Professional genealogists use their expertise and access to specialized tools and databases to handle complex genealogy cases, ensuring accurate family trees through comprehensive research, verification, and documentation. They provide essential services such as resolving conflicting information, analyzing historical documents, and using advanced techniques like genetic testing and forensic analysis, which are invaluable for estate administrators to avoid misdistribution and legal issues.
Professional genealogists’ skills and access to specialized tools and databases enable them to handle even the most complex cases. Their grasp of genealogy resources, documents, handwriting formats, historical contexts, and legal research endears them as the go-to solution when you need help with an accurate family tree.
An accurate family tree serves as a lifeline for estate administrators wary of misdistribution of the estate and potentially attracting litigation and fines. Luckily, professional genealogists have been supportive in not only putting everything in order but also providing court-ready documentation.
Below are five key ways a professional genealogist can help reconstruct your family tree and verify research.
They Provide Comprehensive Research Expertise
Professional genealogists’ research expertise can help restore confidence in the full extent of the family research. Due to their experience in this field, they can easily tell your research needs data from the Ellis Island passengers’ list, which they may already have in their library.
These professionals are members of genealogical societies with crucial resources spanning centuries and counting billions of files. They’re already subscribed to Ancestry, FamilySearch, and other critical international databases for essential records.
Nonetheless, the real expertise of a professional genealogist manifests when your research involves complex documents like probate records, wills, and land grants that may contain dense legal jargon. You need a professional to untangle these for you, not to mention cursive scripts like the German Kurrent and the English second-hand scripts common in historical records.
They Verify Every Finding
Research verification becomes necessary when faced with conflicting information, dubious sources, and inaccuracies. A family tree with different names and conventions, different birth dates, or different burial sites for the same person calls for urgent review.
While it’s common for civil records to indicate conflicting information about an individual, only a professional genealogist can reconcile these discrepancies. For example, the expert uses additional documents such as applotment books and land deeds to determine accurate names, dates, and events.
Similarly, an existing family tree may have emanated from dubious sources such as online family trees or unverified family lore. In this case, a professional genealogist incorporates primary sources such as birth certificates to cross-check this information.
Most importantly, verification helps detect outright inaccuracies, such as erroneously linking two individuals or families due to their location or surnames. Professional genealogists normally encounter these assumptions in family trees and have disproved several through cross-referencing with other documents and in-depth analysis.
Only a professional genealogist will tell whether a female listed as “daughter” in a census record is, in fact, a biological daughter of the household head and not a niece or stepdaughter. Access to a myriad of crucial resources, like family bibles, obituaries, and records help fill gaps in the family trees and break through brick walls.
They Have Access to Specialized Tools
Professional genealogist’s access to specialized databases cannot be overemphasized. Mark you, this access is institutional and not the personal subscriptions available to individuals. It means that the professionals have full access to records like wills, parish registers, and probate records dating back centuries.
Their help goes beyond record access. Due to the numerous cases of forged documents and family trees informed by heresy and unverified beliefs, professional genealogists employ techniques such as ink dating and UV light analysis to examine every document you present. As a result, it is easy to uncover alterations or faint writings that are invisible to the naked eye.
The experts also use forensic expertise and specialized software to analyze handwriting across documents. This mechanism comes in handy when you want to confirm whether signatures on different records belong to the same person. It’s a crucial exercise in research verification as it confirms claims and detects fraud.
Data analysis includes genetic testing through platforms like FamilyTreeDNA, 23andMe, and Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS). Genealogists also utilize software like RootsMagic and The Master Genealogist (TMG) to keep the data organized and provide a comprehensive view of their true heritage.
Professional genealogists are also experts in skip tracing. They can locate lost or missing heirs using readily available information like credit reports, public records, and social media. Utilizing social media is second nature for professional genealogists, as sites like LinkedIn, X, and Facebook provide crowd-sourced information.
More importantly, social media can help you connect with distant relatives or find groups dedicated to your genealogical region of interest.
They Handle Complex Cases
Family history research can be complex, especially when there are multiple marriages, blended families, adoptions, informal name changes, cohabiting couples, or relatives who moved abroad. Luckily, professional genealogists have proven to not stop until they untangle every intricacies in genealogy research.
With their knack for perusing records such as adoption decrees and utilizing DNA testing, it becomes easy to address parentage disputes. So, whether your case is marred by frequent name changes and alias usage, rest assured that a professional genealogist will piece together disparate records and uncover the truth.
Most importantly, genealogists’ collaboration with international researchers, activists, and historians provides invaluable assistance for family history research involving migration across Europe and America.
The collaborators provide nuanced insights about cultural practices, local records, and migration patterns. Genealogists can tap into this resource to better understand complex issues surrounding their family tree and how to maneuver. It also helps access crucial information abroad to verify findings in your research without having to incur travel expenses or take much of your time.
They provide Proper Documentation and Reporting
Family history research documentation and reporting are crucial for legal purposes and for maintaining accuracy and credibility. Professional genealogists’ proficiency in legal research means that their activities are guided by legal standards and requirements.
In compliance with inheritance laws and probate regulations, these experts ensure legal documentation and court-ready documents. They comprehensively record every piece of evidence, source, and findings you may need to rest assured that the review met expectations.
Below are documents professional genealogists may provide after reconstructing your family tree and verifying research:
- Source Citations: This document provides citations for every document used in your family history research.
- Research Logs: Documents crucial steps in your research process, such as what was searched, records accessed, and results.
- Genealogical Report: This is a comprehensive report highlighting research objectives, methodology, findings, and a summary.
- Visual Aids. These are charts, timelines, and family group sheets meant to enhance the clarity of your family heritage.
- DNA Documentation: This document includes a report on the DNA analysis, including the results and a summary.
- Legal and Estate Document: This document supports heirship claims and includes the heirship report and supporting documents.
Hire a Professional Genealogist to Verify Your Family Tree
Professional genealogists are best suited to address any complexities, brick walls, uncertainties, and inaccuracies in your family tree. Estate administrators find solace in these professionals as they help secure the inheritance, prevent future litigations, and expedite legal proceedings.