Alabama is the one state where nobody ever handed you a marriage license, because since 2019 Alabama has not issued them. What you have instead is a single notarized form, recorded at a probate court, and the state says in capital letters that it is the only proof of your marriage you will ever receive. Every counter in this guide wants a certified copy of that one document, so the whole name change hangs off it.
What a Name Change After Marriage in Alabama Costs
Cost & Time at a Glance
| Cost | Roughly $55 to $75 for the core steps, and which end you land on depends entirely on where you buy your certified copies. Social Security and voter registration are free. |
| Time | Certified copies the same day if you ask the probate clerk while you are recording. Social Security card by mail, then the license office, then the car. |
| Deadline | The one hard clock is before the wedding paperwork is done: the certificate must reach a probate court within 30 days of the later signature (Ala. Code 22-9A-17). |
| Step | Alabama cost |
|---|---|
| Certified copies from the probate court that recorded your certificate | Set by the court. Jefferson County publishes $3.00 each |
| The same copy from the state (ADPH) instead | $15.00 for the first, $6.00 each additional in the same order, $15.00 more to expedite |
| Social Security card | Free. No online option in Alabama |
| Driver license name change | $31.25 duplicate |
| Replacement vehicle title | $15.00, plus a $1.50 agent commission and any local fee |
| Alabama voter registration | Free |
| Concealed carry permit | Not required in Alabama at all |
Passport, federal and optional: free on DS-5504 if your book was issued less than a year ago, otherwise $130 by mail on DS-82. See our passport name change guide.
Step 1: The Form That Replaced the Marriage License
Alabama abolished the marriage license. Under Act 2019-340, county probate courts stopped issuing them and stopped requiring a ceremony. What exists now is the Alabama Marriage Certificate form: both spouses complete it, each signature is witnessed by a notary, and the original is delivered to any Alabama county probate court for recording. Alabama Marriage Certificate form
Two details on that form catch people out. The first is the clock: the original must reach a probate court within 30 days of the later of the two signatures. Ala. Code 22-9A-17 says the recording “establishes legal recognition of the marriage as of the date the affidavits and forms were properly signed,” but only if the paperwork arrives inside that window. The second is the notary: ADPH states that “a form notarized by a non-Alabama notary shall not be accepted.” A notary two states over will not do.
Then read the sentence ADPH prints in capitals: “THIS IS THE ONLY DOCUMENT YOU WILL RECEIVE AS PROOF OF YOUR MARRIAGE.” There is no license, no second certificate in the post, nothing else. ADPH filing instructions
So buy your certified copies at the counter. ADPH’s own instructions say you “may request a certified copy from the court when you record your Marriage Certificate,” and Jefferson County publishes those at $3.00 each. Order the same three copies from the state afterwards and you pay $15.00 for the first and $6.00 for each of the others. Three copies at the courthouse: about nine dollars. Three copies from the state: twenty-seven. Jefferson County probate court · our guide to certified marriage certificates
Step 2: Social Security, and Alabama Cannot Do It Online
Alabama is not one of the states that lets you file this over the internet. Social Security’s internet replacement card policy marks Alabama yes for a plain replacement card with no change to it, and no for a last name change due to marriage. That means form SS-5, by post or in person, and no shortcut.
