
What is a revival?
When you revoke a will and later want to reinstate that will, you may be able to do so with a revival. For example, suppose you created a first will and then created a second will which explicitly stated that the first will was revoked. If you later wanted to revoke that second will and reinstate the first will, you could do this with a revival. In most states, it would not be enough for you simply to destroy the newer will. Instead, you would have to have a writing explicitly reviving the first will. However, other states will look at your intent, and if a court determines that you intended to revive your first will by destroying/revoking the second will, the court may deem your first will to be revived as your legally valid will.