“Property lawyer” is not one job. Buying and selling, clearing a bad title, settling a boundary, untangling land inherited by a dozen cousins, and evicting a tenant are five different pieces of work.
What they share in Alabama is the county probate office. Under Ala. Code § 35-4-50 conveyances are recorded with the judge of probate, and under § 35-4-90 what is recorded — and when — decides who wins.
Match the problem to the work
| What you are dealing with | What it is called | Where it happens |
|---|---|---|
| Buying or selling a home or land | Closing and title work | Contract, title search, deed, recording |
| Adding, removing or changing an owner | Deed preparation | Warranty deed, quitclaim, survivorship deed |
| A cloud on the title, an old mortgage never released, a gap in the chain | Title curative work | Corrective instruments, releases, sometimes a court action |
| Land inherited but never probated | Heir property | Estate administration, then title work |
| A fence, a driveway, or a line that does not match the survey | Boundary dispute | Survey, negotiation, litigation if it comes to that |
| An access problem — no road to your parcel | Easement | Deeded easement, or an action to establish one |
| A tenant who has not paid | Eviction (landlord side) | District court, on a statutory timeline |
| A commercial lease, or buying an income property | Commercial real estate | Lease drafting and review, entity structure, due diligence |
The deed is where most of it starts
People treat the deed as a formality. In Alabama it is the whole thing.
Section 35-4-20 requires a conveyance to be in writing, signed at its foot by the contracting party or an agent with written authority, and attested by one witness — two if the party cannot write or signs by mark. In practice the witness requirement is satisfied by acknowledgment instead: § 35-4-23 provides that an acknowledgment “operates as a compliance with the requisitions of section 35-4-20 upon the subject of witnesses.” That is why Alabama deeds are notarized.
Under § 35-4-90(a) an unrecorded conveyance is “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.”
A deed that was signed but never taken to the probate office does not protect the person holding it. We see this most often with family transfers — a parent deeds land to a child, everyone puts the paper away, and the problem surfaces years later at a sale or a death.
Ala. Code §§ 35-4-20, 35-4-23, 35-4-50, 35-4-90.Which deed does what
- General warranty deed. The seller warrants title against all claims. The standard for an arm’s-length sale.
- Statutory warranty deed. Common in Alabama practice; the warranties are those the statute supplies.
- Quitclaim deed. Conveys whatever interest the grantor has, with no warranty at all. Useful for clearing a possible claim, correcting a defect, or between family members. It is not a substitute for a warranty deed in a sale — if the grantor owns nothing, the grantee gets nothing.
- Survivorship deed. Property passes to the surviving co-owner automatically and stays out of probate. The wording has to be right; ordinary joint ownership does not do this by itself.
Not sure which deed you need — or what the one you have actually says?
Bring it in. Reading a deed and telling you plainly what it does is a short appointment, and it is far cheaper than fixing it later.
Heir property: North Alabama’s most common title problem
It starts innocently. Someone dies owning land. Nobody opens an estate because “everybody knows” who it belongs to. The deed still names the person who died.
A generation later that person’s children have died too, and the land is owned in fractional shares by twenty relatives, several of whom cannot be located. The family cannot sell it, cannot mortgage it, often cannot get insurance on it, and any one co-owner can force a sale.
- Establish who owns whatReconstruct the chain: who died, when, with or without a will, and what each generation’s intestate shares were under §§ 43-8-41 and 43-8-42.
- Open the estates that were never openedOften more than one, sometimes across several decades. Alabama probate courts have jurisdiction over the sale and disposition of the real and personal property of intestate estates under § 12-13-1(b).
- Get the record straightDeeds, affidavits and corrective instruments recorded in the county where the land sits.
- Then, and only then, sell or borrowA clean record is what a title insurer and a lender require. Nothing happens before it.
Every year this problem gets more expensive, because every death adds heirs. Land that could have been cleared for a modest fee in 1995 can take a genuine title action in 2026. If your family has land in Limestone, Lawrence or Morgan County that has never been through an estate, deal with it now.
Ala. Code §§ 43-8-41, 43-8-42, 12-13-1.Who may do this work in Alabama
Under Ala. Code § 34-3-6, drawing a paper, document or instrument affecting secular rights for consideration is the practice of law. In Coffee County Abstract & Title Co. v. State ex rel. Norwood, 445 So. 2d 852 (Ala. 1983), the Alabama Supreme Court enjoined non-lawyers from conducting closings at which they gave legal advice or opinions on the effect of documents. Alabama State Bar RO-94-01 confirms that non-lawyers can conduct a closing but may only perform ministerial functions.
So a title company can run the closing. The deed and the advice have to come from a lawyer.
What we handle, and what we do not
- We handle: residential and commercial closings, title work, deed preparation, easements, boundary matters, heir property and estate-related title clearing, business formation for property-holding entities, and landlord-side evictions.
- We do not handle: tenant-side landlord and tenant matters, or property insurance claims. If that is what you need, we will say so on the first call.
Common Alabama property questions
What kind of lawyer do I need to transfer property to a family member in Alabama?
A real estate or estate planning attorney prepares the deed. Which deed depends on what you are trying to achieve — a quitclaim for a simple release of interest, a survivorship deed to keep the property out of probate, a warranty deed where the recipient needs warranties. Get advice before signing, because the choice has tax and Medicaid consequences that are hard to undo.
Do I need a lawyer to buy a house in Alabama?
Not by statute. But someone has to prepare the deed, and under § 34-3-6 and Coffee County Abstract that is the practice of law. If the title search turns up a problem, a non-lawyer conducting the closing is required to stop rather than advise you.
How do I find out who owns a piece of land in Alabama?
Land records are held by the judge of probate in the county where the property sits. Several North Alabama counties offer online search. What an online index will not tell you is whether the chain of title is clean — that takes a proper search.
What is a cloud on the title?
Anything in the record that casts doubt on ownership — an old mortgage never released, a deed with a defective description, a missing heir’s interest, an unreleased judgment lien. Most are fixable. They are much cheaper to fix before you have a buyer waiting.
My neighbour’s fence is on my land. What now?
Start with a current survey; a surprising number of these dissolve once someone measures. If it does not, the analysis turns on the deeds, the survey and how long the situation has existed, since long-standing possession can affect the outcome in Alabama. Get advice before you move a fence.
Can I evict a tenant myself in Alabama?
A landlord can file, but the notice and timing requirements are strict and a defective notice restarts the clock. We handle evictions on the landlord side. We do not represent tenants.
Bring the deed and the survey if you have them
Closings, title work, deeds, easements and heir property across Limestone, Madison, Morgan, Lauderdale, Colbert, Franklin and Lawrence Counties.
Daniel Shawn Pickens
Attorney at Daniel S. Pickens Law in Athens, Alabama. The firm handles estate planning, probate, real estate closings and title work, deeds, business formation and contracts for families and businesses across Limestone, Madison, Morgan, Lauderdale, Colbert, Franklin and Lawrence Counties.
Questions about a real estate matter? Email closing@dsp.law or call 256-434-1678.
Daniel S. Pickens Law · 300 West Green Street, Athens, Alabama 35611
