How it works
Where do we work?
By necessity, we work mostly in an old fashioned way by personally spending time in the archives. Only a small part of our archives are digitalized, therefore remote work - is rarely possible.
Where we find ancestry information?
All the documents should be in the Archives. Usually you can find it there, but there are often a few obstacles on the way:
In Poland we don’t have one central archive, but a few local ones.
We have both State and church archives. Both of them might have their smaller branches.
State archive information is rarely exchanged with their church equivalent. And vice versa.
Records are not always in the archives, but ’in the field‘, for example at an actual church or military authority.
Will you always find my ancestors?
No, genealogy research is not a ZOO where animals are waiting for you. Even when we like to think that records are there waiting to be found, it is not always like this. Please note that we had two World Wars fought on territory which we call now Poland.
Huge damage was made especially in 1945. Soviets, on their way to Berlin, sometimes used archive records to start their tank’s engines. Therefore we need more time in our 1st block of research to locate the records.
Why the first block of research is longer?
Please check above. We spend more time at the beginning, not only to learn about your family, but mostly because we need to locate and identify your family records. We do speak with the institutions in the region to make sure that we are using all the possible research opportunities to unveil your family history.
How to get the most from your money ad our time?
We gather family information from you. When you wish to start your family research please check every single information you have as everything might be useful during further research. Please send it to us as 1 email to make it easier to understand.
We need at least 1 date and a place (city, village or area), where your ancestors lived. If you have any documents related to them it is beneficial. Please send documents in a high resolution as screen-shots not always are good enough to get valuable info from them.
That will help us greatly with the research.
Research is paid. You are paying for the hours spent by us in the archives. Each project is unique and each project may have different demands and costs associated with it (like additional travel expenses).
Please be aware that if you provide more accurate informations we will spend more time looking for your ancestors. If you provide less accurate informations piece of our time will be used to organise all informations received from you.
Please set up your goals, to give us better understanding of your research needs. This way, we use our time more effectively. For example, which part of the family has your priority to be researched first, which questions you want answered etc.
We ask you to pay for the first 6 hour block up-front, then - if you like first results - you can continue research with 4 hours blocks. It is your decision.
The first block is longer, as we need time to know your family history, locate records relevant to your research, do the research. Please note that often your family records can be found not in one, but in many places and that can make our research longer.
After receiving your payment, we start our research.
We won’t start any research earlier as already our kindness has ended badly for us on few occasions.
During or shortly after the research (up to 8 days) you have right for 2 FREE Consultations - made via email/ FaceTime. We do not charge extra for that. It is your gain and opportunity to answer few questions.
At the end of the research we send you details with related documents.
Please note: We will make a photo or scan - on each occasion where it is possible - of records connected with your ancestors.
We will always send you all the documents /scans/ photos or in an original form. If you want, we can translate the actual records for you - it’s paid additionally.