Revocation of a Will in Lombard

A will represents the intentions of a person at the time that he or she signs it. People may make a will at any time, but since circumstances do change over time, he or she may revise it at any time as well.

In some cases, revision is a simple procedure. However, court battles concerning a now-deceased person’s intent in revoking a will are common in fights over estates. As such, it is often vitally important to understand how to revoke a will with no ambiguity as to your intent.

Fortunately, the revocation of a will in Lombard is clearly outlined by state statutes. With this in mind, an experienced wills attorney could help you understand the process and take the necessary steps to revoke a current will.

The Law Concerning Revocation

All rules and laws concerning the creation, destruction, and administration of wills in Illinois are a part of the Probate Act of 1975. As applied to the revocation of wills, 755 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/4-7 provides the ways that a testator may revoke a will, how he or she could revive a will, and what effect a change in circumstances may have on a current will.

A person may legally revoke a will in one of four ways:

• By burning, canceling, tearing, or obliterating the will on his or her own, or by a third party upon his or her direction
• By creating a new will on a later date that specifically revokes a prior will
• By creating a new will that contains all provisions of the previous will which follow the terms of the new will
• By executing any signed and similarly written instrument that declares the will revoked

Reasons to Revoke a Will

Many of the same factors that could lead a person to make a will in the first place could also motivate him or her to revoke that will. For example, it is possible that a growing family could convince a person to add new family members into his or her estate. In that instance, simply making a new will would revoke the old one.

With the rare exceptions made for fraud, a probate court is likely to respect a testator’s wishes, even in cases of revocation. As a result, revocation of a will in Lombard is almost always a valid legal action.

Revocation of a Will in Lombard Must be Done Correctly to Have an Effect

There are many reasons why you may wish to revoke a will. For the most part, a probate court would not care exactly why you desire to revise a will, but it may examine the way that you attempted to revoke a will when the matter goes before a court after your death. For this reason, it could be essential to understand the legal requirements to revoke a will and ensure it is done in a valid way.

Revocation of a will in Lombard can be done in various ways, all of which a dedicated attorney could help you with. Contact a lawyer immediately to discuss your options and start taking action to further your goals.