Mobile County Probate Records

Mobile County Probate Court Records

The Mobile County Probate Court keeps judicial, recording, marriage, election, and historic records apart from the District and Circuit Court files managed by Circuit Clerk Ashleigh Long. Estate matters may contain wills, petitions, judicial orders, executor or administrator bonds, account books, claim records, inventories, and papers filed during administration. Guardianship and conservatorship records concern court authority over a person or property. The records library also includes deeds, mortgages, maps, liens, marriage license books, notary applications, election materials, and public archives. Sheriff Paul Burch may carry out a valid court order, but the Sheriff's Office is not the custodian of the underlying probate case.

The official Probate Court home page links judicial case search, land records, dockets, marriage certificates, recording, and court costs. It is the best first stop when the record belongs to Mobile County Probate Court. It is not a substitute for the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit systems used for District or Circuit cases at Government Plaza. Divorce case files, for example, stay with the Circuit Clerk's Domestic Relations division, while a Mobile County marriage certificate may be held by Probate Court. Venue matters.

The Probate Court's official home page shows the range of public-record services available in Mobile County.

Its separate search paths reflect the difference between probate cases, recorded land documents, marriage records, and court dockets.

Mobile County Probate Terms

Probate indexes and case files use role names that identify why each person appears. These definitions distinguish a will from the court case opened to administer an estate. They also clarify two protective proceedings that may appear in Mobile County Probate Court records.

Testator

The person who made and signed a will.

Executor

The person named to carry out the will, subject to court authority.

Intestate

The status of an estate when a person dies without a will.

Guardianship

A proceeding concerning authority to care for another person.

Conservatorship

A proceeding concerning authority to manage another person's property or finances.

A name in an index does not prove that a person received property or served in a final role. Read the orders and later entries to learn what the Mobile County Probate Court approved.

Search Mobile County Probate Records

The Probate Court describes its Landmark WEB record search as an index to more than five million documents. Coverage includes real-property records from 1813 forward, marriage records indexed from 1813 forward, marriage images from September 2019 forward, election records, and estate claims filed through Recording up to July 1, 2013. Account registration is required. Land Records index searches are free, while an available document image has a per-page cost. A current judicial estate file or archive item not exposed online should be requested from Probate Court staff.

1. Choose the correct record family: judicial probate, land and recording, marriage, election, or archive.
2. Open Landmark WEB from the official Probate Court search page, then register or sign in.
3. Search the index and review its date coverage before buying any document image.
4. Download a purchased image within its availability period, or save the index details for an office request.
5. Contact the Records Division when an old book, original file, certified copy, or unindexed judicial record is needed.

The official search explanation shows why online access and archive research work as a pair.

Confirm the collection and date span before assuming a missing name means no Mobile County probate record exists.

Visit Mobile County Probate Court

Mobile County Probate Court uses its own records system and public counter. The research identifies 151 Government Street for Probate Court and related functions in the downtown court cluster. Government Plaza is nearby at 205 Government Street, but its Circuit Clerk counters serve District and Circuit records. Before traveling, call Probate Court to confirm the right room, current public hours, and whether the desired file can be prepared. The Mobile County probate contact number documented in the court research is (251) 574-6001.

Bring the names, approximate date, record type, and any book, page, instrument, or case reference found online. Probate staff can help locate records and explain the indexing system, but they cannot give legal advice about an estate, guardianship, or conservatorship.

Mobile County Probate Search Fees

Only fees confirmed by the official research are listed. The Probate Court links a broader cost schedule, but the full filing-fee document was not available in the research capture. Verify estate and guardianship filing charges directly. Landmark WEB charges relate to online record images, not the cost to open a new probate case.

Purchased Landmark images remain available for ten days. A subscription may be bought up to two years in advance. Marriage recording accepts cash, money order, or credit card, with no checks. Those marriage charges do not establish the cost of a certified will, estate order, or other probate document.

Historic Mobile County Probate Records

The Probate public-records inventory shows why a narrow estate search can miss useful material. Since 1812, the Judge of Probate has been custodian of local records. Holdings include will books, administrative account books, executor and guardianship bond books, judicial cases, claim books, real-property indexes, marriage license books, election records, maps, liens, and court minutes. Computer holdings include judicial indexes from 1965 forward, judicial case images from 1995 forward, and will images from 1997 forward. Earlier material may be on microfilm, in bound volumes, or in original archive files.

The public-records inventory gives a closer view of Mobile County's broad probate library.

Ask staff about alternate indexes when a modern web search returns no result.

The Archives Section contains translated French and Spanish material, Orphans Court dockets and estate books, original wills from 1813 to 1927, original judicial cases from 1813 to 1932, naturalization indexes, official bonds, commitments to jail, and courthouse construction files. Probate Court describes its library as the largest among Alabama probate courts. Preservation milestones include microfilming begun in 1948, an in-house Micrographic Section opened in 1958, digital scanning and internet access in 2000, electronic recording in 2014, and completed digitization of microfilm images and name indexes in 2019.

The catalog also identifies boundary maps, candidate reports, census books, condominium books, hospital liens, incorporation books, judgment books, lis pendens, marks and brands, medical license books, poll-tax records, tax decrees, tract books, warehouse bonds, and active UCC images. Archive researchers can ask about an Orphans Court estate and appraisal book from 1818 to 1822 or its docket and jury list from 1839 to 1844. Those precise collections show why a family-history, title, or estate question may require more than a modern case-name search. Give staff the subject, estimated year, and document family so they can point to a computer index, microfilm set, bound volume, or original archive group.

Mobile County Landmark Access

The Landmark WEB login requires JavaScript and an account. Visible controls include Login, Remember Me, Register, Forgot Username, and Forgot Password. They are account controls, not proof that every estate record is searchable by party name. The useful coverage statement comes from the Probate Court records-search page, so read it before entering the portal.

The Landmark login screen is the gateway for registered Mobile County probate records users.

If access fails or a record falls outside the listed coverage, contact Probate Court rather than switching to an unrelated Circuit Clerk or sheriff search.

Restricted Mobile County Probate Records

Not every document kept by Probate Court is open online or at the counter. Adoption matters are restricted. Sealed records remain unavailable unless a court permits access. Guardianship, conservatorship, and mental-health matters can contain protected medical, financial, or minor information. Public copies may omit Social Security numbers, account details, and other identifiers under Alabama's court-record privacy rules. An index entry does not cancel those limits.

A requester who needs a restricted record should ask Probate Court what proof of identity, legal interest, authorization, or court order is required. Do not ask Circuit Clerk Ashleigh Long, Sheriff Paul Burch, or the Government Plaza Municipal Court to release a file held by Probate Court. A related dispute may appear in another court, but each custodian applies its own access rules to the record it maintains.