Too many people with the same name, from the same town.

Too many public trees with guesswork instead of research work.

As a professional, I begin work on a client’s tree by verifying existing relationships and dates and places. If you tell me another professional has verified a certain branch, I can accept that and review another branch.

It might seem strange to review the part of a pedigree that is “done,” and people often want to jump straight to the brick wall or missing great grandmother.

But a few minutes spent verifying can save hours of unravelling later. Plus the review of essential documents can often uncover hitherto overlooked insights which can help the research to move forward.

If it is worth doing, it is worth doing right. Trust, then verify.