A will is an expression of the will of a person, drawn up in the form of a document. It concerns the distribution of property after the death of the testator. It is possible to completely cancel the will or change it. However, to maintain the legal status of the document, all amendments made must comply with the law.

The procedures under consideration have many nuances. Before conducting them, you should familiarize yourself with the legislation and adopted legal norms in order to avoid mistakes.

Is it possible to cancel or change a will during the life of the testator - legislative framework

Both the amendments and the complete abolition are subject to the following articles of the Civil Code:

• Article 1130. According to its clauses, amendments can be made at any time without the consent of third parties. A new document can either completely cancel the clauses of the old one, or make partial adjustments to it;
• Article 1129. Concerns the specifics of drawing up a new will in emergency circumstances;
• Article 58. It specifies the notary’s obligation to enter into the registration register all data on cancellations or changes in the document;
• Article 1128. Concerns the preparation of a testamentary disposition.

When drawing up a document, you must use the points of these articles. If you do not do this, the paper will be considered invalid.

Amendments can only be made by the testator himself.

Features of actions with a document

Can a testator change or revoke a will? The Civil Code states that a will can be changed or canceled at any time. You can make any number of edits, both full and partial. However, it is necessary to follow the given order. The main requirement is that only the testator himself can make amendments. He is not obliged to notify the heirs about the changes made.

Reasons for changing or drawing up another paper

The grounds for amendment or cancellation are:

• The testator decides to add or exclude an heir, change the distribution of shares, and draw up additional orders;
• The previous paper violated laws and therefore could not be considered legal. Amendments will help correct all errors;
• The document was drawn up under pressure or in a situation where the testator could not be fully responsible for his actions;
• The testator decided not to leave an inheritance.

The new document may also be compiled with errors. Such situations are considered in court.

If the amended will is declared invalid, then the old document comes into force.

Drawing up a new order

Cancellation of a will is permitted by drawing up an order. However, it must be remembered that its execution is not analogous to the preparation of a new will. It simply undoes what was before. The order must be drawn up in a form similar to the original document. It must be certified by a notary. In a notary office, according to the law, they must certify the paper by checking the following circumstances:

• Testator's capacity;
• Compliance of the content of the order with the actual expression of the will of the person.

After the check is completed, one copy of the order remains with the notary, the second is transferred to the testator.

Is it possible to cancel a will for inheritance in a notary's office?

How to cancel a will for inheritance? To do this you will need to visit a notary. The procedure can be carried out in two ways:

• Cancellation of a will by another will. To cancel a document, you need to draw up a new one. Is it necessary to cancel the previous expression of will? It is enough to clearly state in the document the cancellation of the previous will in full or item by item. The new edition must contain new instructions. This option is more preferable, since it ensures that there are no contradictions between the two papers;
• Drawing up a declaration of will without direct instructions for cancellation. The document indicates new orders regarding property.

How to cancel a will? To do this, you need to draw up a new document. However, if it has not been formalized, you can simply draw up a deed of cancellation, which can be done directly at the notary’s office.

When performing the procedure, you should be guided by the following scheme:

1. A visit to the notary with whom the previous declaration of will was drawn up;
2. Collect a package of documents: identification card, confirmation of legal capacity and property rights;
3. Take the completed cancellation order, as well as the new will in two copies.

Is it possible to change a will drawn up in a banking institution? To do this, you need to contact not the notary, but the bank itself. A testamentary disposition is drawn up and certified by the bank manager. The nuances of the procedure depend on the financial institution.

Is a will revoked if the inheritance is not registered? The outcome of such a case depends on the court decision. If the heirs do not enter into inheritance rights within the prescribed period, then the property can be lost. In order to prevent this, it is necessary to go to court. The main task of the heirs is to prove that the reason for the missed deadlines was valid.

Can a will for an apartment be revoked?

Is it possible to revoke a will for an apartment? Cancellation of a document on the disposal of real estate before the death of the testator, according to the Civil Code, is possible. How to revoke a will for an apartment? The procedure is performed in the standard manner. Conducted in accordance with paragraphs of Article 1130 of the Civil Code. The process does not require obtaining the consent of third parties or notifying heirs about it.

