Alabama Divorce Name Change Form PS-12: Probate Court Process

When You Need Form PS-12

If your divorce decree does not include name-restoration language — and many don't, especially when neither party requested it during the proceedings — Alabama requires a separate name-change petition through the Probate Court in your county of residence. The court form for this is PS-12, officially titled "Request to Change Name."

This is the harder path. The easier one is getting the name change written into the divorce decree itself before the judge signs it. But if that ship has sailed, PS-12 is your only option.

Eligibility and Requirements

You must be at least 19 years old to file (Alabama's age of majority). The petition must be signed, notarized, and accompanied by:

• A certified copy of your birth certificate
• A government-issued photo ID (driver's license, passport, or state ID)
• Two forms of proof of residency in the county where you're filing (utility bills, lease agreements, or bank statements showing your address)

You must also affirm under oath that you are not changing your name to defraud creditors, that you have no pending criminal charges, and that you have never been convicted of a felony or crime of moral turpitude.

Background Checks

Most Alabama counties require both an ALEA criminal history check and an FBI background check. This means submitting fingerprint cards to the local sheriff's department. The processing time varies — some counties complete it in a week, others take three to four weeks. The sheriff's department charges its own fee for fingerprinting, separate from the Probate Court filing fee.

Filing Fees and Timeline

Probate Court filing fees range from $25 to $100 depending on the county. After you file, the court publishes a notice of the name change in a local newspaper (a legal requirement — the publication costs are typically billed to you separately).

The Probate Judge then schedules a hearing. If no one objects and the judge is satisfied the change is not for fraudulent purposes, the court issues a Decree Confirming Declaration as to Change of Name. That decree is your legal proof of the name change for all subsequent agency updates.

The time from filing to decree depends on the background-check and publication steps and the Probate Court's hearing schedule.

After the Decree: Update Sequence

Once you have the Probate Court decree, the name-change update sequence is the same as if the name change had been in the divorce decree: SSA first, wait for the database sync, then ALEA for your driver's license, then passport and vehicle titles.

The Complete Toolkit

The Alabama After-Divorce Checklist walks through both the divorce-decree and Probate Court name-change paths, with a Name-Change Progression Tracker that maps every agency stop, required document, and fee in order.

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