Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Colorado

If your husband intends to revoke the old Will, he should destroy the original and all copies. Your marriage will have some effect on the provisions in the old Will, however, the safest way for your husband to proceed is to destroy the old Will or make a new one.

For further details on how Colorado law affects your particular situation, you should contact a lawyer in your area who specializes in estate planning and Wills.

I agree with Mr. Greenberg. You can revoke a will by executing a new will that states that it revokes the prior will or by "performing a revocatory act on the will, if the testator performed the act with the intent and for the purpose of revoking the will or part of it or if another individual performed the act in the testator's conscious presence and by the testator's direction.

A "revocatory act on the will" includes burning, tearing, canceling, obliterating, or destroying the will or any part of it. A burning, tearing, or canceling is a "revocatory act on the will", whether or not the burn, tear, or cancellation touched any of the words on the will.

In other words, writing and signing a statement that the prior will is revoked is not sufficient to revoke the prior will. The best thing for him to do is to create a new will, so that the prior will does not control and so he does not die without a will, as that could have unintended property distribution consequences, especially if you are a second spouse and he has kids from a prior marriage. As it stands, others could definitely contest any distribution that is not pursuant to the "old" will. I do wills on a flat fee basis and offer a free initial 30 minute consolation if you want to discuss your situation in more detail. Hope this helps.