Will Revocation and Revival Requirements in Iowa

At a glance

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The section states no quantified evidence standard and no presumption that a missing original was revoked.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).