How does cancellation of a will by the testator work? The Inheritance Law grants anyone who has made a will the right to revoke it, on their own initiative and of their own free will, at any time and for any reason. As a general rule, there is no limit on the number of wills a person can make or revoke. Section 27 of the Inheritance Law also provides, among other things, that an undertaking not to revoke a will is unenforceable, and that a provision in a will that denies or limits the testator’s right to revoke it is void.
The testator’s statutory right to revoke a will
The right is anchored in Section 36 of the Inheritance Law, which states:
- The testator may revoke his will, either by expressly revoking it in one of the forms in which a will may be made, or by destroying the will; if the testator destroyed the will, he is presumed to have intended to revoke it.
- “A new will, even if it does not expressly revoke a previous will, is treated as revoking the previous one to the extent that its provisions contradict those of the previous will, unless the new will merely adds to what the previous will says.”
In other words, Section 36 of the law lets the testator revoke a will in one of the following ways:
- Cancellation of the will by the testator in one of the forms in which a will may be made.
- Cancellation of the will by the testator by destroying it.
- Cancellation of the will by the testator by making a new will.
Cancellation of a will by the testator in the form in which it was made
Section 36(a) of the Inheritance Law states that a will may be revoked expressly, in one of the forms in which a will may be made. That is, a will can be revoked in the same manner in which it was originally made. Under the law, a will can be made in four forms: a handwritten will, a witnessed will, a will before an authority, and an oral will (a deathbed will, known as shekhiv mera).
However, while Section 36(a) says the form of revocation must match the form in which the will was made, it does not spell out exactly how the revocation is to be carried out. That gap was filled by a Supreme Court ruling, Case 7818/00 Aharon v. Aharoni, which set out the methods of revocation detailed below.
Revoking a handwritten will
Section 19 of the Inheritance Law states that a handwritten will must be written entirely in the testator’s own hand, bear a handwritten date, and be signed by him.
Case 7818/00 Aharon v. Aharoni holds that to revoke a handwritten will, the testator must prepare a deed of revocation, writing in his own hand that his will is revoked, noting the date of the revocation, and signing it himself.
Revoking a witnessed will
Section 20 of the Inheritance Law states that a witnessed will must be in writing, dated, and signed by the testator before two witnesses after declaring to them that it is his will; the witnesses then confirm, by their signatures on the will, that the testator so declared and signed.
Case 7818/00 Aharon v. Aharoni holds that to revoke a witnessed will, the testator must prepare a deed of revocation stating that he revokes his will and noting the date of revocation, and sign it before two witnesses after declaring to them that he is revoking his will. Those two witnesses must then confirm, by their signatures on the deed of revocation, that the testator declared to them that he is revoking his will and that he signed the deed in their presence. In short: a declaration of revocation, a date, and a signature before two witnesses, who sign the deed of revocation as well.
Revoking a will made before an authority
Section 22 of the Inheritance Law states that a will before an authority is one made by the testator orally, or submitted by him in writing, before a judge, a court registrar, the Registrar of Inheritance Matters, or a religious court judge, who reads it back to the testator, with the testator declaring that it is his will.
Case 7818/00 Aharon v. Aharoni holds that to revoke a will before an authority, the testator must revoke it orally before a judge, registrar, or religious court judge, or submit a written revocation himself to one of them, who reads the revocation back to the testator, with the testator declaring that it is the revocation of his will.
Revoking an oral will (shekhiv mera, a deathbed will)
Section 23 of the Inheritance Law states that an oral will (a deathbed will) is one made by a person who is dying, or who, in circumstances that justify it, sees himself facing death, before two witnesses who understand his language.
Under Case 7818/00 Aharon v. Aharoni, to revoke such an oral will, the testator must announce orally that he is revoking it, before two witnesses who understand his language.
The ruling also held that Section 25 of the Inheritance Law, which lets the court cure a defect that occurred in the making of a will, provided it has no doubt about the will’s authenticity, applies equally where there was some defect in the manner of revoking the will, provided the court is satisfied that the revocation document is genuine, that is, that the testator truly intended to revoke his will.
Cancellation of a will by the testator – destroying the will
Section 36(a) of the Inheritance Law lets the testator revoke the will not expressly, but implicitly, simply by destroying it, for example by tearing it up or burning it. The section also establishes a presumption: if the testator destroyed his will, he is presumed to have intended to revoke it.
Cancellation of a will by the testator – making a new will
Section 36(b) of the Inheritance Law states that a will can also be revoked by making a new will, either expressly or by implication.
Express revocation by a new will occurs when the new will contains a provision that explicitly revokes the previous one. For example: “This will revokes any previous will I have made, including my will dated ….”.
Implied revocation by a new will occurs when the new will contains no provision expressly revoking the previous one, but its provisions contradict those of the previous will. For example, where the previous will left all the testator’s property to his spouse, while the new will leaves all of it to his son.
If, however, the new will merely adds to the provisions of the previous will without contradicting them, the new will does not revoke the previous one.
After a will is revoked by the testator, how is the estate distributed?
Where a person revoked their will and then passed away, the estate is distributed as follows:
If the testator left another valid will in place of the revoked one, a probate order must be obtained for it, and the estate is distributed according to that other will. If the testator left no other valid will in place of the revoked one, an inheritance order must be obtained, and the estate is distributed under the statutory inheritance rules.
Is there any other way to revoke a will, apart from the testator?
Beyond the testator’s own right to revoke his will, the law also gives anyone with an interest the right to oppose an application for a probate order filed for someone else’s will, and to ask the court to annul and invalidate that will. For the full article on objecting to a will >>
In such a case, however, the objector must prove one of the statutory grounds for invalidation, such as a will made under undue influence or through fraud. Drafting a will with a lawyer >>
* Updated for 2026
