The Alabama Divorce Kit
See a different stateAlabama
Alabama publishes a handful of statewide “do it yourself” divorce forms — but they only cover the narrowest case: no kids, no property, nothing to argue about. Everyone else gets handed to their county circuit clerk, and every county’s packet is different. This kit tells you honestly which situation you’re in and exactly what your county actually needs.
Put in the day you filed and this page works out every deadline in your case, then hands you a calendar file that reminds you a week before each one and again the day before. It opens in the calendar you already use. Free, no account, nothing stored.
1 · The two routes, and what the rule requires
Alabama does not have a named “simplified” track the way Florida or Connecticut do. What it has is a narrow set of statewide forms published by the Administrative Office of Courts for the simplest possible case, and — for most people — whatever packet the county circuit clerk requires instead. That is the fork that actually matters, and the two sets of paperwork are not interchangeable.
Ala. Code § 30-2-5 requires one spouse to have been a bona fide resident of Alabama for 6 months before filing. There is no shortcut around it: until six months have run, the case belongs where one spouse does already qualify.
The statewide AOC forms
Alabama Administrative Office of Courts, forms PS-08 to PS-21
The one scenario Alabama’s Administrative Office of Courts built a free statewide packet for: the simplest possible uncontested case, with nothing for a court to divide.
The statewide Divorce Complaint, PS-08, says on its face that it is for cases with no minor children and no assets or debts.
Available only where all of these are true:
- There are no minor children of the marriage.
- There are no assets and no debts to divide — no house, car loan, retirement account or credit card balance.
- Both spouses have already agreed on how to handle everything.
- Neither spouse is asking for alimony.
- The responding spouse will sign an Answer/Waiver or Acceptance of Service, so no formal service is needed.
Call your county circuit clerk before filing even on this route. Some counties layer a local checklist or information sheet on top of the statewide forms, even for the simplest cases.
Your county’s uncontested-divorce packet
Set by each circuit clerk, not by statute
Alabama does not publish a statewide packet for anything beyond the narrow case above. The circuit clerk’s own forms are the real requirement, and they genuinely vary from county to county.
Below the table are verified example packets from real counties, so the phrase “county-specific” can be checked rather than taken on trust.
This is the route wherever any of these is true:
- There are minor children of the marriage.
- There are assets or debts to divide.
- The spouses have not yet agreed on property, debts, or custody and support.
- Either spouse is asking for alimony.
- The responding spouse will not sign a waiver or acceptance and must be formally served.
Call your own circuit clerk’s domestic relations division and confirm before filing — see Section 6 for why this genuinely varies.
Some counties (Madison and Baldwin among them) require an Affidavit of Residence that is not part of any statewide packet.
The AOC child-support forms below do appear across multiple counties’ packets, which is why they are published here with links.
2 · Every form Alabama publishes for a divorce
The complete list, not a shortlist — because which forms a case needs depends on facts only you and, if you need one, your lawyer can weigh. Each row says which route it belongs to. Where Alabama publishes a statewide form, it is free from the Administrative Office of Courts and linked here. Where the requirement is set by your county instead, the row says so plainly rather than guessing.
