Whether or not you have written a will in the past, it is a good idea to have a provision revoking, or effectively cancelling any formal will or codicils (additions) to the will. It is possible to have two wills at the same time as long as they are not contradictory, so a later will, even if you call it your “last” will, does not automatically cancel all prior wills. Ideally, it is best to avoid this issue altogether by explicitly cancelling all/any former wills.
Any attempted revocation of a will should conform to the applicable state law. States handle this issue differently, but generally the best approach to cancelling a prior will is to have an entirely new document that includes a statement that says something like this:
“I. . .do hereby make, publish and declare this to be my LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT, hereby revoking all former Wills and codicils thereto, heretofore made by me.”
Not too complicated, but it keeps you safe.
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