Will Revocation and Revival Requirements in Florida

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law and scope

Florida places the main rules in Probate Code §§ 732.505 through 732.511. The sequence matters: it separately addresses later writings, revoking acts, family events, revival, the effect on codicils, and formal republication.

Later will, codicil, or writing

Under § 732.505, a later inconsistent will or codicil revokes the earlier instrument only as far as the two conflict. A separate writing that merely declares revocation works only if it is executed with the same formalities required for a will. An informal note therefore is not enough under this statutory route.

Physical or electronic revoking act

Section 732.506 lists the acts for a paper will or codicil: burning, tearing, canceling, defacing, obliterating, or destroying the instrument. For an electronic will or codicil, the listed acts are deleting, canceling, rendering the record unreadable, or obliterating it. In both settings, the act must be done with the intent and purpose of revocation.

Act by another person

Another person may perform the § 732.506 act, but only at the testator's direction and in the testator's presence. A destruction performed elsewhere or without the testator's direction does not fit that statutory route.

Partial revocation

Section 732.505 expressly reaches “any part” of a will or codicil and limits inconsistency-based revocation to the conflicting portion. Section 732.506 speaks to revocation of a will or codicil by act; whether a mark or alteration actually revoked only a provision still depends on the act and the required intent shown by the evidence.

Intent, proof, and presumptions

For every listed act, § 732.506 requires both revocatory intent and a revocatory purpose. The same section adds a stated evidence rule for an electronic will or codicil: the deleting, canceling, unreadability, or obliteration must be proved by clear and convincing evidence. It does not state a separate quantified evidence standard for the listed paper acts.

Divorce, annulment, and other family events

Section 732.507 treats different events differently. Later marriage, birth, or adoption does not revoke the will, although separate pretermitted-heir statutes may give an omitted spouse or child a share. A court-ordered dissolution or invalidation of the marriage voids will provisions affecting the former spouse and construes the will as if the former spouse died at dissolution, unless the testator executed the provision after dissolution, the will specifically says otherwise, or the judgment expressly provides otherwise.

Revival after a later will or revoking act

Florida rejects automatic revival of an earlier will. Section 732.508(1) says that revoking the later will does not bring the former will back, even if the former original still exists. A revoked codicil is different: absent contrary evidence, § 732.508(2) presumes the testator meant to restore the provisions the codicil had changed or revoked.

Reexecution, republication, and codicil effect

Under § 732.511, the formal restoration route is to reexecute the will or execute a codicil that republishes it with will-execution formalities. A codicil referring to a prior will republishes that will as modified by the codicil under § 732.5105. The dependency also runs the other way—revoking the will revokes all its codicils under § 732.509.

What trips people up

Destroying the newer will is not a reliable way to return to the old one. Florida's default is no automatic revival, so the safer legal question is whether the earlier instrument was formally reexecuted or republished. Codicils create a separate trap: revoking only the codicil presumptively restores the provisions it changed, while revoking the will takes its codicils down with it.

Electronic records add a proof requirement that the paper-act sentence does not state. Deleting a file must be paired with revocatory intent and proved by clear and convincing evidence; ordinary loss, corruption, or inability to open a file is not the statutory test by itself.

Common questions

Does writing “void” across one page revoke the whole will?

Not automatically. The result depends on whether the mark is a listed canceling, defacing, or obliterating act, what part it targets, and whether it was made with the intent and purpose to revoke.

Does separation from a spouse revoke Florida will provisions?

Section 732.507 ties its automatic rule to a judicial dissolution or order declaring the marriage invalid. The statute does not use separation alone as the trigger.

Can a new codicil restore an old will?

Yes, if it republishes the will and is executed with the required will formalities. The codicil should identify the will it is republishing; § 732.5105 gives that reference republication effect.

Statutes and sources

• Fla. Stat. § 732.505 — revocation by writing. “A will or codicil, or any part of either, is revoked” by a later inconsistency to that extent or by a later will-formal instrument declaring revocation. Official text (accessed 2026-08-01).
• Fla. Stat. § 732.506 — revocation by act. Lists the paper and electronic revoking acts, directed-person route, intent requirement, and clear-and-convincing electronic proof rule. Official text (accessed 2026-08-01).
• Fla. Stat. § 732.507 — family events. Marriage, birth, and adoption do not revoke; judicial dissolution voids spouse-affecting provisions subject to stated exceptions. Official text (accessed 2026-08-01).
• Fla. Stat. § 732.508 — revival. Rejects automatic revival of a former will and creates the revoked-codicil restoration presumption. Official text (accessed 2026-08-01).
• Fla. Stat. §§ 732.509, 732.5105, and 732.511 — codicils and republication. Revoking the will revokes its codicils; a referring codicil republishes the will; reexecution or a formal republishing codicil may restore a revoked or invalid will. § 732.509, § 732.5105, and § 732.511 (accessed 2026-08-01).