Is the revocation of a will a breach of contract?

Answer 1

A Will is NOT a contract. A Will is a declaration. A Will has no power or authority until the death of the testator. You cannot breach a contract where a contract does not exist.

However, if you had a contract under which you performed a service or gave up something of value in exchange for a promise of a particular thing under the Will and that Will was thereafter revoked it could constitute a breach of contract. If you can prove the existence of the contract without violating the "Dead Man's Statute"* and that you performed what you were obligated to do under that contract or detrimentally relied on that promise you may have a claim against the estate of the deceased for the breach in failing to compensate you with whatever they had promised to under the Will.

In some states a contract to make a Will must be in writing. In all states if the contract involves real estate the Statute of Frauds applies and the contract is treated as a contract for the sale of land and it must be in writing.

An example of this would be where Uncle promises Niece that if she will move in with Uncle and take care of him Uncle will give her the house in his Will. Thereafter Niece moves in and pursuant to the terms of the contract takes care of Uncle. Uncle neglects to give Niece the house. Niece would have a claim against Uncle's estate. The contract to make the Will would have to be in writing since it involves real estate.

*Dead man's statutes are designed to protect the estate of a deceased person from fraudulent claims made by a person who had engaged in transactions with the decedent. These laws do not permit theclaimant to testify as to what terms a decedent verbally accepted, since the decedent is unable to testify and give his or her version of the transaction.