Search Bullock County Probate Records

Bullock County Probate Court Scope

Bullock County Probate Court is the local court and recording office for probate case records. The Probate Office is led by Judge James Tatum, a separate elected office from the Circuit Clerk. That split matters because Alabama trial-court case files for civil, criminal, domestic, traffic, juvenile, and warrant matters are maintained by the Circuit Clerk, while probate case records, land records, marriage certificate recording, and related probate office functions route through the Judge of Probate.

Probate records in Bullock County may include wills, estates, estate administration papers, letters testamentary, letters of administration, guardianship files, conservatorship files, minor estate matters, name changes, marriage certificate recordings, and real-property recording references. Routine estate and land-record material may be available to the public, but adoption, minor, guardianship, medical, mental-health, and sealed materials may require court permission or may be withheld from public lookup.

For statewide certified vital-record certificates, the Alabama Department of Public Health is also part of the access path. ADPH can issue certified Alabama marriage certificates and divorce certificates, while the full divorce decree remains a Circuit Court domestic relations record. That means a marriage certificate may involve the Probate Office and ADPH, but a divorce decree belongs with the Bullock County Circuit Clerk rather than the probate court.

Bullock County Probate Terms

Probate filings use terms that are precise but easy to mix up. The definitions below explain the terms most likely to appear when reading a Bullock County probate case record, filing an estate matter, or asking the Probate Office for the correct copy path.

Testator

The person who made a will before death.

Executor

The person named in a will to carry out estate duties after appointment by the court.

Intestate

A death with no valid will, so the estate follows Alabama intestacy rules and court appointment steps.

Guardianship

A court-supervised appointment for personal care or decision-making for a minor or protected person.

Conservatorship

A court-supervised appointment focused on managing money, assets, or property for a protected person.

Search Bullock County Probate Records

The online starting point is the Bullock County online probate services portal. The portal lists land-record lookup, probate case-record lookup, record account login, and account sign-up instructions. It also includes probate-adjacent services such as automobile, trailer, and boat renewals, which are Probate Office functions but not court case searches.

The online portal is useful for supported probate case records and land records, but it is not a complete answer for every file. Older files, certified copies, filings that need staff review, account access issues, and restricted guardianship or minor-related records should be handled through the Probate Office. The portal also states that refunds are only for overpayments and that refund questions should go to the Probate Office.

1. Decide whether the matter is a probate case, land record, marriage certificate, estate filing, guardianship, conservatorship, or another Probate Office function.
2. Use the Bullock County online probate services portal for supported probate case records or land records.
3. If the file is not available online, contact the Probate Office before visiting or mailing a request.
4. For a certified copy, give the case name, document type, recording reference if known, and the number of copies needed.
5. For a new estate or guardianship filing, ask the Probate Office to confirm the required petition, filing method, fee, and whether counsel is needed.

The Bullock County probate services page is shown in the assigned research image below, and it confirms that probate case records and land records use the Ingenuity-hosted access channel.

That portal is the best first stop for online probate lookup, while the Probate Office remains the source for account questions, certified copies, filings, and older or restricted probate records.

Bullock County Probate Court Contact

Bullock County has one Probate Court office for local probate matters. County and Alabama Secretary of State sources both identify Judge James Tatum as the Bullock County Judge of Probate. The physical office is in Union Springs, and the Secretary of State directory also confirms a separate mailing address for the office.

The Alabama Secretary of State probate judge directory is a second official source for the judge, physical address, mailing address, and phone number. It is useful when checking whether the mailing address differs from the courthouse street address.

The state directory supports the same local office path: use the Probate Office for Bullock County probate records, not the Circuit Clerk, unless the record is a divorce, civil, criminal, or other trial-court case file.

Bullock County Probate Fees

The research did not locate an official Bullock County Probate Court fee schedule for estate filings, letters, guardianships, certified probate copies, or land-record copies. Because the project rules prohibit invented fees, the safest fee schedule is a request checklist showing which fees must be confirmed with the Probate Office before filing or ordering copies.

For marriage certificates through ADPH, the statewide certified-copy search fee is documented separately: $15 for the search, including one certified copy or a Certificate of Failure to Find; additional copies of the same record ordered at the same time are $6 each; expedited service is $15. ADPH says checks or money orders should be payable to Center for Health Statistics, cash should not be sent, and fees are not refundable.

The ADPH vital records forms page supplies Alabama marriage certificate forms and certificate applications that may matter when a probate-record search is tied to marriage recording or certified vital records.

ADPH forms do not replace the Bullock County Probate Office for local recording, but they are the state source for certified marriage certificate request forms and related vital-record applications.

What Bullock County Probate Records Show

A probate case record may show the case name, filing date, petition type, decedent or protected person, petitioner, heirs or interested parties, attorney information, notices, court orders, bond information, letters issued, inventories, accountings, receipts, distributions, and final settlement papers. A land record may show grantor and grantee names, recording date, instrument type, book and page or instrument reference, and property description when available through the land-record system.

Certified-copy requests should include enough detail for staff to locate the record. For probate cases, that usually means the estate or protected person's name, approximate filing year, document type, case number if known, and whether the copy must be certified. For land records, include grantor or grantee names, property details, recording reference, and the requested instrument.

Probate records can also connect to other Bullock County record systems. A death may lead to an estate file in Probate Court, a deed or land transfer in the land-record system, and a certified vital-record request through the state. A marriage certificate may be recorded by the Probate Office while certified copies are ordered through ADPH. Keeping those paths separate helps avoid asking the wrong office for a record it does not maintain.

Restricted Bullock County Probate Records

Not every probate file is open through a public search. Alabama law and court orders can restrict adoption records, minor-related files, guardianship records, mental health proceedings, protected personal identifiers, medical information, and sealed records. A public portal may omit those records or show limited information only. The Probate Office can explain the request process, but it cannot provide legal advice or release material that is confidential by law.

When a probate matter overlaps with another office, use the office that holds the record. Probate and land records route to the Judge of Probate. Divorce decrees and domestic relations files route to the Circuit Clerk. Sheriff records, jail records, and law-enforcement records route to the Sheriff's Office. State certified marriage and divorce certificates route to ADPH when a certificate, rather than a full court file, is needed.

Note: If the online probate portal does not show a file, call the Probate Office before assuming the record does not exist.