How a valid will can be undone or changed — by operation of law, deliberate act or later instrument — and what happens when the attempt goes wrong.
A will that was perfectly valid when executed may not be the will that governs the estate at death. This chapter begins with the three methods of revocation and the automatic effects of marriage and divorce, including when a will made in contemplation of marriage survives. It then works through revocation by a later will or codicil, whether express or implied, and revocation by destruction, where physical act and intention must coincide. From there it covers the presumption that arises when a will last held by the testator cannot be found, the strict rules on alterations made after execution, and finally the effect of codicils, the revival of revoked wills, and the doctrine of conditional revocation that can save a will destroyed by mistake.
