Deed Execution and Recording Formalities in Alabama

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law and scope

Alabama keeps three questions apart: whether a deed is good between buyer and seller, whether it can be recorded, and whether it beats a competing claimant. Execution rules live in Title 35, Chapter 4, Article 2 (§§ 35-4-20 to -34); recording rules live in Article 3 (§§ 35-4-50 and following). This page covers an ordinary present-fee transfer by an individual owner using a warranty, statutory-warranty, or quitclaim deed. Alabama is a common-law (title) state, not a community-property state, and dower and curtesy have been abolished — the only marital constraint left on a deed is the homestead-signature rule of § 6-10-3. Deeds are recorded with the county judge of probate (§ 35-4-50). Mortgages, and judicial, tax, and fiduciary deeds, have their own rules.

Writing and grantor signature

An Alabama deed is a signed writing that is attested and delivered. Under § 35-4-20, "conveyances for the alienation of lands must be written or printed ... and must be signed at their foot by the contracting party or his agent having a written authority." If the owner cannot sign, the statute says the name is written for that person with the words “his mark” written against or over it. No seal is required to pass title (§ 35-4-21), and a deed is not invalid just because it recites no consideration (§ 35-4-34). The execution also has to be attested — but as the next section explains, one witness or a notary acknowledgment satisfies that. So the whole package is a signed writing, an attestation (witness or notary), and delivery to the grantee.

Witnesses

Section 35-4-20 requires the execution to be "attested by one witness" — only one — with two witnesses required just in the edge cases where the grantor cannot write or signs by a mark written by someone else. And you do not even need that one witness if the deed is notarized: § 35-4-23 provides that a notarial "acknowledgment ... operates as a compliance with the requisitions of section 35-4-20 upon the subject of witnesses." In plain terms, one attesting witness OR a notary acknowledgment gets the job done. Because title companies want a notary anyway, most modern Alabama deeds simply use the acknowledgment and carry no separate witness line.

Acknowledgment or notarization

Notarization is the standard route, but it is not the only execution route. A signed, attested, delivered deed already conveys title; the acknowledgment's job is to supply the attestation in place of a witness (§ 35-4-23). Alabama also has a savings statute: recording "operates as a notice of the contents of such conveyance or instrument without any acknowledgment or probate thereof as required by law" (§ 35-4-63). So even a deed that was never acknowledged or probated, once it is on record, gives constructive notice to the world. In practice, a notary acknowledgment satisfies the attestation requirement.

Effective October 1, 2026, 2026 Ala. Act 536 (SB 292) adds safeguards and refusal duties for remote electronic notarial acts. It does not change § 35-4-23's rule that a proper acknowledgment satisfies the deed-witness requirement.

Spouse, homestead, and marital joinder

For an ordinary parcel, no spouse has to sign: dower and curtesy are abolished and Alabama is not a community-property state, so a nonowner spouse has no interest in the other spouse's solely owned, non-homestead land. The homestead is the big exception. Under § 6-10-3, "no mortgage, deed or other conveyance of the homestead by a married person shall 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 ... and the certificate of such officer." That means conveying the family homestead requires both spouses to sign, plus the non-titled spouse's separate examination and certificate of assent — even when that spouse is nowhere on the title. Because of this, every deed must recite the grantor's marital status to be recorded (§ 35-4-73), so the probate office can flag a possible homestead problem.

Signing through an agent or representative

An agent can sign an Alabama deed if the agent has "a written authority" (§ 35-4-20). A power of attorney used to convey land is itself an instrument affecting title, so it is acknowledged and recorded with the judge of probate just like a deed, and it should be recorded to give notice against later purchasers (§§ 35-4-63, 35-4-90). Alabama's Uniform Power of Attorney Act (Title 26, Chapter 1A) governs the authority itself; making a valid power needs only the principal's signature. Entity, trustee, and personal-representative execution follow their own separate rules.

Recording office and statewide content

Record the deed with the judge of probate of the county where the land sits (§ 35-4-50). Two statewide items gate acceptance at the counter. First, the deed must have "endorsed on it a printed, typewritten, or stamped statement showing the name and address of the individual who prepared the instrument" (§ 35-4-110). Second, it must recite the grantor's marital status (§ 35-4-73), the record flag tied to the homestead rule above. Separately, a deed recording (privilege) tax of $0.50 per $500 of value (§ 40-22-1) and the Department of Revenue's Real Estate Sales Validation Form (RT-1) are their own steps — confirm current amounts and any county formatting rules with the probate office.

