Family history or popularly known as genealogy continuously awaken the awareness of many people across the globe. Some enthusiasts consider genealogy as a hobby or pastime. But for other people, it is important in finding who they really are.
Generally, it is the focus of interests and some controversies. In fact, you can unravel different mysteries in connection with your origin. Old pictures, written documents, and other forms of materials provide significant information utilized to elucidate world and personal history.
One of the most common methods is asking the help of a professional genealogy researcher. But make sure that you choose the right person as well as other important factors associated with doing the research.
- Ensure that the genealogy researcher has the ability to find your family member. Look for someone who will empathize with your reasons why you wanted to search for your mother, father, or siblings. All the information should be taken cared of by a privacy policy law.
- Ask for the procedure of payments. Know if there are additional charges such as photocopy costs, handling, and postage, overseas phone calls, record fees, and microfilms. Some researchers already include these in the package price.
- Weigh your budget. The research costs depend on the things done by the researcher. It can always vary. Say, you wanted the researcher to search for a particular individual, or a whole family, or an ancestral line, or a comprehensive multigenerational research, or make a written history book of the family. The total cost may depend on the total hours spent for the entire research.
- Ensure that the payment is safe when done online. This is appropriate for a genealogy researcher who owns a website. The technology used must protect any information you gave especially when a bank account or credit card number is asked.
- If you could not pay online, ask if there are other payment options. Some genealogy researcher accepts the payments in cash or check basis. In case of checks, the researcher first ensures that the checks are cleared before beginning any research.
- To assess the credibility of the genealogy researcher, ask if what documents he or she has the capability to search. The sources include compiled newspapers and sources ( local histories, family histories, compiled directories and lists, historical and genealogy publications, newspapers notices, compendium genealogies, special collections and manuscripts), vital records (birth, death, marriage), church records (christening and baptismal, marriages, confirmations, deaths), census records, wills, probate records, local and government land records, military records, court records, burial and cemetery records, ship passenger listings, immigration, and naturalization records.
- Ask how the research package is mailed. In some instances, special delivery requests have additional charges.
- The ancestral branches should have a privacy policy. You paid for the works done by the genealogy researcher, so it is your right to protect such documents.
- The duration of the research may also vary depending on what you wanted to be researched. However, many research packages on genealogy can be completed for 8 to 12 weeks. Sometimes civil documents are ordered, so the researcher will wait for its arrival.
Make sure that you understand all the terms and conditions before making a decision or signing an agreement. Your money and knowing your family history is at stake.
If you are looking for the first time at your family tree, your heritage or your lineage, this genealogy guide is the place to start to uncover your ancestry.
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