| Form | What it is | Route | Rev. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS-08 | Divorce Complaint — for cases with no minor children, no assets or debts | Statewide AOC | 8/08 | Download ↓ |
| PS-09 | Plaintiff’s Testimony (must be notarized/sworn) | Statewide AOC | — | Download ↓ |
| PS-21 | Answer to Divorce Complaint (the responding spouse signs it) | Statewide AOC | 4/15 | Download ↓ |
| PS-10 | Request for Divorce Judgment by Default — only where the other spouse will not sign | Statewide AOC | 8/11 | Download ↓ |
| see clerk | Divorce Complaint — your county’s version (ask your clerk; the statewide PS-08 is for the no-kids/no-assets case only) | County packet | — | county-specific |
| see clerk | Plaintiff’s Testimony, notarized — your county’s version | County packet | — | county-specific |
| see clerk | Affidavit of Residence — required by some counties (e.g. Madison, Baldwin), not part of the statewide packet | County packet | — | county-specific |
| see clerk | Acceptance of Service / Answer and Waiver — your county’s version, signed by the responding spouse | County packet | — | county-specific |
| see clerk | Settlement / Property Agreement — where property and debts are already agreed | County packet | — | county-specific |
| see clerk | Custody, Support & Visitation Agreement — where there are minor children and the terms are agreed | County packet | — | county-specific |
| see clerk | Summons for personal service — where the other spouse must be served; ask your clerk about local service procedure and cost | County packet | — | county-specific |
| CS-41 | Child Support Obligation Income Statement, Affidavit — one per spouse, where there are minor children | County packet | 7/19 | Download ↓ |
| CS-42 | Child Support Guidelines worksheet — where there are minor children | County packet | 7/19 | Download ↓ |
| CS-42-S | Child Support Guidelines worksheet (current version) — where there are minor children | County packet | 6/23 | Download ↓ |
| CS-43 | Child Support Guidelines — Notice of Compliance — where there are minor children | County packet | 7/19 | county-specific |
| CS-47 | Child Support Information Sheet — where there are minor children | County packet | 12/21 | county-specific |
| C-57 | Final Judgment of Divorce | All | 7/97 | Download ↓ |
| CERT | Certificate of Divorce (vital records reporting) | All | — | Download ↓ |
| C-10A | Affidavit of Substantial Hardship — only where a fee waiver is requested | All | — | Download ↓ |
Verified example county packets — real, checked packets so you can see what “county-specific” actually looks like:
| Madison County | Uncontested Divorce Packet | Open ↗ |
| Shelby County | Pleadings & Forms Required for an Uncontested Divorce | Open ↗ |
| Baldwin County | Domestic Relations — filing checklist | Open ↗ |
| Mobile County | Circuit Court forms index | Open ↗ |
Every linked form here is free from the Alabama Administrative Office of Courts. Download fresh each time — clerks reject superseded revisions, and saved copies go stale.
Rows marked “county-specific” have no single Alabama-wide version. That is not this kit being vague; it is how Alabama built the system. Confirm the current template with the circuit clerk in the county where the case will be filed.
3 · Getting the forms and filing them
Nobody explains this part, so here it is. Some of this is genuinely simple. Some of it is Alabama making you do county-level homework Florida and Connecticut don’t ask for.
You may e-file, but you do not have to Your choice
- Portal
- AlaFile (Alabama Judicial System E-Filing)
- Paper
- Still accepted — you can file over the counter.
- What it costs
- card surcharge 4% of the total, added as a convenience/administrative fee on credit/debit card payments (Administrative Policies and Procedures: ‘Payment must be made by credit/debit card (4% of total added as convenience/administrative fee)’)nience/administrative fee)')
- Account
- Yes, if the pro se party chooses to e-file. Registration is at alafile.alacourt.gov: online registration, then in-person identity verification with photo ID at the local circuit clerk, then email confirmation and activation. No registration fee is published.
- Worth knowing
- This is one of the cleanest 'attorneys must, pro se may' states: the same policy document that mandates AlaFile for attorneys expressly carves out pro se filings and tells pro se parties they MAY register. A pro se filer can therefore still walk paper into the circuit clerk. The 4% card surcharge is on the filing-fee total, not a separate e-filing charge. Pro se e-filing is noted as unavailable in the JU (juvenile) division.
Step one — start at the AOC e-forms site, then go find your county
Alabama’s statewide forms — the “PS” series divorce packet and the “CS” series child-support forms — are free here:
eforms.alacourt.gov — AOC E-Forms
The AOC’s own “Do It Yourself” packet — Divorce Complaint (PS-08), Plaintiff’s Testimony (PS-09), Request for Default (PS-10), Answer (PS-21) — is written for one scenario: no minor children and no assets or debts for the court to divide. There is no second statewide packet for the with-kids or with-property case the way Florida publishes 12.901(b)(1) or Connecticut publishes its regular-docket forms. If that’s you, your county circuit clerk’s own packet is the real form list — see Section 6 for why this trips people up.
