How to Obtain Alabama Divorce Records

The person you are dating and may be considering making your life partner may need a background check. Perhaps there is nothing to be found, but can you be certain? Has he/she been married in the past? If the person has been married before, has the divorce been granted? Or, is he or she still married officially and concealing the truth? You need to search for records of divorce to be sure about all this.

A search for divorce courts lets you look up divorce records by keying in the name, city, and state of the person you need to obtain information for. For the state of Alabama, you should search all the available Alabama divorce records and this will instantly let you know if there is a match.

How to Find and Obtain Your Alabama Divorce Records

Please make a note of the fact that you need a little information before you get started. You must have the information ready before you commit to looking up the divorce records of anyone.

Please keep in mind that like many other records searches, divorce records are in the public domain. This means that the state and the county authorities are legally obliged not only to maintain the records, but they are also obliged to share the information with you.

Still, the right to privacy does not allow full information sharing with the public. Obtaining a copy of the divorce decree might not be possible for you. In spite of this, you can confirm the authenticity of the divorce or whether the person has indeed been divorced or not. You can also know the date of the divorce and the county from where it was issued.

Once you know where to look for the divorce records, obtaining them is not very difficult.

Please write to the following to get your Alabama divorce records:

Alabama Vital Records
P.O. Box 5625
Montgomery, AL 36103-5625
(334) 206-5418
Fax: (334) 262-9563

Ideally you should be approaching the relevant county for the divorce records. If you are not aware of the exact county that issued the divorce, you can approach the office mentioned above, which will then direct your request to the appropriate county. This can however take a little bit longer.

Please also keep in mind that the service is not free. There is a fee of $12.00 for all searches from January 1950 onwards.

What You Need to Do When Applying for Alabama Divorce Records

There is some minimum but mandatory information that you should have before you start the search for divorce records. At the minimum, you should know the name of one of the people who got divorced. You should ensure spelling is correct and include any middle initials you may be aware of.

Provide the following information when you are placing this request for Alabama divorce records:

•    date of request
•    full name of husband (last name in caps)
•    full name of wife (maiden name in caps)
•    date of divorce or annulment
•    place of divorce (city or town, county, state)
•    the type of final decree
•    relationship to parties
•    the purpose for which the record is needed
•    requestor's name & address
•    requestor's driver's license number & state (some counties require it)
•    requestor's signature

Next, you should know for sure that the state in which the person was divorced is actually Alabama. In case you are accessing a government website, you may need to know the county, but this is not mandatory. If you are not aware of the county, there are ways in which you can still find that divorce record you need.

Is it prudent to go through a private website, or a state or government official website? Please be aware that your fees will prove to be substantially less if you choose a state government website as opposed to a private search site. There are many advantages of a private website as well, so you might want to take a decision about this beforehand.