Transfer tax
Alabama charges a deed tax of $1.00 per $1,000. By statute the grantee pays it, so on a donation it is ours.
Donate a house, timber tract or lot in Alabama, in any of the 67 counties
Alabama property specialists: (888) 228-7320
Donate Real Estate in Alabama
Alabama records deeds with the probate judge rather than a recorder or clerk, which surprises people from other states. It also has one of the country’s heaviest concentrations of heir property, land held in undivided family shares for generations, and a timber economy across the southern half of the state.
Fully IRS Compliant
We Handle the Paperwork
Form 8283 Done Right
501(c)(3) Recognized Charity
Alabama rules for a property donation
Federal tax rules are the same in every state. These three are set by Alabama and by the county where the property sits.
Recording with the probate judge
In Alabama the probate court is the land records office. Deeds are filed there, the deed tax is collected there, and a real estate sales validation form accompanies most transfers. It is the same work as anywhere else, filed in a different place, and we route it correctly the first time.
Recording
Deeds are recorded with the probate judge’s office for the county where the property sits. You sign before a notary wherever you live, and we handle the filing.
What Alabama owners call us about
Four situations that recur across the state.
Heir property in the Black Belt
Family land passed down without wills for three or four generations, now held in undivided shares by dozens of relatives. Identifying the owners is the first job.
Pine ground held by absent owners
Timber acreage owned by families who left for the cities, with a harvest overdue and taxes due every October.
A house after storm season
Wind and hail damage where the settlement did not cover the rebuild. We do not ask for repairs before a transfer.
A parcel sold at a tax sale
Alabama tax sales give a purchaser rights subject to a redemption period. The dates control how much room there is.
Alabama property we accept
Each links to the full guide for that type, including how a donation compares with selling.
Houses in AlabamaBungalows, brick ranches, mill village houses and farmhouses.
Alabama landTimber tracts, hunting land, river parcels and city lots.
Farm groundRow crop in the Tennessee valley, pasture and poultry ground elsewhere.
Commercial propertyCourthouse square buildings, storefronts and small offices.
Industrial buildingsFormer textile and steel plant space, warehouses.
Land contractsProperty sold on terms years ago. We take over the payments and deliver the deed at payoff.
What a donation looks like by region
Six Alabamas, each with its own reason property comes loose.
Birmingham and the north central counties
Steel-era housing, sound older neighborhoods where repairs outrun value, and vacant lots between occupied houses.
Huntsville and the Tennessee valley
Row crop ground, fast-changing suburban values and inherited houses in neighborhoods that shifted quickly.
Mobile and the Gulf coast
Storm damage, flood elevation questions and waterfront parcels worth more than the houses on them.
The Black Belt
Heir property, large agricultural tracts and small towns with more buildings than buyers.
The Wiregrass and southeast
Peanut and cotton ground, pine plantation and rural housing.
The northeast hill counties
Timber, hunting land and lake property held by out-of-area families.
Alabama real estate donation questions, answered
Is a donated deed subject to Alabama transfer tax?+
Alabama charges a deed tax of $1.00 per $1,000. By statute the grantee pays it, so on a donation it is ours.
I live outside Alabama. Do I have to travel there to sign?+
No. We prepare the deed in the form Alabama requires for the county where the property sits, you sign before a notary where you live, and we record it with the county probate judge.
Why does my deed go to the probate judge?+
Because in Alabama that office keeps the land records. It is the equivalent of a recorder or register of deeds elsewhere. Nothing about the transfer is unusual; only the counter is.
Does Alabama give a state tax deduction for a property donation?+
Alabama has a state income tax, and how it treats a charitable contribution is set by Alabama law rather than by us. Your federal deduction follows the usual IRS rules. Take the state question to your own advisor.
A tax sale has already been held on our land. Is it gone?+
Not necessarily. Alabama gives a redemption period after a tax sale, and the arithmetic turns on whether the redemption amount sits well below what the land can sell for. Send the tax sale details and the parcel number rather than assuming.
We do not provide tax or legal advice. State and local transfer tax rules change; we confirm current requirements when we prepare each deed. Consult your own advisor.
Tell us about your Alabama property and we will review it
The county and a parcel number are enough to start.