Find Alabama Marriage and Divorce Records

Who Holds Alabama Vital Records

The Alabama Department of Public Health Center for Health Statistics issues statewide marriage certificates from August 1936 and divorce certificates from 1950. The Probate Court that recorded a marriage keeps the county instrument. The Circuit Clerk in the county granting a divorce keeps the complaint, orders, settlement papers, and decree.

Alabama Has No Marriage Licenses

Since August 29, 2019, adults use the official Alabama Marriage Certificate. Each spouse signs with a wet signature before an Alabama-authorized notary. The original must reach any Alabama Probate Court within 30 days after the later signature. Proper recording makes the marriage legal. No ceremony, officiant, residency requirement, waiting-period license visit, or particular home county is required for adults.

Ages 16 and 17 use the minor form and required consent. Incomplete fields, electronic signatures, an unauthorized out-of-state notary, inconsistent dates, late delivery, altered forms, or a missing county fee can prevent recording.

Record an Alabama Marriage Certificate

Download the current adult or minor form from ADPH and ask the chosen Probate Court about its recording fee, mail method, return envelope, and copy practice.

1. Download the current ADPH certificate and select the correct adult or minor form.
2. Complete every field without altering the form.
3. Each spouse uses a wet signature before an Alabama-authorized notary.
4. Deliver the original and county-set fee to any Probate Court within 30 days of the later signature.
5. Confirm acceptance and recording, then obtain a county or ADPH copy when needed.

Alabama Marriage Certificate Fields

The official certificate gathers legal and vital-statistics facts for each spouse, notarization, and probate recording.

Alabama Marriage and Divorce Fees

Each Probate Court sets its marriage-certificate recording fee. Divorce filing, service, decree copy, certification, and local charges require the current Circuit Clerk schedule. ADPH amounts were checked August 11, 2026.

Search Alabama Marriage Records

ADPH searches statewide marriage certificates from August 1936. Supply both spouses' full names before first marriage, event date, county, applicant signature, mailing address, daytime phone, quantity, and payment. Marriage certificates are unrestricted if enough facts identify the record. A $15 search returns a certified copy or a Certificate of Failure to Find.

For a pre-August-1936 marriage or the recorded county instrument, use the recording Probate Court through the county directory. Ask about bound volumes, indexes, microfilm, and certified-copy policy.

A just-recorded certificate may need processing time before ADPH can issue the statewide copy. If the county rejects the certificate, do not ask staff to backdate it. Correct the defect and use a current form. Later corrections use an Amendment to Alabama Marriage Certificate and Decree of Correction signed and notarized by both spouses, then recorded with another county fee. Alabama also stopped recognizing newly created common-law marriages after January 1, 2017 while preserving otherwise valid older relationships. A disputed historic relationship may require court or probate proof rather than a routine certificate request.

Adults do not need an Alabama residency tie or a waiting-period visit to obtain a license because the license system ended. A celebration or officiant may still be part of the couple's plans, but neither substitutes for timely recording. The Probate Court need not be in either spouse's home county. Before mailing, confirm how that office accepts its county-set fee, whether it needs a return envelope, and how it supplies a recorded copy.

Search Alabama Divorce Records

ADPH issues unrestricted divorce certificates from 1950, but the certificate is summary proof. The Circuit Clerk in the granting county holds the decree, complaint, service, settlement, support, property, custody, and later enforcement or modification records. Pre-1950 divorce records remain with that court.

Public access does not expose every attachment. Financial identifiers, minor and victim information, medical facts, sealed exhibits, and protected addresses can be redacted or restricted. Ask for the docket and certified final decree when terms matter.

An Alabama divorce normally begins with a Circuit Court complaint and service or a valid waiver. The record can add financial disclosures, parenting forms, temporary orders, settlement or mediation papers, hearing entries, and a final judgment. A statutory minimum period does not predict how long a disputed case will take. Later modification or enforcement can create additional docket events. Clerks accept filings and issue copies, but they cannot select legal grounds, draft agreements, or decide whether a form fits military service, property, retirement, support, or domestic-violence facts.

When the defendant is not an Alabama resident, the filing spouse generally needs the researched six-month Alabama domicile or residence basis, though venue facts still require legal review. Alabama recognizes incompatibility and irretrievable breakdown as no-fault grounds along with statutory fault grounds. Remarriage is generally restricted for 60 days after judgment except remarriage to each other, subject to appeal effects. These rules belong to the court case, not the short ADPH certificate.

Certified Alabama Vital Copies

Choose ADPH for statewide event proof, the Probate Court for its marriage instrument, or the Circuit Clerk for the full divorce decree. County health departments can issue many statewide certificates through ViSION. Mail to ADPH commonly takes about 7 to 10 days. VitalChek online or phone ordering adds vendor and shipping charges.

1. Decide whether event proof or the original court instrument is required.
2. Gather names, date, county, contact data, quantity, and payment.
3. Use ADPH, a county health department, or the relevant Probate or Circuit Court.
4. Request certification and confirm the accepted payment method.
5. Review names and dates promptly and use the official correction procedure for errors.

Alabama ADPH Vital Records

The ADPH Center for Health Statistics is the state certificate office. Marriage and divorce certificates are unrestricted. Orders can go through a county health department, mail, or VitalChek. Ordinary central-office walk-ins ended in 2024, while the Montgomery County Health Department remained an option.

Mail requests use a check or money order as the current application directs and should not include cash. A county health department can often issue a statewide event while the requester waits. VitalChek telephone service is available at 1-888-279-9888 with added service and shipping charges. Marriage-form questions use ADPH's dedicated process. Always verify current delivery and appointment rules because physical counter access can change while the statewide certificate database remains available.

The application should list both spouses' names before first marriage, the event date and county, the applicant's name and signature, mailing address, daytime telephone number, quantity, and payment. More complete locating facts reduce a failure-to-find result. Marriage and divorce certificates are unrestricted Alabama products, but ADPH still needs enough information to locate the event. A divorce certificate error may require action through the Circuit Court that granted the divorce.

The official vital-record application shows the request fields and fee instructions.

The same form must not request two certificate types at once, and payment is nonrefundable when the search fails.

Find Alabama County Record Offices

Use the full Alabama county directory to reach the Probate Court for a marriage certificate or the Circuit Clerk for a divorce file. Alabama does not use a generic county clerk or district clerk for these products. Confirm the office, fee, certification, hours, and mail method before ordering.