Virginia: Will Revocation and Revival Requirements

Requirements one by one

Governing law and scope

Virginia's ordinary framework is Va. Code §§ 64.2-404 and 64.2-410 through
64.2-413. The Uniform International Wills Act does not create a different
revocation method: § 64.2-439 sends an international will to the ordinary rules.

Later will, codicil, or writing

Under § 64.2-410(B), a later will or another writing expressly revoking the
former will must be executed with will formalities. Subsection C separately lets
an effective later will or codicil revoke part expressly or supersede the former
instrument only to the extent of inconsistency. Effectiveness at the testator's
death is an express condition of that partial or inconsistent revocation.

Section 64.2-404 can treat a noncompliant document as though it complied, but only
after clear and convincing proof of the decedent's intent and compliance with its
signature, forum, timing, and party limitations.

Physical or electronic revoking act

The physical targets are unusually specific. A testator may cut, tear, burn,
obliterate, cancel, or destroy the will or codicil, its signature, or a provision,
with intent to revoke. The section states no electronic deletion or record-control
act.

Act by another person

Another person may perform the listed act only at the testator's direction and in
the testator's presence. Section 64.2-410(A) states no separate witness count for
that act.

Partial revocation

Physical revocation may target “some provision” of a will or codicil. A later
effective will or codicil may expressly revoke part or supersede only inconsistent
terms. Section 64.2-404 also recognizes a document intended as a partial revocation
or alteration when its demanding proof and procedure rules are satisfied.

Intent, proof, and presumptions

Section 64.2-410 requires revocatory intent but states no separate evidentiary
burden. Section 64.2-404 does: clear and convincing evidence. That remedy usually
cannot cure a missing testator signature, is available only in circuit court, must
be sought within one year after death, and requires all interested persons to be
parties.

Divorce, annulment, and other family events

Divorce from the bond of matrimony or annulment revokes will dispositions and
property appointments for the former spouse. Unless the will says otherwise, it
also revokes powers of appointment and nominations as executor, trustee,
conservator, or guardian. The will then operates as if the former spouse did not
survive.

Provisions revoked solely by § 64.2-412 revive upon remarriage only when there is
no subsequent will or inconsistent codicil affecting the will. The section also
says no other change of circumstances revokes a will. Its separate trust rules do
not change the will trigger: filing for divorce, legal separation, or separate
maintenance is addressed there for revocable-trust powers, not for will gifts.

Revival after a later will or revoking act

Section 64.2-411 rejects automatic revival. A revoked will, codicil, or part must
be reexecuted with the required formalities, and restoration extends only as far
as the testator's revival intent is shown. Section 64.2-404 can treat a qualifying
noncompliant writing as compliant, while § 64.2-412 supplies the limited remarriage
route for provisions revoked solely by divorce or annulment.

Reexecution, republication, and codicil effect

Virginia's formal restoration mechanism is reexecution of the revoked will or
codicil. A later effective codicil can itself revoke part or create inconsistency
under § 64.2-410(C), but § 64.2-411 does not say that mere execution of any codicil
automatically republishes a revoked instrument. The intent and reexecution rules
still control, subject to § 64.2-404.

What trips people up

The harmless-error route is not a general permission to use an unsigned note.
Section 64.2-404 excuses the testator-signature requirement only when two people
mistakenly sign each other's wills or when someone signs the will's self-proving
certificate instead of the will itself.

Property transactions are not substitute revocations. § 64.2-413 says a
later conveyance or other act does not stop the will from operating on the interest
the testator still has power to devise at death, unless the act actually revokes
the will under the revocation article.

Common questions

Can crossing out one provision revoke only that provision?

Potentially, because § 64.2-410(A) expressly permits an intentional revocatory act
on “some provision.” Whether a particular mark satisfies the act-and-intent rule
is a factual question.

Does filing for divorce revoke a spouse's will benefits?

Not under the will rule. Section 64.2-412(B) uses divorce from the bond of matrimony
or annulment. The filing-based language elsewhere in that section addresses
revocable-trust powers and offices.

Does remarrying the former spouse always restore the provisions?

No. The provisions must have been revoked solely by § 64.2-412, and the statute
conditions revival on the absence of a subsequent will or inconsistent codicil
affecting the will.

Does destroying the newer will revive the older one?

Not automatically. Section 64.2-411 requires reexecution of the revoked will or
codicil and proof of revival intent, subject to the specific statutory alternatives.

Statutes and sources

• Va. Code § 64.2-404 — writings intended as wills. Provides the clear-and-
  convincing route for a noncompliant revoking or reviving writing and its strict
  signature and procedure limits. Official Code
  (accessed 2026-08-01).
• Va. Code § 64.2-410 — revocation methods. Covers later instruments,
  physical acts and targets, directed acts, partial revocation, inconsistency, and
  the death-effectiveness condition. Official Code
  (accessed 2026-08-01).
• Va. Code §§ 64.2-411–64.2-413 — revival, family events, and conveyances.
  Require reexecution, state divorce and remarriage effects, reject other changed-
  circumstances revocation, and preserve the will after ordinary conveyances.
  Official revival section
  (accessed 2026-08-01).
• Va. Code § 64.2-439 — international wills. Applies the ordinary revocation
  rules. Official Code
  (accessed 2026-08-01).