This division shall not apply to the recording of any will, decree, court order, or judgment; nor to any instrument executed prior to July 21, 1972; except, that it shall apply to instruments executed since January 1, 1966, in counties having a population of over 600,000 inhabitants according to the 1960 or any succeeding federal census, and to all instruments executed since July 1, 1969, in counties having a population of 300,000 inhabitants according to the 1960 or a succeeding federal census.
Ala. Code § 35-4-112 (1975)