How to cancel a will for an apartment during your lifetime? To do this, it is enough to create a new document. It contains a clause about the cancellation of the previous one. The new edition allows:

• Changing individual items;
• Changing the entire document, that is, canceling the previous one.

Is it possible to cancel a will for an apartment without drawing up a new one? To do this, it is necessary, according to the standard scheme, to draw up an order for cancellation. However, it should be borne in mind that the new document may be challenged by the heirs in court. The basis for challenging is the recognition of the testator as incompetent at the time of drawing up the document. A document will also have no value if it has not been certified by a notary or was drawn up without witnesses.

Cancellation of a will for an apartment is carried out without notifying the heirs.

After the death of the testator follows. It is better for potential heirs to study the procedure in advance to avoid problems at such a difficult time.
Is a will really written by hand? Such a document may be drawn up in special circumstances.

Arbitrage practice

Court cases almost never concern situations in which the testator personally makes changes to the document. However, very often interested people who are not satisfied with the will try to cancel the document. There are many similar judicial precedents.

For example, a will was drawn up the day before the death of the testator. The heiress of the first stage tried to challenge the document on the basis that the testator was in an incapacitated state. All documents proving the grounds for annulment were presented. As a result, the document was cancelled. The property was distributed in accordance with the law.

Many people have had to draw up a will or enter into an inheritance at least once in their lives. However, they have no idea how to correctly draw up the necessary documents, legislate them and where to start.

At first glance, in inheritance law it is difficult to understand the numerous documents, requirements and conditions for drawing up a will. But with a more detailed study of articles and legal documents, it becomes clear that in general they all have a standard and simple appearance.

If you want to make a will, then first you need to think through all the options in which your descendants will assume rights. This is necessary in order to avoid controversial issues and conflicts between descendants in the future. In this case, the owner can cancel or change the will at any time.

What is a will and why is it needed?

A will (from the Latin testamentum) is a person's personal will to transfer his personal property to descendants after death. A will must be made only in writing and certified by a notary office or other legally authorized representative.

In inheritance law there is a classification of general types of wills. These include:

• written wills certified by a notary office;
• secret (hidden) wills;
• wills, which are similar to notarized wills;
• wills to obtain the right to financial assets in the bank;
• wills executed during extraordinary events.

Among all types of these wills, secret wills should be highlighted, since this type of will has appeared in Russia recently. Its meaning is that the owner draws up and signs the will himself. Next, he gives this will to the notary in a sealed envelope, and the presence of two witnesses is required. The notary issues the testator a certificate of taking into custody a closed will.

The civil code introduced the principle of free will. Its essence is as follows.

• Your personal property can be transferred to any legal or natural persons.
• Form a will for one person or several people.
• Bequeath owned property. And not only what is currently available, but also acquired in the future.
• Transfer personal property in separate parts. However, it should be clearly indicated which specific object or right is being discussed.
• Deny the right of inheritance to one or all descendants without specifying the grounds for such a decision.

A citizen can make a will an unlimited number of times. Moreover, each subsequent will will completely or partially cancel the previous one.

In the state, the change and refusal of a will is determined by Article 1130 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

The price of the state fee for registering a will at a notary office in 2019 is 100 rubles. Moreover, the technical and legal work of the notary in drawing up a will is paid separately. It can cost several thousand rubles depending on the type of will and the client's requirements.

By law, a will can be revoked in the following cases.

• It affects the rights of disabled and relatives under 18 years of age. They have the right to a legal share of the inheritance, which is not terminated by the will.
• The will was made by an incapacitated person who is undergoing intensive treatment or has a mental disorder.

Differences between changing and revoking a will

During the period of his life, a person constantly changes his ideas about the relatives or friends around him, new things and property appear. Therefore, the procedure for canceling or changing a previous will has been determined.

However, you need to know the differences between revoking a will and modifying it.

