Iowa: Will Revocation and Revival Requirements

Requirements one by one

Governing law and scope

Iowa compresses the core revocation and revival rules into § 633.284. It makes
the listed methods exclusive and expressly reaches a will “in whole or in
part.” Section 633.279 supplies the new-will witnessing formalities imported
when cancellation is the chosen method.

Family events sit elsewhere in the same chapter: § 633.267 addresses a child
born or adopted after the will, and § 633.271 addresses divorce or dissolution.

Later will, codicil, or writing

Execution of a subsequent will is one of § 633.284's exclusive revocation
routes. The section does not state a separate rule for express revocation versus
inconsistency and does not authorize an informal revocation note outside a
subsequent will.

Physical or electronic revoking act

The physical verbs are short: cancel or destroy the will or part. The testator
must perform or direct the act with the intention of revoking it. Iowa does not
list burning, tearing, obliterating, deleting, or another separate electronic
act in § 633.284.

Act by another person

Section 633.284 permits an act done at the testator's direction. If the act is
cancellation, the revocation must be witnessed in the same manner as making a
new will.

That cross-reference carries substantial ceremony. Under § 633.279(1), two
competent witnesses sign at the testator's request, in the testator's presence,
and in each other's presence after the testator declares the instrument to be
the testator's will.

Partial revocation

Partial revocation is expressly allowed. Section 633.284 applies both its
cancel-or-destroy route and its subsequent-will route to a will in whole or in
part. Cancellation still requires the full witnessing overlay even if only one
provision is targeted.

Intent, proof, and presumptions

Cancellation or destruction requires the intention to revoke. Cancellation
also requires new-will witnessing, making Iowa's proof structure more formal
than a simple mark on the page.

The section states no quantified evidence standard and no presumption that a
missing original was revoked. Loss alone is not one of the statutory methods.

Divorce, annulment, and other family events

Divorce or dissolution revokes all will provisions favoring the spouse and
qualifying relatives of the spouse, including dispositions, property
appointments, and fiduciary or representative nominations, unless the will
provides otherwise.

If the former spouses remarry, § 633.271 reinstates those provisions unless the
testator otherwise revoked them. A provision for someone who died before the
remarriage is not reinstated.

A child born or adopted after execution receives the statutory share described
in § 633.267(1), unless the will shows the omission was intentional; the child's
arrival does not revoke the will under § 633.284. Later marriage likewise is
not one of § 633.284's revocation methods, although separate spousal-share rules
may apply.

Revival after a later will or revoking act

Iowa rejects automatic revival. A revoked or invalid will or part can be
revived only by reexecution or by another will or codicil that incorporates the
revoked or invalid instrument or part by reference.

Reexecution, republication, and codicil effect

Section 633.284 supplies the complete restoration formula. Reexecute the
revoked instrument itself, or execute another will or codicil that identifies
and incorporates it by reference. Destroying the later will or simply retaining
the older original does not satisfy that text.

What trips people up

Crossing something out is not a casual Iowa revocation method. Cancellation
must be witnessed with the same formalities as a new will, including two
witnesses signing in the testator's presence and in each other's presence.

Destruction and cancellation are not interchangeable for ceremony. The statute
expressly attaches the new-will witnessing requirement when revocation is done
by cancellation; it does not state that same sentence for destruction.

Revival is stricter than revocation. Even a valid cancellation or destruction
of the later will does not restore the earlier one without reexecution or a new
incorporating will or codicil.

Common questions

Can an Iowa testator revoke only one clause by crossing it out?

Partial revocation is allowed, but cancellation must be witnessed like a new
will. An unwitnessed cross-out does not satisfy § 633.284's cancellation route.

Does remarriage restore provisions for every former-spouse relative?

Not always. Section 633.271 reinstates provisions revoked by divorce or
dissolution unless otherwise revoked, but it does not reinstate a provision for
a person who died before the remarriage.

Statutes and sources

• Iowa Code § 633.267(1) — a statutory share for an omitted child born or
  adopted after execution. Official
  text
  (accessed 2026-08-01).
• Iowa Code § 633.271 — divorce or dissolution, spouse-relative provisions,
  and reinstatement on remarriage. Official
  text
  (accessed 2026-08-01).
• Iowa Code § 633.279(1) — the two-witness, testator-presence, and
  witness-to-witness-presence formalities imported for cancellation. Official
  text
  (accessed 2026-08-01).
• Iowa Code § 633.284 — exclusive whole/partial revocation methods,
  cancellation witnessing, and revival by reexecution or incorporation by
  reference. Official
  text
  (accessed 2026-08-01).