Will Revocation and Revival Requirements in Oregon

At a glance

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).