1. General
1.1 By commissioning research from Who Am I? Family Tree Research, the client agrees to these terms and conditions.
1.2 Research will commence when deposit payment has been received and funds cleared.
1.3 The completed research will be sent to the client once the balance of payment has been received and cleared. Payment is due within 30 days of request.
1.4 During the project, if the client wishes to extend the scope and/or budget, payment for the work conducted so far and a new deposit for the continued work will be required.
2. Genealogical Research
2.1 Genealogy often involves examining original, transcripts or images of historic documents. These sources may be unclear, misleading, or even incorrect. Who Am I? Family Tree Research accepts no liability for any loss, damage or inconvenience that may arise from any information extracted from sources, any errors in transcripts from these sources or conclusions derived from them.
2.2 Fees are payable as agreed, regardless of whether the desired information is found or not. No guarantee is made that any research assignment will lead to positive results. Old documents that contain required information may not have survived or may never have existed. In the event of a negative search, the research report will detail sources that have been consulted.
3. Pricing
3.1 Charges for research will be agreed with the client in advance. A time limit will be set (at an hourly rate) allowing for research, analysis of information contained, and producing reports and charts. A budget for costs of obtaining copies of certificates/documents will also be set. The time limit and budget will not be exceeded without the permission of the client.
3.2 Bespoke research reports comprise of information discovered within the agreed time/budget. Results will vary depending on various factors including how common the ancestors’ names were and survival of relevant records.
3.3 On rare occasions, it may not be possible to complete research goals (see section 2.2). If this becomes apparent within the first hour of research, and before any costs for certificates/documents have been accrued, a full refund may be offered. If this occurs after significant research has taken place, the client will be contacted and a decision will be made whether to offer a part refund or focus research on another family line.
4. Transcription Service
4.1 Transcriptions are prepared with every reasonable effort to produce an accurate and faithful copy of the source material, reflecting the legibility and condition of the original document or image.
4.2 Transcriptions will preserve the original spelling and punctuation, although any contractions will be expanded in square brackets for ease of reading.
4.3 Illegible, damaged, faded, or ambiguous text may be indicated as such, and no attempt will be made to speculate or reconstruct unreadable content without clearly identifying it as an editorial suggestion.
5. Data Protection
5.1 Who Am I? Family Tree Research holds personal information provided by the client for the following purposes: a) To process payment for research b) For communication with the client about the research c) For the purposes of family history research.
5.2 Information will be held on a computer secured with a password, and in paper form in a locked filing cabinet.
5.3 This information will be held for as long as necessary to complete the research. It will be deleted on request by the client or after a period of 5 years whichever is the lesser.
5.4 Data provided by the client, or generated during research, will not be passed on to any third party unless instructed to do so by the client.
5.5 Who Am I? Family Tree Research is ICO registered.
6. Documents
6.1 When sharing previous research to aid a new objective, it is recommended that photocopies/digital copies of documents are sent rather than originals. Who Am I? Family Tree Research accepts no liability for damage or loss of items whilst in transit, during storage or whilst being returned to the client.
7. Gift Certificates
7.1 Gift certificates must be redeemed within 6 months of purchase (the expiry date is shown on the gift certificate). A request to commence work, along with details of the family to be researched, must be submitted to Who Am I? Family Tree Research no later than this expiry date. There will be no refund if the certificate expires.
7.2 Gift certificates are non-refundable.
8. Cancellation
8.1 Deposits are non-refundable. If the client decides to cancel after research has started, a calculation will be made for the time spent on research until that point, including costs for any certificates/documents obtained, which will be payable by the client. No research report will be completed.
8.2 Who Am I? Family Tree Research reserves the right to cancel research for a client at any time, and refund any monies paid, less fees accrued.
9. Errors or Omissions
9.1 Who Am I? Family Tree Research takes great pride in its practices; however, if there is an error or omission created by Who Am I? Family Tree Research, it will be rectified free of charge.
Last Updated 26th June 2026
