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Process

A thoughtful, evidence-based approach to complex genealogy problems

The research process begins with a conversation about your question—not a commitment to paid research. My goal is to understand what you're trying to discover, review the available evidence, and determine whether professional research is likely to help.

Genealogy, especially long-standing or complex problems, rarely lends itself to quick answers. This process is designed to clarify the research question, define a realistic scope, and ensure that any paid work is worthwhile.

Step 1: Initial inquiry

You begin by contacting me through the inquiry form and briefly describing what you’re trying to learn, along with what you’ve already tried.

You do not need to frame the question perfectly. Many clients come to me after years of research and simply know where they are stuck. That is enough to begin the conversation.

Step 2: Clarification and context

I may ask follow-up questions or request access to relevant materials, such as family trees, documents, or DNA results.

This step helps ensure that we’re clear on:

This back-and-forth is normal and expected, particularly for complex problems.

Step 3: Preliminary Research Assessment

If I believe I can help answer your question, I'll recommend a $200 Preliminary Research Assessment. This focused evaluation examines your research question, existing evidence, likely challenges, and possible next steps. The Preliminary Research Assessment also forms the basis for a proposal outlining the recommended scope of research and the estimated time required for a full research engagement.

If you decide to move forward with the related research project, the $200 assessment fee is applied toward the total project cost. If I don't believe a paid assessment would be worthwhile, I'll let you know before any fee is charged.

Step 4: Proposal and scope

If the Preliminary Research Assessment indicates that a full research engagement is appropriate, I'll prepare a written proposal outlining:

The proposal helps you make an informed decision about whether to move forward with the research engagement.

For complex problems, I often recommend staged work with planned check-ins. This allows us to evaluate progress partway through the project and decide together whether it makes sense to continue, adjust scope, or stop.

This approach protects both the integrity of the research and your investment.

Step 5: Research engagement—or an honest recommendation

If you decide to move forward after reviewing the proposal, we'll begin the agreed-upon research.

If, at any point, I believe a project cannot be meaningfully addressed with the available evidence, I'll explain why honestly rather than recommending work that is unlikely to be productive.

Sometimes this means recommending additional DNA testing, broader data collection, or waiting for new information to become available. In other cases, it means acknowledging that the limits of the evidence make further work unlikely to be productive.

An honest assessment is always preferable to false certainty.

A note on scope and ethics

I do not guarantee specific outcomes.

I do not accept projects intended for legal proceedings, citizenship or heirship claims, or financial or support claims.

I am also careful about work involving living individuals and expect DNA analysis and reports to be used privately and responsibly.

My goal is to provide careful, ethical, evidence-based research—and clear explanations of what the evidence does and does not support.

What you can expect

Clients who work well with my process value:

Sometimes the result is a solved problem. Sometimes it is significant progress, clearer conclusions, or confirmation that a long-held assumption is unsound. All of these are valid outcomes.

Tell Me About Your Question

Initial review is always free. The Preliminary Research Assessment is $200 if we move forward, and that fee is applied toward the cost of the related research project.