It is free, your number never changes, and you will need a certified copy of your recorded marriage certificate. Do this before the license office, because ALEA asks for proof your name has already been changed with Social Security. Social Security name change · our Social Security name change guide
Alabama has 22 Social Security field offices:
| Office | Address | City | ZIP | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albertville | 406 Martling Rd | Albertville | 35951 | (800) 521-0073 |
| Alexander City | 63 Aliant Parkway | Alexander City | 35010 | (877) 405-0483 |
| Andalusia | 605 Stanley Ave | Andalusia | 36420 | (877) 405-7657 |
| Anniston | 801 Quintard Ave | Anniston | 36201 | (877) 701-2139 |
| Auburn | 2454 E University Dr | Auburn | 36830 | (877) 512-3857 |
| Bessemer | 5475 Academy Way | Bessemer | 35022 | (866) 593-5647 |
| Birmingham Dt | 1200 Rev Abraham Woods Jr Blvd N | Birmingham | 35285 | (866) 592-3734 |
| Birmingham East | 1972 Gadsden Hwy | Birmingham | 35235 | (866) 613-2743 |
| Cullman | 1908 Commerce Ave Nw | Cullman | 35055 | (877) 803-6323 |
| Decatur | 717 Mcglathery Ln Se | Decatur | 35601 | (888) 289-9185 |
| Dothan | 1778 Whatley Drive | Dothan | 36303 | (877) 452-4192 |
| Fairhope | 101 Courthouse Dr | Fairhope | 36532 | (866) 837-5964 |
| Florence | 203 South Walnut St | Florence | 35630 | (855) 884-3407 |
| Gadsden | 204 Enterprise Drive | Gadsden | 35904 | (877) 316-4418 |
| Huntsville | 4970 Research Drive,Nw | Huntsville | 35805 | (866) 593-0665 |
| Jackson | 4249 N College Ave | Jackson | 36545 | (877) 476-4484 |
| Jasper | 501 The Mall Way | Jasper | 35504 | (877) 575-5199 |
| Mobile | 550 Government St | Mobile | 36602 | (866) 593-1922 |
| Montgomery | 4344 Carmichael Rd | Montgomery | 36106 | (866) 593-0914 |
| Selma | 120 Executive Park Ln | Selma | 36701 | (877) 628-6541 |
| Talladega | 736 North Street East | Talladega | 35160 | (877) 619-2854 |
| Tuscaloosa | 2005 University Blvd, Suite 1200 | Tuscaloosa | 35401 | (877) 480-4988 |
Step 3: The License, and the $31.25 Nobody Prints
This is where the published numbers fall apart. The old version of this page said $18.50. Most name-change sites say $36. ALEA’s own fee schedule, printed on form DL-100, says “$31.25 Duplicate – Any License / ID” and “$36.25 Renewal – Standard License / ID.” A name change is a duplicate, not a renewal, so the number you should budget is $31.25. ALEA form DL-100 fee schedule
ALEA states the rule plainly: “If you have changed your name, you must visit a local probate or licensing office, or visit an ALEA Driver License Office to be issued a duplicate license at the normal duplicate fee.” Note the three doors. In Alabama the probate office does licenses as well as marriages, so the counter that recorded your certificate may also be the counter that reissues your license. ALEA driver license
Take your certified marriage certificate and proof that Social Security already has the new name, which in practice means the new card. Our driver license name change guide covers what happens at the counter. ALEA document requirements and fees
One narrow mail option. Alabama will do a name change by post, but only if you are temporarily out of state, and only for a listed reason: deployed military and their dependents, out-of-state full-time students, out-of-state employment, missionaries, people under a doctor’s care or serving as a caregiver out of state, and Alabamians unable to visit an issuing office. You must have held an Alabama license or ID with your picture and signature in the last four years. DL-100 asks for “photocopies of legal name change documentation and updated social security card,” and it takes money orders or cashier’s checks only. A first STAR ID still cannot be added by mail.
Step 4: The Car, and You Can Do This One Online
Your license does not update your title. Alabama charges a $15.00 non-refundable application fee for a replacement certificate of title, and the Department of Revenue says the owner name on the application “must be the current legal name of the owner(s).” Alabama Department of Revenue: replacement titles
Two things soften it. The first is that you can file it yourself through ADOR’s Public Title Portal rather than queueing anywhere. The second is that the real total is a little above the headline: a designated agent adds a $1.50 commission per application, a License Plate Issuing Official may collect another $1.50, and some counties charge a local fee on top. Ring your county License Plate Issuing Official if you want the exact figure before you file.
Where Your Alabama Marriage Record Lives
Three counters can sell you a certified copy, at three different prices, and the cheapest one is the one you are standing in on the day you record:
| Where | What it can give you | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| The probate court that recorded your certificate | Certified copies, requested at the moment of recording | Set by each court. Jefferson County publishes $3.00 each |
| Any Alabama county health department | In-person certified copies, once the Center for Health Statistics has filed the record | ADPH price list |
| ADPH Center for Health Statistics | The statewide registry copy, in person, online, by mail or by phone | $15.00 first copy including the search, $6.00 each additional in the same order, $15.00 to expedite |
The probate court keeps your original form and forwards the certificate to the Center for Health Statistics, so there is a gap after the wedding when the state cannot help you yet and the courthouse can. That is the window in which to buy copies. ADPH marriage certificates
Which Married Name Can You Take in Alabama?
