Will Revocation and Revival Requirements in Illinois

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law and scope

Section 4-7 of the Probate Act supplies the ordinary-will rules for revocation, family-status changes, and revival. Illinois's Electronic Wills Act uses a separate and narrower list in 755 ILCS 6/5-10, including its own missing-record presumption.

Later will, codicil, or writing

For an ordinary will, § 4-7(a) recognizes a later will that declares revocation and a later will that revokes only “to the extent that it is inconsistent” with the prior will. A separate revoking instrument must be signed and attested like a will. Under § 4-3(a), that means a signed writing attested in the testator's presence by at least two credible witnesses.

Electronic wills use § 5-10(a). It recognizes the same express and inconsistency-based later-will routes and also a written instrument executed by the testator that declares the revocation.

Physical or electronic revoking act

Section 4-7(a)(1) lists four acts for an ordinary will: burning, cancelling, tearing, or obliterating it. By contrast, § 5-10's exhaustive electronic-will list does not include deleting, erasing, or making the electronic record unreadable. Its routes are a later will or a testator-executed written revocation.

Act by another person

Another person may burn, cancel, tear, or obliterate an ordinary will only in the testator's presence and by the testator's direction and consent. Section 5-10 does not give another person a parallel electronic destructive-act route; its separate written- instrument option must be executed by the testator.

Partial revocation

A later inconsistent will revokes the prior will only to the extent of the inconsistency. Section 4-7(c) also recognizes that a will may have been partially revoked “by an instrument.” The statute does not expressly say that crossing out or destroying only part of the paper will produces a valid partial revocation.

Intent, proof, and presumptions

The paper-will section says a will may be revoked “only” through its listed methods, but it does not add a separate statutory evidence standard. Electronic wills have a specific proof consequence: if evidence shows the testator signed one and neither the electronic will nor a certified paper copy can be found after death, § 5-10(b) presumes that the testator revoked it even when no later revoking document is found.

Divorce, annulment, and other family events

Section 4-7(b) says changes in circumstances, condition, or marital status do not revoke a will or part, with one exception. Entry of a dissolution or invalidity judgment revokes the former spouse's legacies, interests, powers of appointment, and fiduciary nominations under a premarital-judgment will. The instrument then operates as if the former spouse died before the testator.

Revival after a later will or revoking act

A totally revoked will does not revive merely because the revoking instrument or act is later undone. Section 4-7(c) requires reexecution or a separate revival instrument signed and attested with will formalities. Partial revocation by instrument is different: revoking that instrument restores the revoked part as if the partial revocation had never occurred.

Reexecution, republication, and codicil effect

The express statutory restoration routes are reexecution and a revival instrument. The second route must satisfy § 4-3(a): a signed writing attested in the testator's presence by two or more credible witnesses. Section 4-7 does not state a separate republication-by-codicil rule.

What trips people up

Paper and electronic wills do not share the same revocation menu. Destroying a paper original is one of § 4-7's listed routes, but deleting an electronic file is not one of § 5-10's listed routes. Yet inability to find both the electronic will and a certified paper copy after death can itself create the statutory presumption of revocation.

The revival rule also distinguishes a fully revoked will from a provision revoked by an instrument. The former requires formal restoration. The latter returns when the partial-revocation instrument is revoked, so undoing a later instrument can have different consequences depending on whether it revoked the entire will or only part.

Common questions

Does divorce remove a former spouse named as executor?

Yes. Section 4-7(b) reaches a nomination to fiduciary office as well as gifts and powers of appointment, then treats the former spouse as having died first.

Is separation enough to trigger the former-spouse rule?

The statutory trigger is entry of a judgment of dissolution or declaration of invalidity. Section 4-7(b) does not identify separation alone as the trigger.

What if a signed electronic will disappears but a certified paper copy remains?

The presumption in § 5-10(b) requires that neither version can be located. Finding the certified paper copy means that specific two-version presumption is not satisfied.

Statutes and sources

• 755 ILCS 5/4-7 — revocation, family changes, and revival. Lists the ordinary-will methods, later-will inconsistency rule, former-spouse effect, and formal revival routes. Official text (accessed 2026-08-01).
• 755 ILCS 5/4-3 — signing and attestation. Requires a signed writing and attestation in the testator's presence by at least two credible witnesses. Official text (accessed 2026-08-01).
• 755 ILCS 6/5-10 — electronic-will revocation. Provides the later-will and testator-written-instrument routes and the missing-electronic-and-paper-copy presumption. Official text (accessed 2026-08-01).