Revocation

Question 1

LIP

how can wills be revoked

Answer 1

1. operation of law
2. subsequent instrument
3. physical act

Question 2

revocation by law

Answer 2

1. marriage
2. divorce
3. pretermitted children aka kids left out on assumption that T would have left property for them

Question 3

revocation by marriage

Answer 3

marriage following execution of will has no effect, some state spouse takes as omitted spouse if T dies intestate unless

1. will makes provision for new spouse
2. omission was intentional -or-
3. will made in contemplation of marriage - if a Testator expects to be married to a certain person at the time the will is executed; marriage will not revoke the will

Question 4

if divorce and then parties remarry is will revoked

Answer 4

no

Question 5

list (3)

revocation by physical act

Answer 5

1. intent to revoke if destroyed by mistake doesnt count
2. proxy revocation need to destroy in presence of T
3. partial revocation markups, cross outs etc depend on jx

Question 6

revocation of a will revokes:

revocation of a codicil to a will:

Answer 6

all codocils

does not revoke the whole will

Question 7

revocation by written instrument

Answer 7

1. express
2. inconsistency
   
   1. complete - completely revokes old will
   2. partial - revokes only the certain parts

Question 8

there is a presumption to no revocation if will

Answer 8

is found in place it would be expected to

is in expected condition

no suspicion to its authenticity

Question 9

lost or destroyed wills can be proven with

Answer 9

sufficient evidence to rebut presumption that will does not exist

Question 10

revival approaches

Answer 10

1. UPC - prev will remains revoked unless circumstances show T’s intent to revive…same thing for partially revoked…applies only to the certain parts of will
2. automatic revival - revival is automatic
3. no revival approach - once a will is revoked it is not revived when the next will is revoked….W1 revoked, then W2 → W1 not revived (only way to revive is by re-execution)

Question 11

conditional revocation

Answer 11

T makes will revocable if certain condition occurs

Question 12

dependent relative revocation (DRR)

aka implied conditional revocation

Answer 12

T revokes W1, executes W2 but W2 not effective and but for the mistaken belief, T would not have revoked

so revocation fails and W1 remains

Question 13

how to determine if there was DRR

Answer 13

1. was revocation of W1 impliedly conditioned on validity of W2?
2. Would T have preferred W1 over dying intestate?
   
   1. more similar wills are, less likely T would have wanted to die intestate
   2. the more different they are, the more likely T would have wanted to die intestate