Nebraska: Will Revocation and Revival Requirements
The short answer
Nebraska permits whole or partial revocation by a subsequent will that revokes expressly or by inconsistency, or by burning, tearing, canceling, obliterating, or destroying the instrument with revocatory intent. Another person may perform the act in the testator's presence and at the testator's direction. Revoking the later will does not automatically revive the earlier one; revival depends on intent shown by the circumstances, declarations, or a third will's terms.
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This is the general rule in Nebraska. Ask about your specific facts and see which parts of current Nebraska law apply, with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law and scope | Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 30-2209(53) and 30-2332–30-2334. 'Will' includes a codicil and another qualifying testamentary instrument that revokes or revises an earlier instrument. The sections govern whole/partial revocation, divorce/annulment effects, and revival; they state no separate electronic-will rule. |
|---|---|
| Later will, codicil, or writing | A subsequent will revokes a prior will or part expressly or by inconsistency, as evident from its terms or competent evidence of its terms (§ 30-2332(1)). There is no separate informal-writing route; a revocation-only instrument must qualify as a 'will' by complying with §§ 30-2326–30-2338 (§ 30-2209(53)). |
| Physical or electronic revoking act | Burning, tearing, canceling, obliterating, or destroying the will or any part, with intent and purpose to revoke (§ 30-2332(2)). The statute states no deletion, rendering-unreadable, or electronic-record-control method. |
| Act by another person | Allowed only in the testator's presence and at the testator's direction (§ 30-2332(2)). The statute says 'presence,' not conscious presence, and states no additional witness requirement for the directed act. |
| Partial revocation | Expressly allowed: § 30-2332 opens with '[a] will or any part thereof' and applies that scope to both a subsequent will and the listed physical acts. The section states no separate restriction on canceling only a provision. |
| Intent, proof, and presumptions | The physical act requires both intent and purpose to revoke. The statute allows the later will's revocatory effect to be shown from its terms or competent evidence of its terms, but states no complete-disposition presumption, quantified statutory proof standard, or missing-original presumption (§ 30-2332). |
| Divorce, annulment, and other family events | Unless the will, court order, or marital-estate contract provides otherwise, divorce or annulment revokes revocable dispositions, powers, and fiduciary nominations for the former spouse and former spouse's relatives; affected will provisions operate as if they disclaimed or, for nominations, predeceased (§ 30-2333). Remarriage or nullification revives provisions revoked solely by that section. A separation not terminating spouse status is not divorce, and no other change of circumstances revokes apart from § 30-2354's homicide rule. |
| Revival after a later will or revoking act | If a second will that would have revoked the first is revoked by acts under § 30-2332, the first remains revoked in whole or part unless the circumstances or the testator's contemporary/subsequent declarations show intent that it take effect as executed (§ 30-2334(a)). If a third will revokes the second, the first remains revoked except to the extent the third will's terms show revival intent (§ 30-2334(b)). |
| Reexecution, republication, and codicil effect | No separate reexecution, republication-by-codicil, or revoked-codicil restoration section. Because § 30-2209(53) includes a codicil within 'will,' a formally executed later codicil can express the revival intent required by § 30-2334(b), but mere destruction or possession of an earlier instrument does not itself republish it. |
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Nebraska's Probate Code uses three consecutive sections for revocation, divorce, and
revival. Its general definition makes clear that will includes a codicil and another
qualifying testamentary instrument whose purpose is to revoke or revise an earlier one.
Requirements one by one
Later will, codicil, or writing
Section 30-2332 permits a subsequent will to revoke the earlier will or any part either
expressly or by inconsistency. The revocatory effect may be evident from the later
will's terms or from competent evidence of those terms.
Nebraska does not create a separate informal-note route. Under § 30-2209(53), a
revocation-only instrument is a will only when it complies with the statutory will
provisions in §§ 30-2326 through 30-2338. A bare signed memorandum should not be
treated as a statutory revocation unless it independently qualifies.
Physical act and another person's act
The five acts are burning, tearing, canceling, obliterating, and destroying. The act
must be done with both the intent and purpose of revoking the will or part. Another
person may perform it only in the testator's presence and by the testator's
direction.
Section 30-2332 does not add witnesses for that directed act and does not state an
electronic-specific route such as deletion, rendering a record unreadable, or removing
control of an electronic original.
Partial revocation
The opening words of § 30-2332 are direct: "[a] will or any part thereof is revoked."
