Will Revocation and Revival Requirements in Indiana

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law and scope

Indiana divides the subject between chapter 5 for traditional wills and chapter 21 for electronic wills. Section 29-1-21-3 defines “will” to include codicils and an instrument that revives or revokes another will. A qualifying electronic codicil may amend either an electronic will or a traditional paper will.

Later will, codicil, or writing

For a paper will, § 29-1-5-6 requires another writing made for the purpose of revocation and signed, subscribed, and attested under § 29-1-5-3 or the self-proving route in § 29-1-5-3.1. The section does not state an informal-note route.

Electronic revocation is more specific. A new electronic or traditional paper will revokes the earlier electronic will under § 29-1-21-8(b) only when it explicitly revokes and supersedes all prior wills. A separate revocation document must identify the electronic will by signing date, state the revocation, and carry the testator's and two witnesses' compliant electronic or paper signatures.

Physical or electronic revoking act

A paper will may be destroyed or mutilated with intent to revoke. For an electronic will outside a custodian's service, the testator must permanently delete each controlled copy or render the record unreadable and nonretrievable. Ordinary file loss is not the act described in § 29-1-21-8(c).

When a custodian or attorney stores the electronic record, the testator instead gives a written instruction. Before deleting or disabling the record, the recipient must sign an affidavit of regularity, create a complete converted copy, permanently attach the affidavit to that copy, and transmit the copy to the testator.

Act by another person

Another person may destroy or mutilate a paper will only in the testator's presence and at the testator's direction. The electronic statute creates a different directed-person procedure: a custodian or attorney acts on the testator's written instruction after completing the preservation steps in § 29-1-21-8(e).

Partial revocation

Indiana expressly limits partial revocation of a paper will to the formal-writing route. Destroying or mutilating only a paper provision does not satisfy the statutory partial-revocation sentence. Section 29-1-21-8 calls its methods exclusive for revoking an electronic will and does not state a separate route for deleting only one provision.

Intent, proof, and presumptions

The paper act requires intent to revoke. An electronic custodian's affidavit and converted copy preserve evidence after deletion. If the electronic record or a complete converted copy cannot be found after death, § 29-1-21-8(f) imports the same presumption that applies to a missing traditional paper will without rewriting that presumption in the electronic statute.

Divorce, annulment, and other family events

Under the current § 29-1-5-8, dissolution or annulment revokes all will provisions in favor of the former spouse as of that event. Remarriage reinstates those provisions. The current section does not add a revocation rule for later marriage, birth, adoption, or separation.

Revival after a later will or revoking act

Revoking a second will does not automatically revive the first. Section 29-1-5-6 requires either terms in the revocation showing an intent to revive or a due republication of the earlier will after the revocation. Section 29-1-5-8 adds the separate remarriage reinstatement rule for provisions revoked by divorce or annulment.

Reexecution, republication, and codicil effect

Due republication is an express restoration route in § 29-1-5-6. Indiana's electronic-will definitions also recognize a properly executed electronic codicil that amends a paper or electronic will and a testamentary instrument that revives or revokes another will. Whether a particular document duly republished an earlier will remains an execution-and-intent question.

What trips people up

Crossing out one paper gift is not an authorized partial-revocation route. Indiana says a written will may be revoked in part only by another properly executed writing. The physical route—destruction or mutilation—does not carry the same partial effect.

Electronic deletion has a preservation procedure when a custodian or attorney holds the record. A bare request to remove the file skips the statute's written instruction, affidavit, converted-copy, attachment, and delivery steps. Multiple custodians also create a best-efforts duty to contact each holder after a new will expressly supersedes the electronic will.

Common questions

Can a text message revoke an Indiana will?

Not by itself under the cited routes. A paper-will revocation writing must use the required execution formalities. An electronic revocation document must identify the electronic will by date, expressly revoke it, and be signed by the testator and two witnesses under the applicable electronic or paper ceremony.

Does divorce revoke the whole Indiana will?

No. Current § 29-1-5-8 revokes the provisions in favor of the former spouse and reinstates those provisions if the testator remarries that spouse.

Does deleting one copy revoke an electronic will?

Not necessarily. A testator without a custodian must permanently delete each copy in the testator's possession or control or render the electronic record unreadable and nonretrievable. A custodian-held record uses the separate written- instruction procedure.

Statutes and sources

• Ind. Code § 29-1-5-6 — paper-will destruction and formal writings, directed acts, partial revocation, revival intent, and republication. Official 2026 chapter PDF (accessed 2026-08-01).
• Ind. Code § 29-1-5-7 — permits an oral will or part to be revoked by another oral will. Official 2026 chapter PDF (accessed 2026-08-01).
• Ind. Code § 29-1-5-8 — current former-spouse revocation and remarriage reinstatement rule. Official 2026 chapter PDF (accessed 2026-08-01).
• Ind. Code § 29-1-21-3 — defines electronic wills, qualifying electronic codicils, and will instruments that revive or revoke another will. Official 2026 chapter PDF (accessed 2026-08-01).
• Ind. Code § 29-1-21-8 — exclusive electronic-will revocation methods, deletion, witnessed revocation documents, custodial procedure, and the missing-record presumption. Official 2026 chapter PDF (accessed 2026-08-01).