer will automatically restore the older one?

No. The answer depends on whether the newer will revoked all or only part and on the circumstances, declarations, or terms showing the testator's intent.

Statutes and sources

• Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-10-201(59) — defines will to include codicils and instruments that revoke or revise another will. Official text (accessed 2026-08-01).
• Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-503 — harmless-error treatment for defective revocation and revival writings. Official text (accessed 2026-08-01).
• Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-507 — later-will and physical-act revocation and presumptions. Official text (accessed 2026-08-01).
• Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 15-11-508 to -509 — circumstance changes and revival. Official current text (accessed 2026-08-24).
• Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-804 — divorce/annulment revocation, effect, exceptions, remarriage, and other circumstance changes. Official text (accessed 2026-08-24).
• Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 15-11-1303 and 15-11-1307 — electronic-will status and revocation methods. Official text (accessed 2026-08-01).