Background | What Makes Us Different | What Else You Need To Know

1. Family History research is not instantaneous. Findtree have exacting standards in terms of the certifiable, documentary evidence that we require before confirming any individual in your family tree. Obtaining certified paper copies of the necessary evidence (for inclusion in your report) takes time. At present, the General Records Office typically takes around 2 weeks to deliver a document.
   For this reason, you should allow at least 8 weeks from placing your order for a report to be completed and available to you.

2. Family History research is only as good as the records to which we have access. Not all records for all people are still available and it is possible that we might reach a dead end in the evidence trail in producing your Family History Gift Report due to missing records. Other events, such as adoption, can also lead to a break in the evidence chain for a line.

3. The availability of public records becomes especially patchy for people and events prior to about 1800. Records before this date are almost entirely still on paper or microfilm and kept in individual Parish Churches or offices and they are not indexed. While it is possible to trace a family back beyond 1800, it is not quick or easy to do so to the standards of proof to which we work.

4. For the above reasons, Findtree makes no guarantees about how far back we can trace a family, in terms of number of generations or to a specific date. In purchasing a Findtree Gift Report, you are purchasing a set number of hours of time for our experienced, dedicated researchers to investigate your family history and we guarantee that, in this set research time, we will explore your family history as far as we can with confidence in the records found. If, for any of the reasons stated above, we find that it is impossible to puruse the requested line of a family tree beyond a certain point, we will contact you immediately to discuss this and we will always present you with options for other lines to pursue within the family tree, to ensure that you are able to get the best results for any remaining research time available to you.

5. Findtree is not a detective agency. We do not offer to track down missing persons or "long lost" living relatives. Our Family history research service is only offered for the purpose of producing Family History Gift reports for your relatives or friends, to provide details of the past members of the chosen family.

 
 
Background | What Makes Us Different | What Else You Need To Know