Step two — fill them in, sign nothing early
Most AOC forms are typed or handwritten PDFs, not always fillable on-screen — check each one. Type or print clearly in black ink, and write “N/A” rather than leaving a field blank. Use your full legal name exactly the same way on every document.
Plaintiff’s Testimony (PS-09) — and the Affidavit of Residence some counties require — are sworn statements. You do not sign these in advance. You sign them in front of a notary, with valid photo ID, after they’ve read you the oath or you’ve affirmed you’re telling the truth. A form signed the night before and merely stamped later is not a valid affidavit, and clerks and judges do check dates.
Step three — notarization, without a special trip
Alabama recognizes remote online notarization for sworn documents like these, alongside the traditional options: a bank, a UPS Store, a mobile notary, or the courthouse itself. Costs typically run $0 (many banks, for account holders) to about $25 per session with a national remote notary service.
Step four — file at your circuit clerk’s office
Alabama’s statewide e-filing system is called AlaFile. Self-represented (“pro se”) filers may register and use it, but — unlike some states — you are not required to. Alabama’s own e-filing policy explicitly exempts documents filed by pro se parties from the electronic-filing mandate that applies to attorneys. Walking your paperwork into the circuit clerk’s office in your county is completely normal and, for a first-time filer, often simpler.
efile.alacourt.gov if you want to e-file anyway. Otherwise, call ahead and ask your circuit clerk’s domestic relations division what they need before you drive over — see Section 6.
4 · Your deadlines, calculated
Alabama does have a fixed statutory waiting period — it’s just not framed the way Florida’s or Connecticut’s is. Under Ala. Code § 30-2-8.1, a court cannot enter a final judgment of divorce until 30 days have passed from the date the summons and complaint were filed — full stop, even if you and your spouse agree on everything and sign every form the same afternoon. Put in your dates and we’ll turn the real rules into an actual calendar — then add them to Google Calendar, Apple Calendar or Outlook in one click.
5 · The order it actually happens in
6 · Alabama’s trap: there is no “the Alabama divorce packet”
This is the single most consequential thing to understand before you download anything. It’s also genuinely verifiable, not folklore.
The AOC’s own “Do It Yourself” instructions say its divorce forms (PS-08/09/10/21) are for a complaint filed “when there are NO minor children and NO assets or debts for the Court to divide.” Unlike Florida (which publishes three separate petition forms for exactly this fork) or Connecticut (which has a defined regular-docket process), Alabama does not publish a second statewide packet for anyone who has kids or property to divide. That case — most divorces — is handed entirely to county practice.
We checked four counties directly. Madison County and Baldwin County each publish their own uncontested-divorce checklist and require a notarized Affidavit of Residence from a third party that the statewide packet doesn’t include. Baldwin also requires a “Children Cope with Divorce” seminar certificate from both parents in any case with kids — a requirement that doesn’t exist in Madison’s packet at all. Shelby County and Mobile County publish their own separate pleading lists too. A packet correctly filled out for one county can be the wrong packet entirely in another — there’s no cross-county substitute the way there is in states with one uniform self-represented process.
Alabama’s general Civil Cover Sheet (Form ARCiv-93, required for most new circuit court filings) says in its own instructions that it is “not for domestic relations cases.” People filing their first-ever circuit court paperwork often grab it by default because it’s the form everyone talks about — and it’s the wrong one for a divorce.
7 · The rejection-proofing checklist
These are the specific, verifiable things that get Alabama filings sent back or delayed — not generic advice.
Before your first trip to the clerk
Signing and notarizing
Timing — the two different 30-day clocks
The 30-day wait before final judgment (§ 30-2-8.1) runs from when you filed. Your spouse’s 30 days to answer (Rule 12(a) ARCP) runs from when they were served — a different starting point entirely, and it only applies if they were formally served rather than signing a voluntary waiver. People plan around the wrong one constantly.
