Alabama Marriage & Divorce Records: Who Holds Them and How to Order

Alabama is one of the more straightforward states for records requests: the Alabama Department of Public Health treats both marriage and divorce certificates as unrestricted public documents, so you do not have to prove a relationship to the couple. The complication is not who may ask. It is which office actually has the document you need.

This page covers Alabama records only. If you are trying to understand grounds, residency, or property division rather than obtain a document, see Alabama divorce laws instead. For the statewide picture, see the marriage and divorce records hub.

Alabama marriage records: state certificate since August 1936

The Alabama Center for Health Statistics, part of the Alabama Department of Public Health, states plainly on its own page that it "began filing marriage certificates in August 1936 for marriages that occurred in Alabama." That date is the dividing line for the whole state.

For a marriage from August 1936 to the present, ADPH is the custodian and can issue a certified copy. For a marriage before August 1936, ADPH has nothing to search. The certified copy comes from the probate office in the county where the license was issued, and coverage there depends on what that county still has. Alabama lost county records to courthouse fires over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, so a pre-1936 marriage is a genuine research problem rather than a form to fill out.

One structural note worth understanding before you order. ADPH's marriage FAQs state that "as of August 29, 2019, persons wanting to marry in Alabama no longer file an application for a marriage license with the county probate court, and the courts no longer issue marriage licenses," and that "instead, the Alabama Marriage Certificate form should be completed by the persons entering into marriage and delivered to the probate court for recording." The probate office then transmits the record to the state. Either way, the searchable state record is the certificate, and the county probate office is the local point of contact for corrections and for older years.

Alabama divorce records: decree versus certificate

Every state divides divorce paperwork into two different documents, and Alabama is a clean example of the split. Get this branch right before you order anything.

The divorce decree is the court's judgment. It carries the terms: property division, custody, support, name restoration. It is a court file, and in Alabama it lives with the circuit court in the county where the divorce was granted. ADPH confirms this indirectly on its own divorce page, telling requesters that "Information for divorces prior to 1950 must be obtained from the circuit court in the county where the divorce was granted" and that "Errors on a divorce certificate must be corrected through the Alabama county circuit court which granted the divorce." If you need to prove a support obligation, enforce a property term, or show a court exactly what was ordered, you need the decree from the circuit clerk.

The divorce certificate is the vital record. ADPH holds these from 1950 forward. It confirms that a divorce happened, between whom, when, and in which county. It does not contain the terms. That is usually enough for a name change at Social Security, a remarriage license, an immigration filing, or a pension administrator, and it is far faster to obtain than a certified court file.

For divorces before 1950 there is no state certificate at all. The circuit court is the only custodian.

Who can request an Alabama marriage or divorce record

Alabama does not gate either record behind a relationship test. ADPH uses the same sentence for both record types: "By Alabama law, marriage certificates are unrestricted. They may be requested by anyone who can provide enough information to search for the record and submit payment of the proper fee." The divorce page carries the identical language for divorce certificates.

That makes Alabama unusual. Many states limit certified copies to the parties, their immediate family, or a documented legal interest. Alabama does not, at least for marriage and divorce. The practical gate is informational rather than legal: you have to give the office enough detail (full names, approximate date, county) to find the record.

We did not locate any Alabama statute or official page creating a confidential marriage program of the kind California runs, and we did not locate a standing sealing regime for divorce certificates. That is an honest gap rather than a finding. Individual court files can always be sealed or partly restricted by court order in a specific case, so if a circuit clerk tells you a particular file is restricted, that is a case-specific order and not a statewide rule. Ask the clerk which order governs.

Fees and how to order from ADPH

Fees below are as of August 2026 and come from ADPH's own pages. Confirm before mailing payment, because vital-records fee schedules change by rule.

The $15.00 is a search fee, not a copy fee. ADPH keeps it whether or not a record turns up; if nothing is found you receive a "Certificate of Failure to Find" instead of a certificate. That document has real uses, since some agencies accept it as proof that no marriage or divorce is on file.

To order:

1. Identify the correct custodian first. State certificate from ADPH if the marriage is August 1936 or later, or the divorce is 1950 or later. Otherwise the county probate office (marriage) or circuit clerk (divorce).
2. Gather the identifying facts. Full names of both parties including the maiden name, the approximate date, and the county. The more precise the date, the better the odds of a hit.
3. Choose a channel. ADPH accepts requests by mail at the Center for Health Statistics in Montgomery, in person at any county health department, and online or by phone through VitalChek, which ADPH names on its own page.
4. Pay the search fee and any expedite fee, and include a copy of your photo ID as the application directs.
5. For a certified decree, apply separately to the circuit clerk. That office sets its own copy and certification fees, which vary by county, so ask the clerk for the current schedule rather than relying on a figure published anywhere else.

If you are ordering for a name change, a passport, or an immigration filing, check which document the receiving agency actually wants. Agencies frequently ask for a certified decree when a certificate would do, and occasionally the reverse.

Records before 1936, and genealogy

For marriages before August 1936, the county probate judge in the county of issuance is the official custodian, per ADPH. The Alabama Department of Archives and History in Montgomery is the right next stop for historical research context, county-by-county holdings, and records that no longer exist locally.

For pre-1950 divorces, the circuit court is the only source. Older circuit files may have been transferred, microfilmed, or in some counties lost, so contact the clerk before travelling.

Alabama recognizes common-law marriages entered into before January 1, 2017, which creates a specific research problem: there is no license and no certificate to order, because no ceremony was recorded. See Alabama common-law marriage for how those relationships are proved instead.

Related Alabama records pages

Court files, including divorce case files, are a separate access route from vital records. If a circuit clerk denies access to something you believe is public, Alabama public records laws covers the request framework. For the sibling franchise, see Alabama death records. For the general process that applies in every state, see how to get a copy of your marriage certificate and how to find out if someone is married or divorced.