Alabama, U.S., Divorce Index, 1950-1959

This database is an index to approximately 105,000 divorces that were filed in Alabama from 1950-1959. Information that may be found in this database includes:

• Husband's name
  
• Wife's name
  
• Divorce date
  
• Divorce county
  

It is important that you use the information found in this database to locate your relative in the original records that this index references. Usually more information is available in the records themselves than is found in an index. For example, divorce records may list marriage information, birth information, or the cause for divorce in addition to the information provided in this index.

This index was created by the Alabama Center for Health Certificates, which began filing divorce certificates in 1950. Information on pre-1950 divorces must be obtained from the circuit court of the county in which the divorce was tried.

More About Alabama Divorces:

Though divorce decrees were tried in county chancery court until 1865, the state legislature had the exclusive right to finalize all divorce decrees. These early decrees are thus a part of the legislative record and are published in the Senate and House Journals.

After 1865 the county chancery court was authorized to issue final divorce decrees. In 1917 the chancery court was merged with the circuit court of the county. Thus, divorce records from 1819 are maintained among the equity records of the circuit court of the county in which the suit was filed. Though not required by law, several county clerks maintained divorce records separate from other equity files. A certified copy of a divorce certificate may be obtained from the circuit court clerk in the county in which the divorce suit was tried. A fee is required, and six to eight weeks should be allowed for a response. Copies of divorce Certificates can also be requested from the Alabama Department of Public Health.

Taken from Robert S. Davis and Mary Bess Paluzzi, "Alabama," Red Book, ed. Alice Eichholz (Provo, Utah: Ancestry, 2004).