When revoked, the will is terminated completely. The owner can then draw up the following will. If nothing like this happens, the heirs will be able to decide legally.

There is a special point here. If another executed will does not comply with the letter of the law and contains obviously unacceptable text, or is determined by court results to be invalid, then the previous will becomes valid.

The amendments made may concern certain clauses or sections of the will. In such a situation, a new will is not written. The testator may name other relatives or the property that is due to them.

For example: a father gave his son a dacha and a car, but in another will he wrote that he was transferring the dacha to his daughter. Consequently, the first will was changed. After the death of the owner, the inheritance will go under both wills. In the first case, the daughter will have the dacha, and in the second, his son will inherit the car.

To cancel or change a will, the rule of irrevocability is established. It indicates that the next will, canceling or editing the previous one, in turn, terminates the previous one. The legal significance of the previous will is not returned either partially or completely.

There is also a special order from the testator to revoke the will. This is a special written text. The revocation of a will occurs according to the same scheme in which the will was drawn up.

An order to terminate the validity of a notarized will is drawn up and certified in both copies, one of which is kept by the notary.

This notarization can be completed anywhere. The testator himself informs the notary by sending him a notice.

Basic actions when revoking a will

Many people wonder whether it is possible to revoke a will that has already been drawn up? Of course it is possible. To do this, you need to go to the office of the notary who certified the will.

• In the office, on a blank sheet of paper, draw up an application for the annulment of the will and indicate:
• legal address of the notary's office;
• first name, last name and patronymic of the notary;
• your personal data and address of residence;
• contact coordinates;
• information about the will that should be changed or revoked;
• date of writing the application;

signature.

In inheritance practice, there are cases when the heirs themselves think about how to revoke a will. This can only be done in court. To do this, you need to file a claim to invalidate the will in relation to Article 1131 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. But here you need to remember that if, by a court order, the will is annulled, then the previously executed will (if there was one) will regain its legal force.

Video: Lawyer on how to cancel or change a will

Conclusion

Since ancient times, inheritance has played a key role in human life. The need to preserve acquired property and pass it on to his descendants was his main task. In ancient Rus', Rome and other ancient states, the first laws on the conditions of inheritance appeared. Over time they developed and expanded. But the first key rules of inheritance developed by our ancestors have survived to this day.

These days, inheritance laws are constantly changing. New articles are being introduced into it and modern conditions for drawing up a will are being developed.

You can often hear that a will reflects the “last” will of the testator. Since life circumstances, attitudes toward the heir, etc., may change after its preparation, each testator may face questions: is it possible to cancel the will, change any part of it, or replace it with a gift?

Is it possible to revoke a will?

Yes, it is allowed. Cancellation of a will is a unilateral transaction aimed at terminating the validity of an existing will. You can often find the wording: the will has been annulled, the will has been cancelled, that is, it has lost its legal force in full, without exception for its individual provisions.

Who can cancel it and how?

Only the testator himself can revoke a will during his lifetime. Moreover, he is given two methods to choose from (equal in strength):

• drawing up a new will;
• writing a cancellation order.

The later draft replaces the old one (Part 2 of Article 1130 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation), completely ceasing its effect for the future. Even if the new one is subsequently cancelled, the previous one is not restored.

This principle of interchangeability applies only if the new document “decides the fate” of all the property that was mentioned in the old one. If the testator does not mention part of the property mentioned in the previous will, then it means that it has been changed, not canceled.

Example: Citizen Smirnova bequeathed on October 10, 2015 that the car and 2 apartments would be inherited by her daughter after death. Subsequently, on 02/01/2016, she wrote another will, not indicating in it that she was canceling the previous one, but indicating the inheritance of 2 apartments and a car to her granddaughter. The fate of the property was fully specified in the new document, which means it canceled the effect of the old one. But if it had said that the granddaughter would inherit only a car and 1 apartment, her daughter would have received the remaining apartment according to the provisions of the will dated October 10, 2015.

The example considered concerns a situation where the testator decided not to write that the new will completely revokes the old one. If such wording is contained, then it does not matter what property is being talked about. Then, in any case, the execution of a new will implies first the complete cancellation of the old one, and then the execution of a new one.

