Oregon: Will Revocation and Revival Requirements

Requirements one by one

Governing law and scope

Oregon makes its statutory routes exclusive: ORS 112.275 says a will may be
revoked or altered “only as provided” in ORS 112.238, 112.260, and 112.285
through 112.315. ORS 111.005(31) defines “will” to include a codicil and a
testamentary instrument whose only job is to revoke or revive another will.

The ordinary scheme is paper-based. ORS 112.235(4) says that the definition of
“writing” used in the harmless-error section does not include an electronic
record, document, or image, and the revocation sections create no separate
electronic-will route.

Later will, codicil, or writing

ORS 112.285(1) permits a will to be revoked or altered by another will. Because
the statutory definition includes codicils, a properly executed codicil can use
that route.

Oregon also has an unusual curative route. Under ORS 112.238(1), a writing that
missed will-execution formalities can still constitute a partial or complete
revocation if it was made before death, was signed by the decedent or in the
specified directed-signature manner, and clear and convincing evidence proves
the decedent intended the revocation. An unsigned informal note does not meet
those threshold facts.

Physical or electronic revoking act

For a physical revocation, ORS 112.285(2) lists burning, tearing, canceling,
obliterating, and destroying the will. The act must be accompanied by the
testator's intent and purpose to revoke. Accidental damage or ordinary loss is
therefore not enough merely because the paper can no longer be found or read.

Act by another person

Another person may perform the physical act only at the testator's direction
and in the testator's presence. Oregon adds a proof rule that many states do
not: injury or destruction by the directed person “shall be proved by at least
two witnesses.”

Partial revocation

The route matters. A later will can alter an earlier one, and ORS 112.238 can
validate a signed defective writing intended as a partial revocation. But
ORS 112.285(3) rejects partial revocation by physical act: marks affecting only
one or more provisions do not revoke those provisions.

Those same partial marks can have a larger consequence. Clear and convincing
evidence may show that the testator used them to revoke the entire will.

Intent, proof, and presumptions

The listed physical acts require revocatory intent. A directed person's act has
the separate two-witness proof rule, while a defective revocation writing under
ORS 112.238 requires clear and convincing proof of the decedent's intent.

The exclusive statutory sequence does not create a missing-original
presumption. The question remains whether a statutory act and its required
intent can be proved; disappearance alone is not one of ORS 112.285's listed
acts.

Divorce, annulment, and other family events

Oregon is unusual in making a later marriage a whole-will revocation event.
Under ORS 112.305, the rule applies if the spouse survives, unless the will
shows contrary intent or contemplation of the marriage, a premarital written
contract addresses the spouse's estate rights, or the will followed a
registered domestic partnership with the person later married.

Divorce or annulment is narrower. Unless the will shows a different intent,
ORS 112.315 revokes provisions favoring the former spouse and any nomination
of that spouse as personal representative, then applies the will as if the
former spouse did not survive. Because ORS 112.275 makes the statutory routes
exclusive, later birth or adoption is not itself an automatic revoking event;
separate omitted-child rules may still affect distribution.

Revival after a later will or revoking act

ORS 112.295 rejects informal or automatic revival. If a will or part has been
revoked or is invalid, it “can be revived only” by reexecution or by another
will that incorporates the revoked instrument or part by reference.

Reexecution, republication, and codicil effect

Reexecution can restore the revoked will itself. Alternatively, another will,
including a codicil under ORS 111.005(31), can restore only what it incorporates
by reference. Keeping the older original or destroying the newer instrument is
not one of ORS 112.295's restoration methods.

What trips people up

Crossing out one gift does not simply erase that gift. Oregon invalidates
partial revocation by physical act. Depending on the evidence, the mark may do
nothing or may help prove an intent to revoke the entire will.

A directed destruction needs more than the testator's instruction and
presence. The statute also requires the injury or destruction to be proved by
at least two witnesses.

Revocation and revival use different gates. A listed physical act may revoke a
will, but destroying the later will does not by itself restore the earlier one;
formal reexecution or incorporation by reference is still required.

Common questions

Can a will contest still proceed after a court accepts a defective revocation writing?

Yes. ORS 112.238(4)(b) says the curative determination does not preclude a will
contest, although the will may no longer be challenged merely because it failed
the execution formalities in ORS 112.235.

Does an attorney's lawful destruction of an old stored will revoke it?

Not by virtue of that destruction. ORS 112.805(3) says a will destroyed under
the statutory custodian-disposal process is not revoked and its contents may be
proved by secondary evidence.

Statutes and sources

• ORS 111.005(31) — “will” includes codicils and revocation- or revival-only
  testamentary instruments. Official
  text
  (accessed 2026-08-01).
• ORS 112.235(4) and 112.238 — excludes electronic records from the
  governing “writing” definition and supplies the clear-and-convincing curative
  route for a signed defective revocation writing. Official
  text
  (accessed 2026-08-01).
• ORS 112.275 and 112.285 — exclusive methods, later-will revocation,
  physical acts, directed-person proof, and the bar on partial physical
  revocation. Official
  text
  (accessed 2026-08-01).
• ORS 112.295 — revival only by reexecution or incorporation by reference
  in another will. Official
  text
  (accessed 2026-08-01).
• ORS 112.305 and 112.315 — later-marriage revocation and former-spouse
  consequences of divorce or annulment. Official
  text
  (accessed 2026-08-01).
• ORS 112.805(3) — authorized custodian destruction does not revoke and
  secondary evidence may prove the contents. Official
  text
  (accessed 2026-08-01).