Are you married? (selling in Alabama)

§ 6-10-3 spousal acknowledgment: the conveyance of homestead "shall not be valid without the voluntary signature and assent of the husband or wife, which must be shown by his or her examination before an officer authorized by law to take acknowledgments," with a certificate substantially in the form prescribed by § 35-4-29. FSBO/non-Realtor sellers satisfy this by having the non-titled spouse sign and acknowledge the deed. This is a compilation of published state requirements, not legal advice, and no lawyer has reviewed it or your sale. Laws and forms change, counties and cities add their own rules, and whether any of this applies to you depends on facts we don't know. Treat every item as a starting point for a question, not as an answer. Confirm anything you plan to rely on against the official source we link, and run your list past a title company or an attorney licensed in your state.

Selling a house in Alabama: the paperwork

Every document an Alabama sale commonly touches, who usually produces it, and the law behind it. In most sales the seller's own share is small, and this page shows you which part that usually is.

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12 documents · 6 questions · about a 9 minute read · free, and we don't ask for your email

4documents are usually the seller's

out of 12 in an Alabama sale

Tell us about your sale

Answer what you know. Skip what you don't. Every answer takes something off your list or explains why it stays on.

The home

Was the home built before 1978?

Older homes carry a federal lead paint disclosure. It's the same in every state.

Is the home in an HOA, condo, or co-op?

The association has to produce a package, and they can take weeks. Worth knowing early.

Is the home on the water, or in a flood zone?

Waterfront and floodplain homes pick up extra disclosures in most states.

You and the title

Are you married?

Some states need a spouse's signature even when they're not on the title. Many don't.

Did you inherit the home, or is it in probate?

How the home came to you decides which deed you can sign.

Will you be at the closing yourself?

Signing from a distance takes a power of attorney, and it has to be arranged early.

Usually the seller's to produce

In most sales nobody else prepares these. Whether each one applies to you depends on your home, your title, and your buyer.

Spousal joinder (homestead, § 6-10-3)On deed at closingOn your list because are you married
Purchase & Sale AgreementIn PSA
Lead-based paint disclosure (pre-1978)Attached to PSAOn your list because was the home built before 1978
FIRPTA affidavitClosing

Usually drafted for you to sign

These commonly arrive already written. Read them, and ask about anything that looks wrong before you sign.

Deed (statutory/general warranty)Closing; recorded post-closing
RT-1 Real Estate Sales Validation FormWith deed at recordingOn your list because did you inherit the home, or is it in probate

Usually somebody else's to prepare

Commonly handled by a title company, an attorney, a lender, or the county. Listed so none of them is a surprise.

Deed recordation tax (§ 40-22-1)At recording (Probate)
WDIR / termite bond (if buyer/lender requires)Attached to PSA/closing
Settlement statementClosing
Mortgage payoff/satisfactionPost-closing
HOA resale disclosureHOA resale packetOn your list because is the home in an hoa, condo, or co-op
AIUA wind policy docs (coastal)Coastal transactionsOn your list because is the home on the water, or in a flood zone

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How Alabama generally runs a sale

The broad shape of a sale there, as the research found it. Counties and cities add their own rules on top of all of this.

Closing structureAlabama is a title/escrow state, but Ala. Code § 34-3-6(c) defines preparing or drawing deeds, conveyances, and mortgages for others as the practice of law.

Marital propertyNOT community property. Dower and curtesy are ABOLISHED — Ala. Code § 43-8-57 ("The estates of dower and curtesy are abolished," Acts 1982, No. 82-399, § 2-113), effective January 1, 1983;

HomesteadAla. Const. Art. X, § 205 (historic $2,000 / 80-acre figure) and Ala. Code § 6-10-2 (current statutory homestead exemption: $15,000 in value, up to 160 acres). Ala.

Standard deedStatutory warranty deed common; also general warranty and quitclaim.

Disclosure regimeStrong CAVEAT EMPTOR — one of the clearest in the country. No statutory seller disclosure form. Leading cases: *Ray v. Montgomery*, 399 So. 2d 230 (Ala. 1980); *Cato v.

Transfer taxDeed recordation tax, Ala. Code § 40-22-1 — $0.50 per $500 = $1.00 per $1,000 of value. Collected by the Judge of Probate; two-thirds to the state, one-third to the county.

RONAlabama did NOT enact full RON. It authorizes only Remote Ink-Signed Notarization (RIN) under SB 275 (2021) / Ala.

Recording actRace-notice (Ala. Code § 35-4-90). Recording office is the Judge of Probate (Probate Court) in each of the 67 counties — NOT a "county recorder." This is an Alabama peculiarity worth flaggin...

Local overlaysGulf Coast wind pool (Baldwin/Mobile counties); low statewide ad valorem property tax with homestead-exemption filing.

Other things Alabama asks about

These come up in Alabama and almost nowhere else. We don't ask them above because we can't answer them for you yet, but they're worth raising with your title company.

Municipal water vs. private well/septic?
Is the home built or retrofitted to the FORTIFIED standard (premium credits)?
Has the buyer made a specific inquiry about a defect (triggers caveat-emptor exception)?
Is there a known health/safety defect not discoverable by the buyer?

Before you rely on any of this

This is a compilation of published state requirements, not legal advice, and no lawyer has reviewed it or your sale. Laws and forms change, counties and cities add their own rules, and whether any of this applies to you depends on facts we don't know. Treat every item as a starting point for a question, not as an answer. Confirm anything you plan to rely on against the official source we link, and run your list past a title company or an attorney licensed in your state.

