Whether you’ve decided that your old will no longer represents your wishes or you’ve experienced a significant change in circumstances that requires you to create a new will, there may come a time when you need to revoke an old will. In Florida there are three possible will revocation methods, but only one of them is commonly employed.
Operation of Law
Your will, or specific terms within your will, can be revoked because of life circumstances that require a court to ignore the terms. For example, if you made your will when you were married and subsequently divorced, but do not change the will, a Florida court will exclude your former spouse unless the will terms specifically address the question of divorce. Revocation by operation of law is the least desirable way to revoke a will.
Destruction
A Florida testator can destroy his or her own will by physically destroying it either through burning, obliterating, or in any other way rendering it destroyed. You have to destroy the will with the express intent to invalidate it, but you are free to do so at any time. However, this method is not commonly used and is potentially problematic.
Making a New Will
The easiest and most effective way to revoke a will in Florida is to make a new will that states the old one is invalidated. The inclusion of a simple revocation clause in your new will, assuming the new document complies with all will creation laws, will ensure the old will is no longer relevant.
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