This question crosses the mind of every hopeful adoptive stepparent out there, at some point or another in the adoption process. Parents have decided to move forward with the idea of performing a stepparent adoption, but then are completely clueless as to how to get the ball rolling. If you are one of those parents out there scratching your noggin, fear not, we have all been there at some time or another!

Court forms are for the most part, found at the courthouse which will be performing the stepparent adoption. Usually the Clerk of Courts, can either point you in the right direction as to where the forms are located, or some may have them readily available and hand them over.

If you plan to use the services of a lawyer to complete your stepparent adoption, then he or she will obtain the necessary paperwork, and you will be responsible for filling out the information, as well as obtaining personal documents that are required for the adoption, such as birth certificates, marriage and divorce decrees, and custody decrees if a formal one exists.

Some counties publish their court forms online, so that you can simply print them out at home, and then bring them up to the courthouse to be filed. This is incredibly convenient for those whom are lucky enough to live in the counties that provide this service, try looking up your local courthouse from your county's homepage, and see if you are one of the privileged individuals who have life that much easier than the rest of us chumps.

Okay, so you tried the courthouse, both online and in person and still no luck with finding the necessary stepparent adoption court forms? Don't panic, we still aren't out of places that they could be hiding. Another great place that counties like to hide these little documents are...drum roll for suspense...your local library! Bet you never would have thought to look there! That's right, just as they house the tax forms that you can go and pick up every year out of that little box in the funny smelling corner of the library, you can also obtain stepparent adoption court documents, in some counties. Ask the librarian and he or she will surely point you in the correct direction.