That scope applies to both routes. A subsequent will may revoke a part expressly or by
inconsistency, and the listed destructive act may target only part of the instrument.
Nebraska does not add a separate rule forbidding cancellation of one provision or
requiring the physical act to reach the signature.
Intent, proof, and presumptions
For physical revocation, intent is an element: the act must occur "with the intent and
for the purpose of revoking" the will or part. For a later will, the statute asks whether
its terms or competent evidence of its terms show express or inconsistent revocation.
Unlike several other UPC states, § 30-2332 does not create complete-disposition and
incomplete-disposition presumptions. The surveyed sections also state no quantified
statutory evidence standard and no presumption based solely on a missing original.
Divorce, annulment, remarriage, and other changes
Section 30-2333 covers wills as one type of "governing instrument." Unless the
instrument, a court order, or a marital-estate contract provides otherwise, divorce or
annulment revokes three categories for the former spouse and former spouse's relatives:
- revocable property dispositions and appointments;
- general and nongeneral powers of appointment; and
- nominations to fiduciary or representative office, including personal representative,
executor, trustee, conservator, agent, or guardian.
The will operates as if those persons disclaimed the revoked provisions or, for a
revoked nomination, died immediately before the divorce or annulment. A separation
that leaves spouse status intact is not a divorce.
Remarriage to the former spouse or nullification of the divorce or annulment revives
provisions revoked solely by § 30-2333. Subsection (h) says no other change of
circumstances revokes, apart from § 30-2354's separate homicide rule. Later marriage,
birth, or adoption therefore does not itself revoke the will under this scheme.
Revival after the second will is revoked
Section 30-2334 rejects automatic revival. When a second will that would have revoked
the first is itself revoked by acts under § 30-2332, the first remains revoked in whole
or part unless the revocation circumstances or the testator's contemporary or later
declarations show intent that the first take effect as executed.
When a third will revokes the second, the first remains revoked except to the extent
the third will's terms show that the testator intended the first to take effect. The
third-will route therefore looks only to the third will's terms, while the act route also
looks to circumstances and declarations.
Reexecution, republication, and codicil effect
Nebraska has no separate statute making formal reexecution the exclusive restoration
method, no republication-by-codicil section, and no presumption that revoking a codicil
restores every provision it changed.
Because § 30-2209(53) includes codicils in the word "will," a later duly executed
codicil can supply the third-will terms showing revival intent under § 30-2334(b).
Mere possession of the earlier original or destruction of the second will is not, by
itself, statutory republication.
What trips people up
- Partial destructive revocation is express. The statute reaches a will "or any
part thereof" and does not limit physical acts to the whole instrument. - Presence is mandatory for another person's act. Direction without the testator
present does not satisfy § 30-2332(2). - Divorce reaches former-spouse relatives. It affects gifts, powers, and fiduciary
nominations, subject to the listed exceptions. - Remarriage revival is automatic only for the divorce rule. Reviving an earlier
will after revoking a later will still requires the intent evidence in § 30-2334. - A third will and a destructive act use different evidence. The former uses the
third will's terms; the latter can use circumstances and declarations.
Common questions
Can a Nebraska will be revoked by a separate note?
Only if the note qualifies as a will under the governing execution statutes. Nebraska
does not provide a separate informal-writing route in § 30-2332.
May another person destroy the will?
Yes, but the person must act in the testator's presence and at the testator's direction,
with the required revocatory intent and purpose.
Does divorce revoke the whole will?
No. Section 30-2333 revokes the covered dispositions, powers, and nominations for the
former spouse and qualifying former-spouse relatives, then gives the remaining
instrument effect under its construction rule.
Does destroying the second will revive the first?
Not automatically. The circumstances or the testator's contemporary or subsequent
declarations must show intent that the first will take effect as executed.
Statutes and sources
- Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-2209(53) — definition of will, including codicils and
qualifying revocation-only testamentary instruments. Official
text
(accessed 2026-08-01). - Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-2332 — whole and partial revocation by later will or
physical act; intent and directed-person rules. Official
text
(accessed 2026-08-01). - Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-2333 — divorce, annulment, former-spouse-relative
revocation, construction, exceptions, and remarriage revival. Official
text
(accessed 2026-08-01). - Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-2334 — intent-based revival after acts or a third will.
Official text
(accessed 2026-08-01).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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