2007 California Probate Code Chapter 3. Revocation And Revival

CA Codes (prob:6120-6124)

6120.  A will or any part thereof is revoked by any of the
following:
   (a) A subsequent will which revokes the prior will or part
expressly or by inconsistency.
   (b) Being burned, torn, canceled, obliterated, or destroyed, with
the intent and for the purpose of revoking it, by either (1) the
testator or (2) another person in the testator's presence and by the
testator's direction.


6121.  A will executed in duplicate or any part thereof is revoked
if one of the duplicates is burned, torn, canceled, obliterated, or
destroyed, with the intent and for the purpose of revoking it, by
either (1) the testator or (2) another person in the testator's
presence and by the testator's direction.



6122.  (a) Unless the will expressly provides otherwise, if after
executing a will the testator's marriage is dissolved or annulled,
the dissolution or annulment revokes all of the following:
   (1) Any disposition or appointment of property made by the will to
the former spouse.
   (2) Any provision of the will conferring a general or special
power of appointment on the former spouse.
   (3) Any provision of the will nominating the former spouse as
executor, trustee, conservator, or guardian.
   (b) If any disposition or other provision of a will is revoked
solely by this section, it is revived by the testator's remarriage to
the former spouse.
   (c) In case of revocation by dissolution or annulment:
   (1) Property prevented from passing to a former spouse because of
the revocation passes as if the former spouse failed to survive the
testator.
   (2) Other provisions of the will conferring some power or office
on the former spouse shall be interpreted as if the former spouse
failed to survive the testator.
   (d) For purposes of this section, dissolution or annulment means
any dissolution or annulment which would exclude the spouse as a
surviving spouse within the meaning of Section 78.  A decree of legal
separation which does not terminate the status of husband and wife
is not a dissolution for purposes of this section.
   (e) Except as provided in Section 6122.1, no change of
circumstances other than as described in this section revokes a will.

   (f) Subdivisions (a) to (d), inclusive, do not apply to any case
where the final judgment of dissolution or annulment of marriage
occurs before January 1, 1985.  That case is governed by the law in
effect prior to January 1, 1985.



6122.1.  (a) Unless the will expressly provides otherwise, if after
executing a will the testator's domestic partnership is terminated,
the termination revokes all of the following:
   (1) Any disposition or appointment of property made by the will to
the former domestic partner.
   (2) Any provision of the will conferring a general or special
power of appointment on the former domestic partner.
   (3) Any provision of the will nominating the former domestic
partner as executor, trustee, conservator, or guardian.
   (b) If any disposition or other provision of a will is revoked
solely by this section, it is revived by the testator establishing
another domestic partnership with the former domestic partner.
   (c) In case of revocation by termination of a domestic
partnership:
   (1) Property prevented from passing to a former domestic partner
because of the revocation passes as if the former domestic partner
failed to survive the testator.
   (2) Other provisions of the will conferring some power or office
on the former domestic partner shall be interpreted as if the former
domestic partner failed to survive the testator.
   (d) This section shall apply only to wills executed on or after
January 1, 2002.



6123.  (a) If a second will which, had it remained effective at
death, would have revoked the first will in whole or in part, is
thereafter revoked by acts under Section 6120 or 6121, the first will
is revoked in whole or in part unless it is evident from the
circumstances of the revocation of the second will or from the
testator's contemporary or subsequent declarations that the testator
intended the first will to take effect as executed.
   (b) If a second will which, had it remained effective at death,
would have revoked the first will in whole or in part, is thereafter
revoked by a third will, the first will is revoked in whole or in
part, except to the extent it appears from the terms of the third
will that the testator intended the first will to take effect.



6124.  If the testator's will was last in the testator's possession,
the testator was competent until death, and neither the will nor a
duplicate original of the will can be found after the testator's
death, it is presumed that the testator destroyed the will with
intent to revoke it.  This presumption is a presumption affecting the
burden of producing evidence.