Colorado § 15-11-509 - Revival of revoked will.

§ 15-11-509. Revival of revoked will.

(1) If a subsequent will that wholly revoked a previous will is thereafter revoked by a revocatory act under section 15-11-507 (1)(b), the previous will remains revoked unless it is revived. The previous will is revived if it is evident from the circumstances of the revocation of the subsequent will or from the testator's contemporary or subsequent declarations that the testator intended the previous will to take effect as executed.

(2) If a subsequent will that partly revoked a previous will is thereafter revoked by a revocatory act under section 15-11-507 (1)(b), a revoked part of the previous will is revived unless it is evident from the circumstances of the revocation of the subsequent will or from the testator's contemporary or subsequent declarations that the testator did not intend the revoked part to take effect as executed.

(3) If a subsequent will that revoked a previous will in whole or in part is thereafter revoked by another, later will, the previous will remains revoked in whole or in part, unless it or its revoked part is revived. The previous will or its revoked part is revived to the extent it appears from the terms of the later will that the testator intended the previous will to take effect.

Source: L. 94: Entire part R&RE, p. 1001, § 3, effective July 1, 1995.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 15-11-509 as it existed prior to 1995.

ANNOTATION

Annotator's note. The following annotations include cases decided under former provisions similar to this section.

Requisites for revival of revoked but undestroyed will. If the decedent intends to revive an existing previous will which has been revoked but undestroyed, that intention can only be manifest by declaration in compliance with § 15-11-502, thus accomplishing a republication of the will. Bailey v. Kennedy, 162 Colo. 135, 425 P.2d 304 (1967).

Situation in which "dependent relative revocation" will not apply. The doctrine of "dependent relative revocation" which makes the revocation of a will ineffective and entitles the copy to be probated, cannot be applied where the will is lost or destroyed, and where the decedent tore up the will. Bailey v. Kennedy, 162 Colo. 135, 425 P.2d 304 (1967).