The cancellation order is a document with an unambiguous meaning. By executing it, you completely revoke the will with respect to all its provisions. Part of the will cannot be revoked by such an order. When it is issued, it is canceled completely and irrevocably.

Where to cancel a will?

This procedure is performed by a notary. Theoretically, anyone, but practically, it is more convenient to contact the one who executed your will, since:

By contacting the same notary office, you will save your time and money. But if it is not possible to do this, any other notary can revoke the will.

If cancellation is made, what are the consequences?

If we consider a will de jure, that is, as a document, after cancellation it ceases to be valid. This means that it cannot entail any legal consequences.

If we talk about a will de facto, that is, as a kind of property, then its fate will depend on the way in which it was revoked.

• When making a new will– the inheritance will pass to the heirs (possibly even to others) according to the provisions of the new one.

Example: Citizen S. in his will passed on his collection of expensive porcelain to his children - his son and daughter. Both were not interested in his state of health and living conditions. A neighbor on the site, knowing this, began to look after citizen S., who, just before his death, made a new will. In it, he bequeathed a collection of porcelain to this same neighbor. As a result, the son and daughter's new will canceled the old one, which can no longer entail any legal consequences. It is cancelled.

• When writing an order to revoke a will– the heirs of the property will be determined by law.

Example: The same citizen S. found himself in the same conditions - he bequeathed his porcelain to his daughter and son, but later changed his mind and canceled the will. Only he did this not by drawing up a new one, but by writing an order to abandon the previous one. He did not have time to draw up a new will in favor of his neighbor, as he died suddenly. Thus, after his death there was no valid will left, which means that his daughter and son, heirs of the 1st line, received an inheritance according to the law.

Can a will be revoked if the testator dies?

The question of how to revoke a will after the death of the testator is usually of interest to the heirs of the first priority by law, who are left with nothing. The only way to do this is to file a lawsuit asking the court to declare the disputed document invalid.

If the court grants your request, then:

• inheritance will occur in accordance with the law if the will was the only one (that is, it did not cancel another);
• a will revoked by a subsequent will will take effect and heirs will be determined in accordance with its provisions.

However, there are a limited number of grounds for a judge to make such a decision:

• incapacity of the testator (due to age or court decision) at the time of drafting;
• the presence of evidence confirming the inadequacy of the testator at that moment;
• use of force by third parties;
• threats from outsiders when drawing up a document.

It is extremely difficult to prove these retrospective facts. Therefore, the procedure for revoking a will after the opening of an inheritance is very rare in domestic judicial practice.

Is it possible to change a will and how to do it?

Anyone who writes a will can, at any time, without explaining the reason, “adjust” his will by partially changing its content.

Changing a will- this is actually the drawing up of a new one, since it is impossible to make subsequent corrections to an already existing document (not to be confused with grammatical and punctuation errors or clerical errors in the will at the time of its preparation, the admission of which does not affect the validity of the document). Therefore, the only way to change a will is to write a new one.

What then is the difference between cancellation and modification:

Thus, we come to the conclusion that:

• Change - if in a newly drawn up will the testator disposes in a new way only part of the property mentioned in the old one, or talks about some additional property.
• Cancellation - if the bequeathed property is transferred in full to other heirs or redistributed in another way, but between the same heirs.

Step 1: Drawing up a new will or canceling the previous one

To cancel a will from a notary, you must come to the notary in person, present your passport, as well as the will that is being canceled or changed. You can, of course, draw up a document yourself if you are a lawyer, but, as a rule, this is done by a notary. To revoke a will, you must write a statement indicating:

• Notary's name, office address
• Full name and passport details of the testator, residential address, tel.
• Information about the will
• Date and place of drawing up the order to cancel it
• Signature

Then the notary certifies it, assigns a number and registers it in the register. This action is not subject to state duty, but only notary services are paid (1000-2000 rubles)

Step 2: Contact a notary in person to certify the changes

After certification, the notary will issue either a cancellation order or a new certified will. If the latter is issued, then the state duty will be 100 rubles.

