Wisconsin: Will Revocation and Revival Requirements

Requirements one by one

Governing law and scope

Wisconsin's central revocation and revival rule is § 853.11. Section 851.31
defines “will” to include a codicil, but it does not treat an ordinary copy as a
will unless the copy is proved under § 856.17. Section 853.11 makes its own
revocation methods exclusive.

Later will, codicil, or writing

A later will revokes all or part of an earlier one when it complies with
§ 853.03 or § 853.05 and acts expressly or by inconsistency. If the later will
completely disposes of the estate, it is presumed to replace the earlier will.
If it does not completely dispose of the estate, it is presumed to supplement
the earlier instrument and revokes only inconsistent provisions. Either
presumption requires clear and convincing evidence to rebut.

Physical or electronic revoking act

Section 853.11 lists burning, tearing, canceling, obliterating, and destroying
the will or part. The act must be accompanied by intent to revoke. The cited
statutes do not create a separate route based merely on deleting an electronic
record, and § 851.31 says an unproved copy is not itself a will.

Act by another person

Another person may perform the physical act only in the testator's conscious
presence and at the testator's direction. Section 853.11 does not add a witness-
count or quantified evidence standard to that route.

Partial revocation

Wisconsin permits partial revocation through either listed method. A compliant
later will may revoke the earlier will “in whole or in part,” and the physical-
act rule likewise reaches the will or a part of it.

Intent, proof, and presumptions

Physical revocation expressly requires revocatory intent. For later wills, the
complete-disposition and incomplete-disposition presumptions sort replacement
from supplementation, and the statute makes clear and convincing evidence the
rebuttal standard. The statutory text states no separate presumption that a
missing original was revoked; it instead directs proof of a revived instrument
without the original to § 856.17.

Divorce, annulment, and other family events

Section 854.15 reaches a governing instrument executed before divorce,
annulment, or a similar event. It revokes revocable dispositions, powers of
appointment, and fiduciary nominations for the former spouse and relatives who
fit the statutory definition. The section supplies exceptions for contrary
instrument terms, qualifying property agreements, contrary intent proved with
extrinsic evidence, and remarriage or a new domestic partnership before death.

A later marriage does not itself revoke the premarital will. Section 853.12
instead gives the later spouse or domestic partner a probate-estate share,
subject to its contemplation, contrary-intent, and marital-agreement exceptions.

Revival after a later will or revoking act

The result depends on both the scope of the later will and how it is revoked. If
a later will only partly revoked the earlier will and is physically revoked,
the earlier provisions revive unless the circumstances or declarations show
contrary intent. If the later will wholly revoked the earlier will, physical
revocation leaves the earlier one revoked unless circumstances or contemporary
or later declarations show revival intent.

When another later will revokes the intervening instrument, the earlier will or
part revives only as the newest will's terms or the testator's contemporary or
subsequent declarations show an intent to restore it.

Reexecution, republication, and codicil effect

Because § 851.31 includes a codicil within “will,” a codicil can serve as the
later instrument under § 853.11. The cited sections do not impose a separate
universal reexecution or republication requirement for revival; they use the
specific intent rules in § 853.11(6). If no original valid revived will exists,
§ 853.11(6)(d) points to § 856.17 for proof.

What trips people up

Revoking a later will does not have one automatic effect. Physical revocation
of a partially revoking later will presumptively restores the affected part,
while physical revocation of a wholly revoking later will presumptively leaves
the earlier will revoked. Evidence of the testator's intent can change either
result.

Divorce also does more than delete a gift to the former spouse. Section 854.15
can reach qualifying relatives, powers of appointment, and fiduciary
nominations, but it also recognizes contrary terms, agreements, intent evidence,
and remarriage.

Common questions

Can a Wisconsin testator revoke only part of a will by crossing it out?

Section 853.11 permits canceling or obliterating a part with revocatory intent,
but whether a particular mark satisfies the act-and-intent requirements can be
a fact-intensive probate question.

Does marriage revoke an older Wisconsin will?

No. Section 853.12 leaves the will in place and instead supplies a later spouse
or domestic partner a share, subject to statutory exceptions.

Does destroying the newer will restore the older one?

It depends. A prior part generally revives when the physically revoked later
will had revoked only that part, unless contrary intent appears. A wholly
revoked prior will stays revoked unless revival intent appears.

Statutes and sources

• Wis. Stat. § 851.31 — includes codicils in “will” and distinguishes a
  proved copy from a duplicate original. Official
  text (accessed
  2026-08-01).
• Wis. Stat. § 853.11 — exclusive later-will and physical-act revocation
  routes, partial revocation, presumptions, and revival rules. Official
  text (accessed
  2026-08-01).
• Wis. Stat. § 853.12 — later-spouse and domestic-partner share under a
  premarital or pre-partnership will. Official
  text (accessed
  2026-08-01).
• Wis. Stat. § 854.15 — divorce, annulment, former-spouse and relative
  revocation rules, effects, and exceptions. Official
  text (accessed
  2026-08-01).