Thinking of Using Stepparent Forms for a Relative Adoption? Sit Down. We Need to Talk.

Why This Misconception Keeps Circulating

If you’re trying to complete a relative adoption in Florida, you’ve probably heard the classic bad advice — usually from someone who really should know better — that you can just grab the stepparent adoption packet, sprinkle a little “find and replace” magic on it, and voilà! It becomes a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or adult sibling adoption form.

Yeah… no.

Let me be crystal clear: this is legally wrong, procedurally wrong, practically wrong, and will earn you everything from filing delays to a flat-out case dismissal. Think of it as trying to pass off a shoehorn as a screwdriver — the court is not fooled, and something is definitely going to break.

Florida law treats stepparent adoptions and relative adoptions as two completely different creatures, each with its own statutory requirements, notice provisions, and must-include allegations. The forms are not interchangeable, and trying to force one into the role of the other could land your case — and your family — in avoidable (and very preventable) trouble.

Don’t say I haven’t warned you…..

Stepparent Adoption Forms Are NOT Legally Sufficient for Relative Adoption Allegations

Why Chapter 63 Treats These Cases Differently

En Chapter 63, Florida Statutes, petitioners in different categories have to allege and prove different facts — because believe it or not, Florida does not consider “I found a form online and it looked close enough” to be a legal standard.

What Stepparent Petitions Assume

➤ One parent already has full legal custody (check).
➤ The adopting stepparent is married to that parent (double check).
➤ The child already lives with the stepparent (bonus points).
➤ And the missing parent’s rights will be terminated through consent, death, or abandonment (the usual menu of options).

What Relative Adoptions Must Include

Relative adoptions, on the other hand, want a completely different buffet of information, such as:

➤ Proof that you’re actually related within the third degree of consanguinity (yes, the judge wants the family tree, not your word for it).
➤ Allegations that satisfy Chapter 63 — because nothing says “family bonding” like multiple statute citations.
➤ And documentation that, in some respects, can be different from what a stepparent has to submit.

The Missing Allegations Problem

Here’s the kicker: stepparent forms do not include what relative adoptions legally require.

They skip the consanguinity part, and they leave out critical disclosures, and sometimes they just skip entire statutory sections like they’re skimming a boring book.

And no — the judge cannot just squint at your petition, read between the lines, and magically fill in the blanks. If the required allegations are missing, your petition is legally insufficient, period. No amount of “but I thought…” will save it.

Court Adoption Packets: Because Who Doesn’t Love a Good Wild Goose Chase?

Why Court Packets Are So Incomplete

Court-supplied adoption packets in Florida are wonderfully consistent in one way: they’re never complete for every type of adoption. And no, that’s not an oversight — packets are designed to be general tools, not comprehensive solutions.

What Packets Most Courts Provide

➤ Stepparent adoptions
➤ Adult adoptions
➤ Maybe, if the stars align, agency or private non-relative adoptions

The Packet That Never Exists

But relative adoptions within the third degree? Oh no. That would require an actually useful packet.

What the Packets Are Missing

And even when a clerk does hand out a packet, let’s be honest: it’s basically a skeleton wearing a nametag. These packets are famously missing… well… everything:

➤ Required service of process forms? Missing.
➤ Correct waiver of notice forms? Missing.
➤ Correct forms for publication in adoption cases? Nope.
➤ Mandatory Affidavits for birth mothers? Hilariously absent.
➤ Anything tailored to Chapter 63 relative adoptions? Don’t make me laugh.

Why? Because these packets aren’t designed to be complete. They’re designed to be just incomplete enough to encourage you to eventually say, “Fine, I’ll hire an attorney.” That’s the quiet, sub rosa goal — the courthouse version of a wink and a nudge.

The Predictable Result

So what do desperate, well-meaning families do? They take the only form packet available, the stepparent one, and start whiting out “stepparent” and “spouse” like they’re editing a middle-school yearbook.

Courts see this all the time. Clerks can’t give legal advice, so they can’t come right out and say, “Hey, this packet is absolutely not the one you need.” Instead, they hand it over with a polite smile that practically screams, Good luck, you’ll need it, all while knowing your paperwork could possibly go nowhere – fast.

So the average person walks away thinking, Well, the clerk said this is what I need, when in reality the clerk just handed them the legal equivalent of a butter knife for a job that needs a chainsaw.

