Questions and answers

The things people ask before they buy, answered plainly.

Start here. Most questions that land in the inbox are already answered on this page, and you will get an answer faster reading it than waiting on a reply. If yours is not here, there is an address at the bottom for every kind of question.

Getting started

If you have never done this before

Do I need to know anything first?

No. The courses start from what you already have, which for most people is a couple of names and a story nobody can verify. The first lesson is about writing that down and working out which part of it is actually proven.

Do I need to install anything?

No. The lessons are self paced and run in your browser, and the worksheets are printable PDFs. There is no software to buy and nothing to set up.

Where should I start if I am not ready to pay?

The free page has the starter kit, a research log, a census cheat sheet, a Texas county list, and the full opening lesson of First Steps in Family History. That is a real evening of work before you spend anything.

Is there an age or skill level this suits best?

People come to this at every age and from every kind of work. If you can send an email and save a file to a folder, you can do everything the courses ask.

Courses and access

How the courses work

How long do I have access?

Yours to keep. A course is a single payment that gives you a licence to use it yourself, for as long as it exists. There is no subscription and no renewal date.

Are the lessons live or recorded?

Recorded, so you work at your own pace at whatever hour suits you. You can stop, rewind, and come back a month later without losing your place.

How much time does a course take?

Between three and six hours of lessons depending on the course, spread over as long as you like. Most students do one lesson a week and spend another hour on their own family in between.

Do I have to start at the beginning?

No. If you already have a documented tree, start with Reading Old Handwriting or the DNA course. If you are not sure which fits, describe where you are stuck and you will get a straight recommendation.

Can I share a course with my spouse or my society?

An account is for one person, and login sharing is not allowed. Societies and libraries that want to use a course with a group should write to collabs@letsfindfamily.com rather than passing a login around.

Something will not load. Who do I tell?

Write to support@letsfindfamily.com with the page you were on and what happened. Technical problems are treated as bugs, not as feature requests.

Records and research

What you will need

Do I need a paid subscription site?

No. Every exercise can be completed with free record collections, and the resources page lists the ones worth your evening. Paid options get named when they genuinely save time, and we say plainly when they do not.

Is this only useful for Texas families?

The examples lean Texan because that is where Maggie researches, but the methods are not. Census work, land records, probate files, and DNA grouping work the same way in Ohio or County Cork.

What if my family is not from the United States?

The research method transfers, the record sets do not. Students with Irish, German, and Mexican lines do well in the method courses and then use country specific guides for the records themselves.

Will I definitely find my ancestor?

No, and anybody who promises otherwise is selling something. Genealogy depends on which records survived. The courses teach the skills and the process, and some questions genuinely have no surviving answer.

Can you research my family for me?

Not at the moment. These are courses, not a research service. Maggie keeps a short list of Texas researchers she trusts and will happily pass it on.

What if I find something upsetting?

It happens more often than people expect: an adoption, a second family, a story that was never true. The courses will not pretend otherwise, and nobody is going to rush you through it.

Payment and refunds

Money questions

How do I pay?

Through PayPal. Card details never touch this site and are never stored on our servers.

What is the refund policy?

Each course opens with an introduction that lays out exactly what it teaches, so you can see what you bought before you start. A refund can be granted while you have not yet opened any instructional content past that introduction. Once you have opened the first instructional module, the sale is final. The full wording is on the terms page.

Will I be charged again?

No. A course is a single payment, not a subscription. If you ever see a repeat charge it is a mistake, and billing@letsfindfamily.com will sort it out.

I need a receipt or an invoice.

Write to billing@letsfindfamily.com and say which purchase it is for. Payment and invoice questions all go to that address rather than the general inbox.

Is there a discount?

There is no standing discount code. If cost is the only thing keeping you out, write and say so plainly. Societies and libraries looking at group use should write to collabs@letsfindfamily.com.

Can I buy a course for someone else?

Ask at billing@letsfindfamily.com, and say who it is for and roughly when you need it. It is not an automated gift button, so it needs a short conversation.

Your family information

Privacy questions

Should I put living relatives in my course work?

Please do not. Keep names, birth dates, addresses, and health details of living people in your own private records, and use deceased ancestors for anything you share here. You are responsible for what you choose to upload.

Are comments and reviews public?

Yes. Anything you post as a comment or a course review is visible to anyone visiting the site, under the name you give. Everything is moderated before it appears.

Can I have my account deleted?

Yes, write to support@letsfindfamily.com. Two things to know first: deleting your account permanently removes access to any course you bought, and public comments you have already posted stay on the site as part of the community record.

Do you sell my information?

Never. Not to anybody, not for marketing, not for anything else. The privacy page lists every outside service that touches your data and why.

Access and format

Getting at the material

Are the videos captioned?

Yes, with a written transcript you can search and print, and the worksheet used on screen downloads beside the video.

I need a different format.

Large print worksheets, a plain text transcript, or a lesson summary without images. Ask and you will get it, at no charge. You do not need to explain why.

Something on the site is hard to use.

Tell us. Accessibility problems are treated as bugs. The accessibility page has the detail on what is already in place and where we know we fall short.

Still stuck