Will Revocation and Revival Requirements in Rhode Island
At a glance
| Governing law and scope | R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 33-5-1, 33-5-5, and 33-5-9 through -11. 'Will' includes a testament, codicil, and qualifying appointment by will or will-like writing. The chapter governs will-formal writings, physical acts, marriage, divorce, and changed circumstances, but states no general revival/republication section or electronic-will route. |
|---|---|
| Later will, codicil, or writing | Another will or codicil may revoke if executed with § 33-5-5 formalities. A separate writing must declare an intention to revoke and be executed as a will (§ 33-5-10): writing/signature, two witnesses present together, and witness subscription in the testator's presence. Section 33-5-10 states no express-versus-inconsistency formula. |
| Physical or electronic revoking act | Burning, tearing, or otherwise destroying the will with intent to revoke (§ 33-5-10). The section does not separately list canceling, obliterating, deletion, or an electronic-record act. |
| Act by another person | Allowed when another person acts in the testator's presence and by the testator's direction, with intent to revoke (§ 33-5-10). The physical-act clause states no witness requirement. |
| Partial revocation | Section 33-5-10 opens by applying its exclusive methods to a will, codicil, 'or any part thereof,' so a properly executed later instrument or revocation writing may reach a part. The destructive-act phrase says burning, tearing, or otherwise destroying 'the will' and does not separately explain a partial physical cancellation. |
| Intent, proof, and presumptions | The separate writing must declare revocatory intent, and a physical act must be performed with intent to revoke (§ 33-5-10). The section states no quantified proof standard, later-will replacement presumption, or missing-original presumption. Section 33-5-11 bars revocation by a presumed intention based on altered circumstances. |
| Divorce, annulment, and other family events | Marriage revokes a premarital will unless the will shows it was made in contemplation of that marriage; a limited power-of-appointment portion is excepted (§ 33-5-9). Entry of final divorce judgment revokes all former-spouse-benefit provisions in a pre-divorce will unless it contemplated divorce, and the balance operates as if the former spouse predeceased (§ 33-5-9.1). The sections do not state annulment, separation, birth, adoption, or remarriage revival rules. |
| Revival after a later will or revoking act | No general statutory revival rule appears in current Chapter 33-5 after a later will, codicil, revocation writing, or physical act is itself revoked. The chapter also states no remarriage-based revival of provisions revoked by divorce. |
| Reexecution, republication, and codicil effect | Current Chapter 33-5 states no general reexecution, republication, incorporation, or revoked-codicil restoration rule. A new will or codicil can make a new revocation if executed under § 33-5-5, but the chapter does not say destruction of a later instrument republishes an earlier one. |
Rhode Island uses a short, traditional statutory scheme. Section 33-5-10 makes the listed methods exclusive and imports the strict two-witness execution ceremony for any separate revocation writing. Sections 33-5-9 and 33-5-9.1 then give marriage and final divorce very different effects.
Requirements one by one
Later will, codicil, or formal revocation writing
Another will or codicil can revoke only when executed in the manner required by § 33-5-5. A separate writing can also revoke, but it must declare an intention to revoke and must be executed with the same will formalities.
That means a signed writing, with the testator making or acknowledging the signature before at least two witnesses present at the same time, and each witness subscribing in the testator's presence. Section 33-5-10 does not provide an informal-note route or state an express-versus-inconsistency formula for a later instrument.
Physical act, another person's act, and partial revocation
The listed physical methods are burning, tearing, and otherwise destroying the will. The act must be accompanied by an intention to revoke. Another person may perform it only in the testator's presence and by the testator's direction.
Section 33-5-10 begins by applying its exclusive methods to a will, codicil, "or any part thereof." That language clearly permits a later instrument or formal writing to target a part. The destructive phrase itself says destroying "the will," however, and does not separately explain the treatment of a partial mark or alteration.
Marriage, divorce, and changed circumstances
Marriage generally revokes a will made before the marriage. The exception is a will that shows it was made in contemplation of that marriage. Section 33-5-9 also preserves a limited power-of-appointment portion when the appointed property would not otherwise pass to the testator's intestate successors.
A final divorce judgment has a narrower effect. It revokes all provisions benefiting the former spouse in a will made before divorce, unless the will shows it was made in contemplation of the divorce. The will's other provisions operate as though the former spouse predeceased the testator.
The current sections do not state that annulment or separation triggers the divorce rule, and they do not provide remarriage revival. Section 33-5-11 separately bars revocation based merely on a presumed intention arising from altered circumstances.
Revival and republication
Current Chapter 33-5 contains no general statutory rule deciding whether revoking a later will or undoing a destructive act revives an earlier will or provision. It also states no statutory whole-versus-part default, declaration test, reexecution route, republication-by-codicil rule, or revoked-codicil restoration presumption.
A new properly executed will or codicil may make a new revocation under § 33-5-10. That does not supply statutory authority for treating destruction of the newer instrument as republication of the older one.
What trips people up
- Marriage and divorce do not mirror each other. Marriage generally revokes the premarital will itself; final divorce revokes former-spouse benefits and supplies a predeceased-spouse construction for the rest.
- A separate revocation writing needs the full will ceremony. A signature alone is insufficient under the statute; § 33-5-5's simultaneous-witness and subscription requirements apply.
- The physical-act language is narrower than many modern statutes. It names burning, tearing, and otherwise destroying, not canceling, obliterating, deletion, or control of an electronic record.
Common questions
Does a premarital will survive if it names the future spouse?
The statutory test is whether the will shows it was made in contemplation of the marriage. Merely identifying a person raises a document-specific interpretation question; § 33-5-9 does not create a separate name-only safe harbor.
Does remarrying a former spouse restore the divorced-spouse provisions?
Chapter 33-5 does not say that it does. Section 33-5-9.1 contains no remarriage revival clause, and the chapter has no general revival section.
Statutes and sources
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-5-1(3) — defines will to include a testament, codicil, and qualifying will-like appointment. Official text (accessed 2026-08-01).
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-5-5 — execution formalities incorporated by the written revocation routes. Official text (accessed 2026-08-01).
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-5-9 — premarital-will revocation and the power-of-appointment exception. Official text (accessed 2026-08-01).
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-5-9.1 — final-divorce former-spouse-benefit revocation and predeceased-spouse construction. Official text (accessed 2026-08-01).
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-5-10 — exclusive later-instrument, formal-writing, and physical-act methods, including acts by a directed person. Official text (accessed 2026-08-01).
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-5-11 — no presumed revocation from altered circumstances. Official text (accessed 2026-08-01).
- Chapter 33-5 current index — complete official chapter contents used to confirm the absence of a general revival/republication section. Official index (accessed 2026-08-01).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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