Lauderdale County Quitclaim Deed (Divorce) Form

Section 3 of this deed asks for a court, a case number, and a date. The Alabama Quitclaim Deed (Divorce) is drafted for one former spouse who releases an interest in Alabama real property to the other under a divorce judgment, and it names that judgment on the face of the instrument. No covenant of title travels with the release.

What the divorce already did to the title

Alabama does not wait for a deed to unwind a survivorship holding. Ala. Code Section 30-4-17(b)(2) severs the interests of former spouses in property held by them at the time of the divorce as joint tenants with the right of survivorship, transforming those interests into equal tenancies in common. Subsection (c) is why a paper still matters: the severance does not reach a third party who acquired an interest for value in good faith reliance on an apparent survivorship title, unless a writing declaring it has been recorded in the records relied on as evidence of ownership. A recorded release puts the change where a title examiner looks.

The judgment stays in the circuit court

Alabama divorce judgments are entered by the circuit court (Ala. Code Section 30-2-1), and this form identifies one by court, case number, and date of entry without attaching it. In capital letters the instrument states that it conveys title only, does not amend, satisfy, or enforce the judgment, and releases no debt secured by the property. Where a court moved title itself, Alabama Rule of Civil Procedure 70 lets a judgment divest a party's title and vest it in another with the effect of a conveyance executed in due form of law; a certified copy of that judgment is recorded separately and is no part of this package.

A marital status line after the marriage ends

Ala. Code Section 35-4-73 keeps a conveyance out of the record unless it recites the marital status of each individual grantor, for instruments executed after July 21, 1972. The completed example fills Section 1 as divorced and not since remarried. Timing shapes it: a grantor signing after entry of the judgment is a divorced individual, the term Section 30-4-17 itself uses, while a grantor signing during a pending case is still married, and Ala. Code Section 6-10-3 conditions a married person's homestead conveyance on the spouse's assent, shown by examination before an officer and by that officer's certificate. The deed prints the condition in capital letters, this configuration drawing one signature line.

Configured for one grantor and one judgment

Section 1 takes the grantor's name, mailing address, and marital status; Section 2 the grantee, often under a resumed name carrying the former name with it; Section 3 the court, case number, and date of entry. Section 11 carries one signature line, and a single certificate drawn from the individual form of Ala. Code Section 35-4-29 closes the instrument. A former spouse releasing an undivided half so the other holds the parcel alone, and a former spouse clearing a name the record still shows after a judgment awarded the property to the other party, present the pattern this deed recites. It is not set up for two grantors, a company grantor, a signer acting under a power of attorney, or a grantee taking in a representative capacity.

Release words, then the probate counter

The operative sentence remises, releases, quitclaims, and conveys, leaving out grant, bargain, and sell, the words Ala. Code Section 35-4-271 construes as express covenants in a fee conveyance; the deed states that none arises. Recording is with the judge of probate of the county holding the land; until then Ala. Code Section 35-4-90 leaves the deed void as to purchasers, mortgagees, and judgment creditors without notice. That office measures the Ala. Code Section 40-22-1 tax against the value of the interest conveyed and takes Alabama's sales value information on Form RT-1. Ala. Code Section 35-4-112 marks one difference there: that endorsement division reaches no decree or judgment, while this deed carries the statement Sections 35-4-110 and 35-4-113 require.

Shoppers reach this Alabama quitclaim deed under other names too: quit claim deed, quick claim deed, and divorce deed. The package holds a blank fillable PDF, a completed example built on a Shelby County release, and a guide walking Section 3's judgment blanks with every other entry and the certificate. These pages set out Alabama law generally and are not legal advice; an Alabama attorney can measure them against one judgment and one chain of title.