How can I invalidate my Will? Can I do it unknowingly?

“[I]n 2001 decedent took his original copy of the 1997 will, urinated on it and  then burned it. We hesitate to speculate how he accomplished the second act after the first. In any event, decedent’s actions lead to the compelling conclusion he intended to revoke the 1997 will.” – Estate of Stoker, 193 Cal. App. 4th 236 (Cal. 2011). I am often asked how do I revoke a will in Florida?

• The easiest answer is to destroy it, but there are also some more considerations to be made about whether you did in fact properly destroy it, also what now? Time to make a new will for one thing.  Even more common though are situations where your will may become invalidated without you knowing it.

First of all under certain circumstances your will can become invalidated.

1. Death of beneficiaries. If you leave property in your will to a beneficiary who dies before you do, a Florida probate court will decide on the distribution of your estate.
2. New beneficiaries. Although Florida probate law has provisions to protect spouses and children born after the writing of a will, failing to update your will to include a new spouse or children may mean that they will not inherit as much as you want them to inherit.
3. Property ownership changes. If you bequeath property to a beneficiary in your will and then later sell that property, your beneficiary will receive nothing. This can be especially problematic if you use property to equalize distributions between two parties.
4. Executor’s death or inability to serve. If the person you named as executor in your will dies before you do, or is unable to serve for some reason, the court will appoint someone else unless you have provided for a new executor in your will or named a back-up.
5. Changes in the law. Changes in state and federal laws can dramatically affect your estate plan, which is why you should consult periodically with a Florida estate planning attorney to ensure your goals are still being met.
   • If you want to affirmatively revoke your will, the easiest thing to do is completely destroy the original document. Destroying a photocopy is not ordinarily sufficient however in Florida at least one court has held that a testator who destroys a photocopy believing it is the original displayed the requisite intent to invalidate the will.
   • You may also write a new will that states all prior wills are invalid. This is a common phrase that is added to all wills that are professionally prepared.

Want to learn more about will invalidations, challenging wills and the probate process in general? Check out our FAQ  video library http://www.pankauskilawfirm.com/