8 · Child support paperwork, if you have kids
These are genuinely statewide — governed by Rule 32 of the Alabama Rules of Judicial Administration and published by the AOC as the “CS” series, regardless of which county you’re in.
The dollar amount isn’t something you negotiate freely — Alabama Rule 32 sets a formula based on both parents’ income and the number of children, worked out on the CS-42/CS-42-S worksheet. Courts can deviate from it, but they have to say why in writing.
9 · What this costs
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Filing fee, Madison County (current, per madison.alacourt.gov) | $324 |
| Filing fee, Baldwin County (current, per baldwin.alacourt.gov) | $227 |
| Filing fee, Jefferson County — Domestic Relations Complaint (published fee schedule, effective 6/21/2012 — confirm it’s still current with the clerk) | $199 |
| Filing fee, Mobile County — not published as a fixed figure online; confirm with the Mobile County Circuit Clerk | check w/ clerk |
| Sheriff or process server service, per person (varies by county — Jefferson lists $10 for sheriff service; private process servers run more) | $10–$75 |
| Notary / remote online notarization for sworn testimony | $0–$25 |
| Service by publication, if you can’t locate your spouse | $65+ |
| Typical all-in, doing it yourselves, uncontested | $210–$400 |
File Form C-10 / C-10A, Affidavit of Substantial Hardship, with your circuit clerk. It’s a sworn financial disclosure the court uses to decide whether to waive fees and costs — the form itself doesn’t publish a fixed income cutoff, so the judge or clerk’s office makes the call based on what you report. Ask when you file.
Figures below are demo/illustrative ranges reported informally by past Cusp members going through Alabama divorces — not an official fee survey, and not a quote. Use them to sanity-check an estimate, not to budget precisely.
| Scenario | Reported range |
|---|---|
| Uncontested, attorney handles all paperwork | $900–$2,500 |
| Uncontested with kids/property, light negotiation | $2,000–$4,500 |
| Contested, moderate dispute, settles before trial | $5,000–$12,000 |
| Contested, custody or business dispute, goes to trial | $15,000+ |
What this is. A guide to Alabama’s own process, built from the Code of Alabama Title 30, Chapter 2 (including §§ 30-2-1, 30-2-5, and 30-2-8.1, published at alison.legislature.state.al.us), the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure (Rule 12) and Rules of Judicial Administration (Rule 32), the statewide forms published by the Alabama Administrative Office of Courts at eforms.alacourt.gov, and the published domestic relations pages and filing checklists of the Jefferson, Madison, Baldwin, Mobile, and Shelby County circuit courts. The forms themselves are free from eforms.alacourt.gov and your county circuit clerk, and this kit links you to them rather than reselling them.
What this is not. The Cusp is not a law firm and does not practice law. Nothing here is legal advice, and nothing here tells you which choice is right for your particular situation — only what Alabama, and your specific county, require of each path. Alabama’s own court staff are not permitted to give legal advice either — that’s not a Cusp limitation, it’s true of every clerk’s office in the state. If your case involves contested custody, a business, hidden assets, domestic violence, or a spouse with a lawyer, talk to an attorney; many offer free consultations, and one hour of advice is cheaper than a filing that bounces because it was the wrong county’s packet.
Confirm current numbers with your clerk. Filing fees and local checklist requirements are set and changed at the county level, not by one statewide body, and this kit could not independently verify every county’s current fee. Where we could not confirm a figure, form, or deadline from an official source with confidence, we said so above rather than guessing — most notably Mobile County’s exact filing fee and whether your specific circuit requires a final hearing.
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The most expensive mistakes in a divorce are made in the year after it, by people who thought the case was over. After the divorce is the checklist for that year — the health-coverage clock, the retirement order a decree cannot replace, and the beneficiary form that outranks your will.
Filing is one household becoming two, and the second one starts empty. The two-household list is what to send the people who keep asking how they can help — the second of everything, and the half of it that costs nothing. Some people call it a divorce registry.