Any person named as executor in a will may renounce such appointment by appearing before the judge of probate and declaring such renunciation, which must be entered of record; or such person may renounce his appointment by an instrument in writing executed by him and acknowledged before an officer authorized to take and certify acknowledgments to conveyances, whether within or beyond the state; and such instrument must be filed and recorded in the office of the judge of probate of the county in which the will is probated.
Ala. Code § 43-2-25 (1975)