Nonrecording effect and defect cures

Alabama protects a later good-faith purchaser or creditor. Under § 35-4-90, all conveyances "are inoperative and void as to purchasers for a valuable consideration, mortgagees, and judgment creditors without notice, unless the same have been recorded before the accrual of the right of such purchasers, mortgagees, or judgment creditors." Two consequences follow. First, an unrecorded deed still passes title between the grantor and grantee. Second, it is void against a later buyer, lender, or judgment creditor who gives value, has no notice of it, and whose right accrues before the deed is recorded — which is why recording promptly matters. On the forgiving side, recording gives notice of the deed's contents even without acknowledgment or probate (§ 35-4-63), and a notary acknowledgment supplies any missing attesting witness (§ 35-4-23). None of these fix a substantive defect — fraud, forgery, incapacity, or a grantor who did not own the land.

What trips people up

• Selling the homestead with one signature. A deed of the family homestead by a married person is not valid without the other spouse's signature and separate assent (§ 6-10-3), even if that spouse is not on the title. This is the single biggest Alabama deed trap.
• Forgetting the "prepared by" line. The probate judge will not record a deed that lacks the preparer's name and address (§ 35-4-110). It is a hard recording gate, not a formality.
• Leaving off marital status. A deed also has to recite the grantor's marital status to be accepted for record (§ 35-4-73), precisely so the office can spot a homestead issue.
• Assuming you need two witnesses. You do not. Alabama needs one witness, and a notary acknowledgment substitutes for it (§§ 35-4-20, 35-4-23). Extra witnesses are harmless but not required.

Common questions

Does an unrecorded Alabama deed still transfer the property? Yes, between you and the person you deeded it to. Section 35-4-90 makes an unrecorded deed void only against a later purchaser, mortgagee, or judgment creditor who gives value without notice before the deed is recorded. Between the original parties, the deed passes title.

Do I need witnesses on an Alabama deed? One witness satisfies the statute (§ 35-4-20), and a notary acknowledgment counts in place of the witness (§ 35-4-23). A notarized deed therefore needs no separate witness.

My spouse isn't on the title — do they have to sign? If the property is your homestead, yes. Section 6-10-3 makes a homestead conveyance by a married person invalid without the other spouse's signature and separate assent, regardless of who holds title. For a non-homestead parcel you own alone, you can convey it by yourself.

Can someone sign the deed for me under a power of attorney? Yes, if the agent has written authority (§ 35-4-20). Have the power of attorney acknowledged and recorded with the judge of probate along with the deed. Alabama's Uniform Power of Attorney Act (Title 26, Chapter 1A) governs the authority.

Statutes and sources

• Ala. Code § 35-4-20 — a land conveyance must be a signed writing attested by one witness (or two in mark/agent cases). https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=35-4-20 (accessed 2026-08-08)
• Ala. Code § 35-4-23 — a notary acknowledgment satisfies the § 35-4-20 witness requirement. https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=35-4-23 (accessed 2026-08-08)
• Ala. Code § 35-4-50 — conveyances required to be recorded go in the office of the judge of probate. https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=35-4-50 (accessed 2026-08-08)
• Ala. Code § 35-4-63 — recording gives notice of a deed's contents even without acknowledgment or probate (savings statute). https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=35-4-63 (accessed 2026-08-08)
• Ala. Code § 35-4-73 — a deed must recite the grantor's marital status to be accepted for record. https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=35-4-73 (accessed 2026-08-08)
• Ala. Code § 35-4-90 — unrecorded conveyances void as to purchasers, mortgagees, and judgment creditors for value without notice (notice priority). https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=35-4-90 (accessed 2026-08-08)
• Ala. Code § 35-4-110 — no recording unless the instrument shows the name and address of its preparer. https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=35-4-110 (accessed 2026-08-08)
• Ala. Code § 6-10-3 — a homestead conveyance by a married person needs the spouse's voluntary signature and assent shown by separate examination. https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=6-10-3 (accessed 2026-08-08)
• Ala. Code § 40-22-1(c) — deed privilege tax rate. https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=40-22-1 (accessed 2026-08-08)
• 2026 Ala. Act 536 (SB 292) — future remote-notary safeguards, effective October 1, 2026. https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/files/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2026RS/SB292-enr.pdf (accessed 2026-09-19)