Is a gift deed a substitute for a will?

A gift agreement and a will are similar in many ways - they are unilateral in nature and transfer property free of charge to another owner.

But their difference is that according to the will, the property will go to the heir only after the death of the testator and the registration of the inheritance (after six months), when the donee becomes the owner of the property already at the time of registration of the deed of gift. That is, in the first case, you will have to wait for who knows how long, but it is likely that it will be a long time. And in the second - according to the law, this is no more than 18 days.

There are often cases when the testator “hurried” and made a will. After thinking about it, I decided to donate the property to my heirs during my lifetime. Then two interrelated questions arise - what to do with the will and can it be replaced with a deed of gift?

The section of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation dedicated to a will does not say anything about the fact that one of the ways to cancel or change it is to formalize a deed of gift, however:

• If we analyze the Civil Code of the Russian Federation comprehensively, then nowhere is it said that the testator can no longer dispose of his property, which he bequeathed.
• Moreover, the heirs inherit only the property that was legally owned by the testator at the time of his death.

All these facts and conclusions argue in favor of the fact that a gift agreement can indeed replace a will. Although in this case it is better not to use the wording “replace”.

After all, in essence, it does not replace itself in the literal sense, that is, it does not terminate the validity of the will. It continues to be in force; it’s just that the property it refers to passes to another owner during the life of the testator, which is quite acceptable. A will, after all, appoints a new owner (heir) of property in the event of the death of the testator. And if he is alive, that means he can make decisions on his own.

Example: Citizen V. in his will dated March 12, 2012 bequeathed his apartment and car to his daughter. A year later (03/12/2013) it was changed - after death, the apartment went to the daughter, and the car to the granddaughter. Subsequently (05/05/2015) he also issued a deed of gift for the apartment in the name of his granddaughter, which she moved into after registering the deed of gift. The inheritance dispute after his death between his daughter and granddaughter was resolved as follows: according to the gift agreement, the apartment was transferred to the granddaughter, despite the fact that according to the last will the apartment should have passed to the daughter. The car also became the property of the granddaughter according to the will.

This example shows that the deed of gift did not cancel/replace the will completely. In the part that concerned the inheritance of the car, it was completed. Regarding the inheritance of the apartment, it was impossible to fulfill it due to the entry into force of the gift agreement. But if the testator had managed to cancel the will before his death, the granddaughter would have inherited the apartment, and the car would have been inherited by the legal heirs in order of priority. Then the daughter with a high probability received at least a car or a share in it. But she received neither one nor the other, nor any compensation for the fact that the will could not be executed due to the lack of bequeathed property.

How to revoke a will made in emergency circumstances?

When there is reason to believe that your life hangs in the balance, the law allows for violation of the form of the will when drawing it up. Notarization in this case is not necessary, but still someone must confirm the fact that you drew up the document in a clear mind:

• Therefore, the presence of two witnesses is required.
• The text must be written by the testator in his own hand.
• At the end there should be his signature.

Subsequently, such a document must be “quickly” certified at a notary’s office if the testator remains alive. The time given for this is 1 month from the moment the emergency circumstances cease to exist.

Therefore, it becomes clear that the cancellation of the will does not occur as such, since it is either certified by a notary and becomes an ordinary will, or generally loses its force after a month, without creating any legal consequences.

If we talk about cancellation by replacing one document with another, then a will drawn up during an emergency situation can only be canceled by the same document, that is, written at the time of a real threat to life.

Example: The expedition group was covered in snow while spending the night in a mountain cave. One of the group members decided to write a will on December 12, 2015, since food was scarce and he thought he would not survive. Three days passed and on December 15, 2015, he wrote another paper in which he redistributed the property differently. Three days later (12/18/2015) they were rescued. IN in this case the second paper drawn up will cancel the first. And the first can become a full-fledged will only if the saved testator notarizes it before January 18, 2016.

