Will Revocation and Revival Requirements in Utah

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law and scope

Utah's main sequence is §§ 75-2-503 and 75-2-507 through 75-2-509, with the family-status overlay in § 75-2-804. The definition in § 75-1-201(67) includes codicils and instruments that merely revoke or revise a prior will.

Electronic wills are not a separate island. Section 75-2-1403 says an electronic will is a will for all purposes and applies ordinary will law unless Part 14 modifies it, so the revocation and revival rules carry over.

Later will, codicil, or writing

A subsequent will revokes the earlier will or part expressly or by inconsistency. Under § 75-2-507, a complete disposition presumptively replaces the earlier will; an incomplete disposition presumptively supplements it and revokes only inconsistent terms. Either presumption can be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence.

Utah also permits a defective document or writing to operate as a partial or complete revocation when § 75-2-503's clear-and-convincing intent standard is met.

Physical or electronic revoking act

The listed acts are burning, tearing, canceling, obliterating, and destroying the will or any part. The testator must act with intent and for the purpose of revocation. A burn, tear, or cancellation counts even if it did not touch the words on the document.

Because § 75-2-1403 applies ordinary will law to electronic wills, Part 14 does not create a different revocation list in the cited current text.

Act by another person

Another individual may perform the act in the testator's conscious presence and by the testator's direction. Section 75-2-507 states no separate witness count for that act.

Partial revocation

Utah expressly allows partial revocation by both routes. A later will may revoke a prior “will or part,” and a revocatory act may target “the will or any part of it.” Section 75-2-503 separately allows a defective writing intended as a partial revocation or alteration to be treated as compliant on clear and convincing proof.

Intent, proof, and presumptions

Physical revocation requires intent and purpose. For two overlapping wills, the completeness of the later disposition determines whether replacement or supplementation is presumed, and clear and convincing evidence may rebut that presumption.

The same evidence level governs § 75-2-503's curative route for a document intended as a revocation, alteration, or revival. The cited sections state no separate missing-original presumption.

Divorce, annulment, and other family events

Section 75-2-508 says a change of circumstances does not revoke a will except under the specifically cross-referenced statutes. Under § 75-2-804(2), divorce or annulment broadly revokes revocable gifts, property appointments, powers of appointment, and fiduciary nominations for the former spouse and qualifying former-spouse relatives, subject to contrary terms in an instrument, court order, or marital-estate contract.

Affected provisions operate through disclaimer or predeceased-person rules. Remarriage to the former spouse or nullification of the divorce or annulment revives provisions revoked solely by § 75-2-804. A decree of separation that does not end the marriage is not a divorce under the section.

Revival after a later will or revoking act

Utah separates three situations. If a later will wholly revoked the earlier will and is then revoked by act, the earlier will stays revoked unless circumstances or the testator's contemporary or later declarations show intent to revive it.

If the later will only partly revoked the earlier one and is revoked by act, the revoked part comes back unless those circumstances or declarations show the testator did not want it restored. If a third will revokes the second will, the first will or part revives only to the extent the third will's terms show that intent.

Reexecution, republication, and codicil effect

Utah does not limit restoration to formal reexecution. Section 75-2-503 can validate a document intended as a partial or complete revival on clear and convincing proof, and § 75-2-509 recognizes revival shown by declarations, circumstances, or the terms of a later will.

Because “will” includes a codicil, the whole-versus-part rules also govern the effect of revoking a codicil that changed an earlier will. Keeping the earlier original without the required revival intent is not enough.

What trips people up

A cancellation does not have to cross out words. Utah expressly says a burn, tear, or cancellation may be a revocatory act even when it never touched the will's text, if the required intent and purpose are present.

Complete and incomplete later wills start from opposite presumptions. A later instrument disposing of the full estate presumptively replaces; one that does not presumptively supplements. Clear and convincing evidence is needed to rebut either starting point.

Revoking a later will can produce opposite revival defaults. After whole revocation of the first will, it stays revoked absent revival intent. After partial revocation, the revoked part presumptively returns unless contrary intent appears.

Common questions

Can an improperly signed note still revoke or revive a Utah will?

Potentially. Section 75-2-503 permits a noncompliant document or writing to be treated as a partial or complete revocation, alteration, or revival when clear and convincing evidence establishes that intent.

Do Utah's revocation rules apply to an electronic will?

Yes. Section 75-2-1403 makes an electronic will a will for all purposes and applies ordinary will law except where Part 14 modifies it.

Statutes and sources

• Utah Code § 75-1-201(67) — “will” includes codicils and instruments that merely revoke or revise a prior will. Official text (accessed 2026-08-01).
• Utah Code §§ 75-2-503 and 75-2-507 — harmless-error revocation, alteration, and revival; later-will presumptions; physical acts; partial revocation; and directed acts. Official text (accessed 2026-08-01).
• Utah Code §§ 75-2-508 and 75-2-509 — circumstance changes and the three revival branches. Official text (accessed 2026-08-01).
• Utah Code § 75-2-804 — divorce, annulment, former-spouse relatives, separation, disclaimer/predeceased treatment, and remarriage revival. Official text (accessed 2026-08-01).
• Utah Code § 75-2-1403 — ordinary will law applies to electronic wills unless Part 14 modifies it. Official text (accessed 2026-08-01).