Because at the end of the day, for a relative adoption, the court expects full compliance with every Chapter 63 requirement, even if the adopting party is Grandma, Auntie, or Adult Sibling Who Stepped Up. And those court packets? They simply don’t contain enough to get you there.

Why the “Just Substitute the Words” Advice Is Wrong (and a Disaster Waiting to Happen)

Where This Bad Guidance Comes From

The infamous “just swap out the names and it’ll be fine” advice usually comes from:

➤ Well-meaning friends who read one article on Google
➤ Social workers doing their best
➤ Court clerks who legally cannot tell you the forms are wrong — yet will still happily sell you the stepparent packet with a cheerful “just change the names” like it’s a craft project.
➤ Lawyers who don’t practice adoption law – yes, even family law attorneys (who still love to give opinions)
➤ Online forums
➤ And of course, Facebook “legal advice” groups — the Olympic stadium of bad guidance

Why It Never Works

Here’s the problem:

Relative adoptions follow completely different legal standards and have different statutory allegations. You can’t slap a new name on a stepparent petition and expect it to magically transform into the right form. This is adoption, not a Disney movie.

When people try anyway, the results are… predictable: you get petitions with fatal defects — sometimes so bad you have to start the entire case over.

When Families Discover the Mistake

And the truly heartbreaking part? Most families don’t discover the problem until they’re standing in front of the judge at the final hearing… with the judge politely explaining that their “easy” adoption just hit a brick wall.

Suddenly that simple case becomes a do-over — all because someone said, “Just change the wording.”

Pro Se Families Deserve Better — Period.

Why Accessible Adoptions Matter

Relative adoption is supposed to be accessible. Florida law intentionally makes it possible because families step up in the hardest moments — because of addiction, incarceration, illness, death, instability, or sheer economic reality. These relatives show up when no one else does.

How Bad Information Hurts Families

But accessibility only works when people get accurate information and the right documents — not mystery packets and bad advice. Right now, families are being thrown off course by:

➤ Incomplete court packets
➤ Random forms floating around online
➤ And the classic, terrible recommendation: “Just use the stepparent forms, they’re basically the same.”

Spoiler: They are absolutely not the same. Not legally. Not ethically. Not remotely.

What Families Actually Need

Families deserve forms that work the first time, not a scavenger hunt. They deserve a process that doesn’t corner them into hiring an attorney they can’t afford just because the forms they were given were about as helpful as assembling furniture without the screws.

Pro se families step up for kids every day — the system should step up for them, too.

Lo esencial

The One Rule You Cannot Break

If you are completing a relative adoption in Florida, do NOT use the stepparent adoption forms. Repeat after me:

“I. CANNOT. USE. STEPPARENT. ADOPTION. FORMS. FOR. A. RELATIVE. ADOPTION.”

What you must file for a relative adoption must match the statute, not what the clerk hands you.

Why Proper Documents Matter

Relative adoption can absolutely be done pro se — but only if the documents meet the law’s requirements.

And this is exactly why Adopciones familiares en Florida y Pro Se Adoption Advocacy of Florida, Inc. exists.

What These Organizations Actually Provide

While everyone else is out here handing families the wrong packets, incomplete instructions, or “good luck, hope it works out” vibes, we’ve been quietly (and sometimes not so quietly) typing up correct, court-ready Chapter 63 adoption documents for years.

We know the traps, we have the “mystery” forms included in our packets, and we know exactly how many people have been told, “Just use the stepparent packet and change the names.” Spoiler: too many.

At Florida Family Adoptions and Pro Se Adoption Advocacy of Florida, Inc., we don’t do guesswork, shortcuts, or form Frankensteins — we type up accurate, complete, court-approved documents that actually get families across the finish line.

A Message to the Families Stepping Up

So whether you’re a grandma stepping up, an aunt saving the day, or a family member just trying to get the right forms for once in your life, know this: you don’t have to navigate Florida’s adoption maze with a broken compass and a stepparent packet. There are people who have the right information, understand the process and procedures, and care deeply about getting families across the finish line without unnecessary detours — and I’m proud to be one of them.

Blessings and Blessings,

Mari Bayne
Founder — and, yes, the unapologetic Queen of the Adoption Document Universe 👑