Anyone has the right to draw up a will, which states the heir's right to accept any property in the event of the death of the drafter. Drawing up a will requires the right approach: compliance with the form, the law and many other rules, otherwise it may be contested or even annulled.

A will is a document drawn up by the testator for the purpose of independently determining the fate of property after death.

However, this document can be canceled at the insistence of some participants in the inheritance process:

• by the testator himself. A will can be drawn up not just once, but several times, since the testator has every right to change his mind regarding the composition of the heirs. In this case, the previous will is automatically canceled by making changes or drawing up a new one. The document that has the latest date of preparation is considered valid;
• heirs. If the rights of the heirs are infringed, they have the opportunity to try to revoke the will in court;
• other interested parties. If someone believes that he should act as an heir, and the testator has eliminated this possibility by drawing up a will that violates the legal rights of the applicant, the will can be challenged or annulled.

If it is easier to cancel a will by the testator himself, then it is not so easy for the heirs to cancel it. There must be substantial reasons for this. For example, one of the common ones:

• the testator was incompetent or did not account for his actions and could not be held responsible for them;
• the testator was pressured or misled about the preparation of the will;
• the will is drawn up in improper form or violates the law;
• a will violates someone’s rights guaranteed by law, etc.

A frequent reason for going to court to challenge a will is doubt about the legal capacity of the testator.

In order to exclude this possibility, the testator should obtain a document - a certificate from the relevant medical institution with a conclusion on his legal capacity. This is especially true for elderly testators.

The presence of such a certificate will eliminate the possibility of revoking the will due to incapacity.

If the will was drawn up under pressure or threats, then the heirs, if there is evidence, can revoke it through the court, and the person who made the threat can be recognized as an unworthy heir. Evidence may include:

• audio and video recordings;
• documents, letters, other papers;
• witness statements, etc.

Inappropriate form of a will: absence of signatures, dates, inconsistency of other data and rules of execution, inclusion of illegal orders in the text of the will are reasons to cancel the document.

How to do it?

In order for the drafter to annul a will, it is enough to draw up a new one or submit to a notary an application to annul an existing one. After writing the application, the notary registers it, and the will loses its force.

If an heir or a candidate to become an heir decides to revoke the will, he will have to go to court. To do this, file a claim to have the will declared void or to challenge it.

The claim must contain information:

• about the testator;
• about the will itself;
• about inheritance;
• about the reason for canceling the will with a brief statement of the essence of the application;
• evidence confirming the need to revoke the will.

You must pay the state fee in the amount prescribed by law.

After considering the claim and clarifying all the circumstances of the case, the court will make a decision to cancel the will or refuse to satisfy the claim.

If the will is revoked, then the inheritance will be received by those who would have the right to it in the absence of this document - the relatives of the line of inheritance closest to the testator.

The right to challenge the materiality of a will is, first of all, the heirs of the immediate order, applicants for the obligatory share.

To cancel a will for an apartment, the testator himself only needs to draw up a new one or write an application to the notary to cancel the old one. At the same time, the testator should not warn the heirs or anyone else about the commission of such an action.

If the will for the apartment wants to be annulled by the heir or probable heir, he needs to go to court. The reasons for cancellation may be the same as in other cases, and the procedure for filing a claim is similar.

Most often, a will for an apartment is attempted to be annulled by relatives who lived in the apartment together with the testator and by persons who have an obligatory share in the inheritance.

Deadline for filing a claim

It is best for the heir to file a claim in court to have the will declared invalid within a period not exceeding 6 months from the date of the testator’s death. However, if for good reasons it was not possible to do this, for example, the heir did not know about the right violated by the will, then the law establishes the following deadlines:

• within 3 years from the date of receipt of information about the existence of a will, if the will is canceled due to improper form or content of the document, as well as the recognition of the drafter as incompetent;
• within 1 year due to evidence of threats and pressure on the originator.

  Thus, both the maker himself and the heirs after his death can revoke a will. There are many reasons why a will may be invalidated. Each of them has specifics of proof. The testator himself can revoke a will at the notary, and his heirs only in court.