Reviving a will in Greensboro, North Carolina is possible if you take the proper steps. When a person revives a will, that person takes an old will they had previously revoked and uses it as their current will. North Carolina law addresses what a person has to do to successfully do this. Here’s what you need to know about reviving a will in North Carolina.
Reviving Portions of a Will After Remarriage
If you are married and have a last will and testament, going through divorce or having her marriage annulled will not automatically revoke the will. However, a dissolution of marriage will revoke any provisions of the will that address your former spouse.
For example, if you chose your former spouse as your executor in your last will and testament, that choice will be automatically revoked after your divorce ends or is annulled, unless your will specifically provides otherwise.
However, getting remarried to your former spouse will have the effect of reviving those automatically revoked sections. For example, if your divorce automatically revoked portion of your will that named your former wife as executor, that portion will be revived automatically upon your subsequent remarriage.
Reviving a Revoked Will in Greensboro, North Carolina
If you choose to revoke your last will and testament, your act of revocation does not automatically revive a will you have written before. For example, let’s say you revoke your will after you get divorced. Prior to getting married, you had also written a last will and testament, and decided to revoke that one after writing a new one upon your marriage. Revoking the will you created while you were married does not automatically revive the will you had when you were single.
Reviving an old will in North Carolina requires you to re-execute the document. A will execution is the process in which you sign the document in the presence of two adult witnesses, then have them sign it as well.
Executing a New Will
You can also revive an old will, or parts of an old will, by creating a new last will and testament. When you create a new will, you can reference the old will, or parts of it, and incorporate them into the terms of the new will. For example, the will you made when you were single might have distributed your estate to your siblings. You can revive this portion of your previous will when you create a new will simply by referencing it in the new document.
However, these types of referential revivals are not something most people do. It’s usually simpler, and easier, to create an entirely new last will and testament without referring to prior versions or attempting a revival of a previously revoked will.
