Two Ways to Revoke a Will
Revoking a will in Arizona is deliberate. You cannot accidentally revoke a will, and simply telling someone you want to change your plan does not undo a signed document. The statute lays out two specific methods.
First, you can execute a subsequent will that expressly revokes the previous one or that is inconsistent with it. Second, you can physically destroy the will, through burning, tearing, canceling, obliterating, or rendering it unreadable. If someone else performs the destruction, they must do so in your conscious presence and at your direction.
A testator may revoke a will in whole or in part: 1. By executing a subsequent will that revokes the previous will or part expressly or by inconsistency. 2. By performing a revocatory act on the will if the testator performs the act with this intent or if another person performs the act in the testator's conscious presence and by the testator's direction.
A.R.S. § 14-2507(A)Notice that a physical act of destruction only works if the testator intended to revoke the will. Accidentally spilling coffee on a will, or a document getting damaged in a fire, does not revoke it if there was no intent behind the act.
When a New Will Replaces or Supplements the Old One
Creating a new will does not always wipe out the old one entirely. Arizona law draws a distinction between replacement and supplement. If the new will makes a complete disposition of your estate, the law presumes you intended it to replace the earlier will. If the new will only addresses specific assets or provisions, the law presumes it was meant to supplement the old one.
The testator is presumed to have intended a subsequent will to replace rather than supplement a previous will if the subsequent will makes a complete disposition of the testator's estate.
A.R.S. § 14-2507(C)These presumptions can be overcome with clear and convincing evidence. But the cleaner approach is to be explicit. A new will should state whether it revokes all prior wills and codicils. That one sentence avoids ambiguity and the potential for conflicting documents to complicate the probate process.