If you are taking your spouse’s surname, the recorded marriage certificate is the whole legal story. No court, no petition, no filing fee. It is the document ALEA lists as a valid name change document, and the one Social Security wants.
Anything more elaborate is worth a phone call rather than an assumption. A hyphenated surname, or moving your maiden name into the middle slot, is asserted all over the internet as automatic in Alabama, but no Alabama state source actually says so. Ask the license office what they will accept before you decide, because the answer governs every card you own afterwards.
If you want a name your marriage record does not show, that is a probate court petition in your county of residence. It is a different process from the one in this guide, and it is worth talking to the court before you file.
What Newlyweds Get Wrong in Alabama
Waiting for a marriage license to arrive. It never will. Alabama stopped issuing them in 2019, and if you are waiting for one before you start your name change you will wait forever. The recorded certificate is it.
Using a notary from another state. ADPH will not accept it, and neither will the probate court. If you signed in front of an out-of-state notary you have a form that does not work and a 30 day clock running.
Leaving the courthouse without certified copies. This is the expensive one. Copies bought at the counter while you record cost a few dollars; the same copies from the state cost fifteen for the first and six for each of the rest.
Budgeting the wrong license fee. Both numbers in wide circulation are wrong. It is not $18.50 and it is not $36. ALEA charges $31.25 for a duplicate.
Going to the license office before Social Security has finished. ALEA wants proof the name has already changed with Social Security, and Alabama has no online Social Security option, so that leg takes real time. Do it first.
Alabama Income Tax
We are not going to promise you a form here, because Alabama does not publish one. My Alabama Taxes has a “Names and Addresses” tab, but every published instruction we could find describes it for changing an address. There is no individual legal-name-change form on the Department of Revenue website.
So do the verified thing rather than the invented one: file your Alabama return in the name that matches your Social Security record, which is the record the state cross-checks. If your situation is more complicated than that, ring the Alabama Taxpayer Service Center nearest you and ask, rather than filing something and hoping.
The Alabama Card You Do Not Have to Worry About
Concealed carry: nothing to update, because nothing is required. Act 2022-133 “repealed the Permit to Carry Pistol in Vehicle or Concealed law and eliminates the requirement for Alabama citizens to obtain a permit to carry a concealed pistol.” ALEA gun laws
A permit is still available, and optional, from the sheriff of the county you live in. If you hold one and want it in your married name, that is a call to your sheriff’s office. Alabama publishes no fee or deadline for the change, so ask rather than assume. If you carry across a state line, the other state’s rules apply and the permit may still be worth keeping current.
Everything else with your name on it. Nothing above reaches your employer, your bank, your insurers or your utilities. Our name change checklist is that list.
Licensed Professional?
- Nurses. The Alabama Board of Nursing handles it online through My Profile, and there is a catch worth knowing before you start: the Board states that “name changes will not be saved until appropriate documentation has been received,” meaning a marriage certificate, divorce decree or probate court record. Upload the certified copy with the request or nothing happens. Alabama Board of Nursing: My Profile
- Every other Alabama board. Each keeps its own form, its own proof requirements and its own timetable, and none of them hear about your marriage from anybody else. Check each board you hold a license with.
Voter Registration
One line, one deadline: update your registration through the Alabama Secretary of State, and do it early, because ALEA’s own form states that “voter registration and updating of voter records is closed during the 14 days prior to each election in Alabama.”
Do not assume the license office does it for you. The DL-100 promises an automatic update only for a change of address, and says nothing about a name carrying across, so treat the voter record as its own errand.
So the Alabama order runs: record the certificate within 30 days and buy your certified copies at that counter, file SS-5 with Social Security and wait for the card, take both to a probate, licensing or ALEA office for the $31.25 duplicate, then the car title online, your voter registration, and any board or employer that will not hear it from anyone else. Our name change checklist covers the banks and accounts that follow, and you can compare how other states handle it if you have moved recently.