Terms Of Engagement

Terms of Engagement for Family History Work

  • Before beginning any work for a client Gengenie Research will confirm in writing either by post or email our understanding of the project to be undertaken and will ensure the client is happy with our terms before commencing research.
  • We will not exceed the time initially agreed by the client without prior agreement.
  • We undertake to report our findings of research carried out with a detailed report of findings along with copies of any birth, marriage, death certificates, Wills etc. obtained in the course of our research.
  • Paid time includes research, analysis and reporting time and time spent communicating with the client by telephone and email.
  • If during the research it becomes clear that research will not take as long as initially expected or research cannot progress as anticipated any whole unused pre-paid research hours will be refunded to the client.
  • In cases where a Family Tree Package has been purchased and it becomes clear early on that research has reached an unexpected problem, we may offer a partial refund of the payment received or were agreed by the client we may take other branches of the family tree back further than originally discussed. This will depend on the length of time spent on the project before coming to this conclusion.
  • It is the responsibility of the client to ensure that the details of any previous research have been conveyed to Gengenie Research to avoid any research being inadvertently repeated.
  • It is the responsibility of the client to give accurate information for the starting point of the research being undertaken.

Payment Terms

  • For commissions of £200 and under we require full payment in advance of any research commencing.
  • For commissions over £200 (including Family Tree Packages) a down payment of 50% is required in advance. The remaining balance becomes due on completion of the research, before the report and any supporting documentation is issued to the client.
  • On receipt of the required initial payment (see above) a research slot will be booked in and the client notified. Any changes to the initial estimate will be notified to the client as soon as reasonably possible.

Payment is accepted by Cash, Personal Cheque, BACS Transfer or by PayPal.

Document Copies

• Documents are supplied at cost price plus hours research to locate said certificates. Any documents found will only be ordered once the client has agreed on the order going ahead, clients will then be invoiced for the documents agreed. Payment is accepted by Cash, Personal Cheque, BACS Transfer or by PayPal.

Standard Scottish Certificate Service £10.00 per Certificate

For our Standard Scottish Certificate Service, we will visit New Register House, Edinburgh locate your certificate’s and have them shipped to your address, for UK based delivery address’s this will take approx. 5 to 10 days. For Overseas Deliveries this may take several weeks depending on the country’s delivery service.

Express Scottish Certificate Service £15.00 per Certificate

For our Express Scottish Certificate Service, we will visit New Register House, Edinburgh locate your certificate’s and have them shipped to your address, for UK based delivery address’s this will take approx. 3 days. For Overseas Deliveries this may take several weeks depending on the country’s delivery service.

Likelihood of Success

• It should be noted by any prospective client that it is sometimes not possible to trace a family back as far as expected or find the expected information in a particular document. Research time includes time spent searching with a negative outcome. However, all research may be considered positive if it is viewed that a particular document or direction has been “ruled out”.

Accreditation and Reassurance

• As a member of ASGRA, I have agreed to abide by the Codes of Practice / Ethics of this organization

• As a member of APG, I have agreed to abide by the Codes of Practice / Ethics of this organization
• In the unlikely event of a client not being 100% happy with the research received from Gengenie Research I will endeavor to address any issues as quickly as possible. If a mutually agreeable solution cannot be reached APG has a complaints procedure which may be used.

General Points • I reserve the right to decline cases where I consider the likelihood of success to be low, for example: if the only information were to be a starting point of “his name was John McDonald and he was born in The Highland’s in about 1880”.
• All research commissioned to Gengenie Research will be conducted by Shirley Obrzud and her assistant, with the exception of research that requires specialist input e.g., out of geographical area research or Latin translation work. In the event of such circumstances the use of a third-party specialist would be notified to and agreed with the client ahead of the research. The client’s details would not be shared with a third party without prior consent. Please see my Privacy Policy for more information.

The relevant United Kingdom law will apply to these Terms and Conditions and the relevant courts of the United Kingdom will have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to the Terms and Conditions.

Terms of Engagement for Probate Work

1. No guarantee is made to the client that they may inherit under the estate being researched as further enquiries may exclude the client as a beneficiary based on the laws of intestacy.
2. A client may inherit the estate alone or with others.
3. No value of any estate is given to a client, nor have any predictions been made to the client as any estate has no value until a claim is made to HM Treasurers Department, or others who hold the estate in trust.
4. No time scale can be provided as to when and if a claim is accepted and if or when it may be paid by the estate.
5. A client will, where required, provide the required proof of identity required by the Treasury to make the claim.
6. If a claim is accepted by HM Treasurers Department and the client becomes entitled to a share of the estate the client agrees to pay Gengenie Research a finder’s commission at the following rates:
Estate Values between £0:01 and £35,000:00 inclusive at 21%
Estate Values between £35,000:01 and £50,000:00 inclusive at 18%
Estate Values between £50,000:01 and £80,000:00 inclusive at 15%
Estate Values between £80,000:01 and over at 12%

Such sum to be paid directly to Gengenie Research by the estate’s appointed administrator prior to distribution to the beneficiaries. 7. If the estate is to be administered by another party other than Gengenie Research we require that copies of the estate accounts be sent to Gengenie Research along with any payment due to us at the point of distribution.
8. The Client will confirm that they have not signed contracts with any other Genealogy Company or other Company providing similar services and I accept full responsibility if I enter into an agreement with Gengenie Research knowing this to be incorrect.
9. A distribution may be in a single payment or via several interim payments dependent upon the value of the estate and the realization of assets.
10. Clients will not be asked otherwise for any fees or expenses by Shirley Obrzud or Gengenie Research.
11. Clients may cancel this contract within 14 days of signing by writing to Shirley Obrzud of Gengenie Research at 12 Cedar Street, Dunbar, East Lothian, EH42 1PX by recorded delivery quoting the case number and their name and address.