These counts describe a typical sale, not yours. Which documents you need turns on facts about your home, your title, your buyer, and your county, and one unusual answer can add several or remove them.

Who prepares each document is what usually happens, not a rule. Practice differs between states, between counties, and between one title company and the next, and your contract can move work from one side to the other.

Keighbor is not a real estate brokerage and does not represent you. Nobody here is your agent. We don't negotiate, set your price, recommend a course of action, or take a commission. We provide software that helps you organize your side of the sale.

The full Alabama reference

The rest of the research, with every citation kept. This is the same material our own product is built on, and nothing is held back for paying customers. It describes the law as the research found it, not as it applies to your sale.

Always-Required Documents (Every Alabama Transaction)

Deed. [SELLER] executes; [ATTORNEY] must prepare (Ala. Code § 34-3-6(c)). Contents: grantor/grantee, legal description, consideration, warranty/conveyance words, signature, acknowledgment (Ala. Code § 35-4-20 et seq.). Notarization required. Consequence: cannot record; no constructive notice; loses race-notice priority.
Deed recordation tax + RT-1. Ala. Code § 40-22-1. Tag: [GOV/TAX]/[TITLE/ESCROW]. $1.00/$1,000. Probate Court will not record without the tax paid and RT-1 filed.
Spousal joinder (if married + homestead). Ala. Code § 6-10-3 — spouse's voluntary signature and acknowledgment. Consequence: conveyance invalid without it.
Settlement statement (RESPA/TRID if financed).

Sometimes-Required Documents (Triggered)

Trigger: pre-1978 dwelling → federal lead-based paint disclosure (see § 10). [SELLER].
Trigger: buyer financing / lender condition → wood-infestation report (WDIR) and/or termite bond. Not statutory; lender/buyer condition. [BUYER/LENDER OF RECORD].
Trigger: coastal property (Baldwin/Mobile) → AIUA "Beach Pool" wind-only policy (created by Ala. Dept. of Insurance Regulation 52, effective July 10, 1970; wind/hail-only coverage south of the 31st parallel). Buyers commonly cannot obtain wind coverage in the admitted market. [BUYER]/insurer deliverable, but a seller-disclosure/valuation touchpoint.
Trigger: buyer specific inquiry OR known health/safety defect → disclosure duty arises despite caveat emptor (Fennell, Cato, Blaylock). [SELLER].
Trigger: foreign seller → FIRPTA (see § 10).
Trigger: HOA → resale packet. [HOA].
Trigger: probate/estate → personal representative's deed + court authority. [ATTORNEY].

Prescribed-Language Items (Substance-Over-Form)

§ 6-10-3 spousal acknowledgment: the conveyance of homestead "shall not be valid without the voluntary signature and assent of the husband or wife, which must be shown by his or her examination before an officer authorized by law to take acknowledgments," with a certificate substantially in the form prescribed by § 35-4-29. FSBO/non-Realtor sellers satisfy this by having the non-titled spouse sign and acknowledge the deed.
RT-1 form: required content per the Alabama Dept. of Revenue.
Federal lead-paint language (see § 10).
Alabama imposes no statutory seller-disclosure verbatim requirement (caveat emptor).

Local / Municipal Overlays

Recording via Probate Court in all 67 counties; recording fees vary widely (first-page fees range from about $4 in Butler County to over $25 in Madison County; roughly $3 per additional page). Verify before use.
Coastal wind: AIUA "Beach Pool" for Baldwin/Mobile. Alabama law requires insurers to offer discounts for FORTIFIED-built or -retrofitted homes. Per Smart Home America / Alabama Dept. of Insurance benchmark figures effective Jan. 1, 2018, credits apply to the wind portion of the premium and generally range 20%–55% (FORTIFIED Roof ≈ 25–35%; FORTIFIED Silver ≈ 35–45%; FORTIFIED Gold ≈ 45–55%), varying by construction and Gulf Front / Beach / Seacoast territory. Verify current discount sheet before use.
Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile, Huntsville: no widely documented city real estate transfer tax or POS inspection ordinance comparable to Northern-state POS regimes — verify with each municipality.
Post-Katrina/Ivan/Sally coastal building code overlays in Baldwin/Mobile.

Post-Closing Obligations

Recording: deed recorded with the Judge of Probate; RT-1 filed; deed tax paid ($1/$1,000).
1099-S: settlement agent files (26 U.S.C. § 6045(e)).
Capital gains: federal § 121; Alabama income tax on non-excluded gain.
Mortgage satisfaction: lender records the satisfaction; the mortgage recording tax ($0.15/$100) was a closing-time buyer cost.
Homestead exemption re-filing: the new owner should file for the ad valorem homestead exemption with the county.

Federal Overlays (Cross-Reference)

See master methodology § 8. Lead paint (Title X); FIRPTA (§ 1445); 1099-S (§ 6045(e)); FinCEN RRE Rule (31 CFR 1031.320) — effective March 1, 2026, then vacated in its entirety and enforcement enjoined nationwide March 19, 2026 in Flowers Title Companies, LLC v. Bessent, No. 6:25-cv-00127 (E.D. Tex.) (Kernodle, J.); FinCEN guidance confirms reporting persons "are not currently required to file real estate reports with FinCEN and are not subject to liability if they fail to do so while the order remains in force." A conflicting ruling, Fidelity Nat'l Fin., Inc. v. Bessent, No. 3:25-cv-00554 (M.D. Fla. Feb. 20, 2026), upheld the Rule; FinCEN is expected to consider appealing Flowers to the Fifth Circuit and may seek a stay. Treat as SUSPENDED pending appeal. Also: wire fraud; Fair Housing; RESPA/TRID.

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