Mobile County Marriage Certificates
The Mobile County Probate Court records Alabama marriage certificate forms and keeps local marriage records. The county archive includes marriage license books from 1813 to the present and an index from Book A forward. Landmark WEB indexes marriage records from 1813 to the present, with images viewable from September 2019 forward. This is separate from Circuit Clerk Ashleigh Long's District and Circuit Court files at Government Plaza. A marriage certificate is a probate and vital record, not a divorce case document.
Couples complete the Alabama marriage certificate form and have the required signatures notarized before recording. Probate Court staff cannot notarize papers for the public. The county research does not support adding generic license waiting periods, appointment rules, or identification demands, so the official form and current Probate Court instructions should control. Sheriff Paul Burch has no record-custodian role for marriage or divorce files; his name is relevant only as Mobile County's sheriff and helps distinguish sheriff records from court and vital records.
Record a Mobile County Marriage
Prepare the certificate before visiting or mailing it to Probate Court. Both the notary step and accepted payment matter because Probate staff cannot notarize documents and the office does not accept checks for this recording. Request extra certified copies with the recording when they will be needed for name changes, benefits, or other official uses.
- Complete the Alabama marriage certificate form with the required party information.
- Have all required signatures notarized before submission.
- Submit the form to Mobile County Probate Court for recording.
- Pay $73 by cash, money order, or credit card; do not use a check.
- Order added certified copies for $3 each if needed.
Mobile County Marriage Search Fields
The accessible research provides the fields needed to find and order an Alabama certificate rather than every box on the recording form. Use the spouses' full names before first marriage and the marriage date. State the county where the license or certificate was issued. A mail order also needs the requester's identity and contact information so the vital-records office can send the certificate or resolve a search problem.
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Both spouses' full names before first marriage | Yes | Used to locate the marriage certificate. |
| Date of marriage | Strongly requested | Narrows the search. |
| County where issued | Strongly requested | Use Mobile County when it was issued here. |
| Requester's name and signature | Yes for mail order | Identifies the person ordering. |
| Mailing address and daytime phone | Yes for mail order | Used for delivery and questions. |
Mobile County Certificate Fees
Local recording and statewide certificate searches have separate fee schedules. Mobile County Probate Court charges for recording the Alabama marriage certificate and for extra certified copies. Alabama Department of Public Health charges a nonrefundable search fee that includes one certified copy or a Certificate of Failure to Find. Added copies of the same record cost less when ordered at the same time. Expedited state service adds another fee. Divorce filing and decree-copy fees were not stated in the researched marriage and divorce section, so they are not invented here.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Mobile County marriage certificate recording | $73.00 |
| Added certified copy from Probate Court | $3.00 each |
| ADPH search with one certified copy | $15.00 |
| Added same-record copy from ADPH | $6.00 each |
| ADPH expedite fee | $15.00 |
Search Mobile County Marriage Records
The county channel begins with Probate Court's Landmark WEB information. Register or log in to search eligible indexed records. The marriage index covers 1813 to the present, and images are available for more recent records. The Probate Records Division also maintains marriage license books, indexes, and historic holdings. For a certified vital-record copy, use Alabama Department of Public Health or a county health department rather than assuming a downloaded index image will meet an official purpose.
Older marriage history can require Probate Court. The Alabama Center for Health Statistics began filing marriage certificates in August 1936, so pre-August 1936 information must come from the probate office in the county where the license was issued. Alabama marriage certificates are unrestricted when the requester provides enough information and the fee. This broad access does not make divorce pleadings or restricted family details part of the marriage index.
Mobile County's Probate Court has an unusually deep record collection. Its public inventory reaches back to 1812 and includes marriage license books, historical marriage indexes, estate and will materials, judicial records, land books, and older archives. That range makes the local office useful when a state vital-record search begins too late for the marriage year or when a researcher needs the source book rather than a modern certificate. Landmark WEB index access is free for supported records, while online images can cost 10 cents per page and remain available for download or printing for ten days. A high-volume subscription is listed at $125 per month, but a one-record marriage request usually follows the certificate or copy channels instead.
The Mobile County document-recording source confirms the local marriage fee and payment rules.
That Probate Court page connects the certificate form to Mobile County recording rather than a Circuit Court case filing.
Find Mobile County Divorce Records
Divorce case files belong to the Circuit Clerk's Domestic Relations Division, not Probate Court. Ashleigh Long is the Mobile County Circuit Clerk, and the division phone is 251-574-8441 with email valerie.young@alacourt.gov. Public case information may be available through Just One Look or Alacourt. For pleadings, orders, or a certified decree, contact the Circuit Clerk division. Government Plaza serves as the state court center for these files.
A certified divorce certificate is a shorter vital record available through ADPH or the Mobile County Health Department. It is not the full court file. Custody and support records may contain protected data. Juvenile, adoption, sealed, expunged, and confidential personal information do not become public merely because a related divorce case exists. The practical split is simple: use the clerk for case documents and the health department for the certificate.
The court file can contain pleadings, motions, notices, orders, and the final judgment, while the vital certificate confirms the event in a compact official form. A person who needs the terms of property division, support, custody, or another judicial order should request the case document from Domestic Relations. Someone who only needs proof that an Alabama divorce occurred may use the certificate route. This distinction also helps a requester avoid sending sensitive family questions to Probate Court, which handles Mobile County marriage recording but does not keep the Circuit Court divorce action.
Order Mobile County Certified Records
ADPH accepts marriage certificate orders by mail, in person at an Alabama county health department, and online or by phone through VitalChek with added fees. Mail a completed request and payment to Center for Health Statistics, P.O. Box 5625, Montgomery, AL 36103-5625. Use a check or money order payable to Center for Health Statistics and do not send cash. VitalChek's listed phone is 1-888-279-9888. State search fees are not refundable, even if the office issues a failure-to-find certificate.
Mobile residents may also use the Mobile County Health Department vital-record channel at 251 North Bayou Street, Mobile, phone 251-690-8150. It accepts applications for Alabama marriage and divorce certificates as well as birth and death certificates. For a locally recorded marriage certificate or historic marriage book, Probate Court remains the better source. For a divorce decree or other court filing, ask Domestic Relations.
Alabama Marriage and Divorce Records
The Alabama Department of Public Health marriage certificate service is the statewide certified-copy channel. Its current source states that marriage certificates are unrestricted and gives the information, fee, and ordering methods required for a search. Divorce certificates are also available through ADPH and county health departments. Court case papers remain with the court that granted the divorce.
Records can involve several Mobile County offices, but each custodian has a clear role. Probate Court keeps marriage and probate records. Circuit Clerk Ashleigh Long keeps Circuit and District files. Sheriff Paul Burch oversees sheriff and jail records, not marriage certificates or divorce decrees. Government Plaza is the main state court complex, while Probate Court's marriage and historic-record functions are separate. For probate matters that arise after a spouse's death, the Mobile County Probate Court record process covers wills, estates, and related judicial files.
Alabama Center for Health Statistics
P.O. Box 5625
Montgomery, AL 36103-5625
VitalChek: 1-888-279-9888
For an ADPH mail request, provide both spouses' full names before first marriage, the marriage date, the county where the license was issued, the requester's name and signature, a mailing address, and a daytime phone. The search fee is not refundable, even when the agency issues a Certificate of Failure to Find. A person seeking a pre-August 1936 Mobile County marriage should start with Probate Court because statewide filing began in August 1936.