Q: What needs to be discussed and agreed unpon about child custody to file for an uncontested divorce?

A: There is a great deal here that needs to be discussed and some apparent misconceptions in my opinion. You would probably be best served to retain a lawyer to help you in this process. It is a lot more involved than your question suggests. In a nutshell, as you seem to recognize, there are 2 components of custody in Alabama, legal and physical, what happens on those issues when a case is uncontested in that you agree and as such you are the master of your own agreement. As long as what you agree to is not harmful to your child a judge will sign off on it. I can honestly say I have never seen an agreement that gave one parent sole legal custody yet awarded the parties joint physical custody and such a result would never occur in a contested case. Usually, by Alabama statute, the preference is for all fit parents to have joint legal custody of their children and for the best interest of the child to determine physical placement which in fact can be joint. Besides the issue of custody there are many other issues that have to be addressed in a divorce and the one I most often see start uncontested and end up contested in child support which must conform to the Rule 32 calculation or a specific explanation acceptable to the judge be provided. You also have to agree on all aspects of the division of assets, debts and obligations. There is a lot there and most people trying to file without help are going to end up just wasting their time and having their paperwork rejected and ultimately having to hire someone to fix their mess. The Clerks office will not help you and I have met less than a handful of people over 20 years that can properly prepare and submit the correct child support forms and include the correct language in the suggested Final Judgment to get the case concluded without assistance. In addition, if you are in Montgomery County, before your divorce can be granted, you will likely have to attend parenting classes which are only offered at certain times. I would suggest you retain a skilled lawyer to guide you in this process.