The process step by step — what you provide, what happens during the research, how corrections work, and what can go wrong.
Most people have never hired a genealogist and have no idea what the experience is like. Here's ours, honestly, including the parts that don't always go smoothly.
1. A free call first
Before any money changes hands we talk about what you're hoping to find and what you already have. Sometimes the answer is that a package is the wrong fit — a single stuck line is better handled as a small brick-wall engagement than a full project, and we'll say so.
2. You send what you've got
Names, dates, places, documents, an existing tree if you have one, and the family stories — including the ones you suspect aren't true. Missing details are never a blocker; finding them is the job. Accurate starting information just makes it faster.
3. The scope goes in writing
Which lines, how far the effort goes, what you receive, the flat price, and the timeline. Signed before work starts.
4. The research
This is the long part and it's mostly quiet. We work each line back through census, vital, church, immigration, land, probate, cemetery, and newspaper records, sourcing as we go, to the documented wall or roughly six generations. You get one mid-point progress note so it isn't complete silence.
5. The preview and your corrections
You see the work before it's final and get a round of corrections. This matters more than people expect: families routinely catch things records cannot — a nickname that hid a person, a second marriage nobody recorded, a photograph that resolves an ambiguity. Read the preview properly and show it to your relatives.
6. Delivery
Final files release on full payment; on Heirloom projects the hardcover is ordered and the keepsake USB ships at that point. Everything you receive is yours to keep, print, and pass down — real files, not a login that expires.
What can go wrong
- A line stops. This is normal and it happens on most projects. When reasonable research cannot advance a line, we pause, tell you plainly, and quote any further work separately. A single hard line never changes the flat price of the project.
- The family story turns out to be wrong. Also common. We report what the records say, not what anyone hoped they'd say — and we don't invent, guess, or best-fit a connection to close a gap.
- An archive is slow. Timelines are good-faith estimates, and courthouses and archives keep their own schedules.
- Something uncomfortable surfaces. Documented research turns up unacknowledged children, second families, crimes, and institutional records. We'll tell you privately first and let you decide what goes in the book.
What we never do
Living relatives are never published in our public database or in any public material, and your family's story is never used as a sample or in marketing without your separate written permission.
Tell us the one ancestor you're stuck on. We'll say plainly whether the records exist — and if they don't, we'll say that too.
Start with a free call →Frequently asked questions
What does a genealogist need from me to start?
Names, dates, places, any documents or existing tree you have, and the family stories — including the ones you doubt. Missing details are not a blocker; accurate starting information simply makes the work faster.
How long does a genealogy project take?
Several weeks for a full research project, with printing and shipping added for hardcover deliverables. Timelines are good-faith estimates, because archives and courthouses keep their own schedules.
What happens if the genealogist can't find my ancestor?
Reputable practice is to pause, say so plainly, and deliver everything proven up to that point. With us a single unadvanceable line never changes the project's flat price, and further work on it is quoted separately.
Will my living family members' information be published?
No. Living individuals are never published in our public database or in any public material, and your family's story is not used in marketing or samples without your separate written permission.