Frequently Asked Questions

We fully understand and are compliant with GDPR. We are committed to keeping ourselves fully conversant & compliant at all times.

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Rest assured that, particularly in online aspects of our work, we take ever precaution to protect our clients' identities, and those of your living relations. 

Even in a living relatives search, we will NEVER reveal your identity, whereabouts, or personal data to your searched for person, nor theirs to you without full permission in advance from both sides. 

If, as sometimes happens in the context of researching, we receive 3rd party contact requesting information about the work, or about you as an individual, it is our policy to politely respond that we will speak with our client to see what they are or are not comfortable sharing, and act on that basis.

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Where asked by a 3rd party for contact with you, it is our policy to ask them for their information to pass to you, so that you always control the contact you want to have, with whom you choose, in your own timing. 

We pride ourselves on our friendly, supportive approach, but we are not a source of psychological support in your search. We would always recommend that you have some social, and ideally some professional support in your corner to help you through. 
From time to time we may be able to recommend licensed professionals we have either directly or indirectly had experience with and find to be excellent.

At the outset of each project, we recommend a video-conference call (typically via Zoom) to talk about what you would like our help with, and to what extent. 

After this meeting we will supply you with a quote, including pricing options where possible. 

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Genealogy research work can be unpredictable, and it may later turn out that we face an additional, unplanned cost. In that situation, we will immediately suspend work and revert to you with the full details of the situation, all your options, and our recommended next steps. Similarly, if it transpires that something can be found or accessed more affordably than was projected, we will update you and if necessary, make a credit to you to that reflects this.

Genealogy work can be unpredictable for both sides of the interaction.

On the genealogists' side, that can include significant up front expenditure on top of the usual continuous professional development, tools, etc. 

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Your deposit helps us to defray a proportion of those costs in a fair way, and helps us continue to deliver the high standard of work that we consistently aspire to.
 

Absolutely. If this is your preference, we will mutually agree way-markers in the course of your project. Your deposit will kick-start the first stage of work. When we reach the first way-marker, all work to date will be reported to you and you are free to keep the work on pause until ready to continue (work will restart upon receipt of next payment), to complete the project sooner, or to request a change to the project.

We find (currently) that this is not the most cost-effective way for our clients in most cases.

 
The nature of the work we do can often involve exclusory work as well as inclusory. There are also occasions when multiple avenues of enquiry must be pursued to get as near as possible to the result you want. While we respect our clients' time and their trust in us as researchers, we understand that while legitimate work, it's hard for clients to sometimes understand that they are gaining something from this type of work as well.

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We have noticed that in general, customers who choose to work on a project/question/other defined goal basis, often feel more fulfilled by the experience of hiring a genealogist.

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However, if an hourly basis is the style you would absolutely prefer, we are happy to quote you for that, based on the projected complexity and intensity of the project, and in consideration of your budget.

Between us, we can currently communicate in English, French, Spanish, German, Italian and Esperanto. 

If you have specific language needs, please get in touch and we will find a mutually suitable way to communicate.

That's no problem. Between us we deal with physical disability and neuro-divergence ourselves. 

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Our lived experience helps us to understand the importance of access and inclusion is more than just the minimums ascribed by law.

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If you have a specific access need, please let us know and we will do our utmost to support you.