Is Family Tree Now Accurate? How to Verify Every Important Match

No people-search result, historical index or online family tree is perfectly accurate. A profile may contain a correct address but connect it to the wrong relative. A census index may misspell a surname. A user tree can repeat an error copied from another tree. Even an official certificate may include information supplied by someone who did not know the answer.

The right question is not simply, “Is Family Tree Now accurate?” It is, “Which claim is being made, where did it come from, and what independent evidence supports it?”

Accuracy Applies to Individual Claims

A record is not wholly accurate or inaccurate. Evaluate each fact separately.

A death certificate may be strong evidence for:

• Date and place of death
• Attending physician
• Burial destination

The same certificate may be weaker for:

• Exact birth date
• Mother’s birth surname
• Parents’ birthplaces

Those early-life details may have been supplied by an adult child decades after the events.

Break every profile into claims: name, age, address, spouse, parent, phone number or occupation. Test each claim with the best available source.

Why People-Search Information Can Be Wrong

People-search systems may combine licensed data, public indexes, directories and other sources. Errors can occur when:

• Two people have the same name
• A phone number is reassigned
• Former roommates share an address
• A parent and child use similar names
• A surname changes
• Source data is old
• A record is transcribed incorrectly
• A household association is labeled as a family relationship
• Duplicate profiles are merged
• Data from one jurisdiction lacks context

“Possible relative” means possible, not proven. A person sharing an address could be a relative, tenant, caregiver or unrelated resident.

Create an Identity Profile

Before accepting a search result, list the facts known from reliable sources:

• Full name and aliases
• Birth date or range
• Places lived by year
• Spouse or partners
• Parents and siblings
• Children
• Occupation
• Education or military service
• Distinctive events

Then compare the candidate result line by line. Do not adjust your known facts merely to make the result fit.

Use the Three-Identifier Rule

For a living-person or common-name match, seek at least three consistent identifiers from independent contexts. Examples:

• Name plus age plus previous city
• Name plus spouse plus occupation
• Name plus parent plus school
• Name plus exact birth date plus military branch

Three matches are not a mathematical proof, but they reduce casual misidentification. Strong contradictions outweigh several weak similarities.

Separate Sources From Conclusions

The source is the item you found. The conclusion is what you believe it means.

Example:

• Source: 1940 census household listing Martha Hill, age 12, as daughter of James Hill.
• Conclusion: This Martha Hill is the later Martha Hill who married Robert Lane.

The source supports the first statement directly. The second requires evidence linking the child to the married adult, such as age, birthplace, parents, marriage record and later residence.

Write both steps so another researcher can review the reasoning.

Evaluate Source Quality

Ask:

Who created the record?
An official registrar, newspaper editor, relative and database indexer have different roles.

When was it created?
A record created close to the event generally has less opportunity for memory loss.

Who supplied the information?
An informant may know some facts firsthand and others only through family stories.

Is it an original image?
Indexes and transcripts can introduce errors. Review the full page whenever possible.

Why was it created?
A marriage application, pension claim and marketing profile serve different purposes and incentives.

Original, Primary and Independent Evidence

These terms describe different qualities:

• Original source: The first form of the record rather than a later abstract.
• Primary information: Supplied by someone with firsthand knowledge.
• Independent evidence: Information not merely copied from the same earlier source.

Two websites repeating the same index do not provide two independent confirmations. Trace both back to the underlying record.

Resolve Conflicting Dates

Create a table rather than choosing the most convenient value:

Explain why one conclusion best fits the evidence. Preserve alternate dates in notes.

Verify Parent-Child Relationships

Names and household proximity alone may not prove parentage. Seek:

• Birth or baptism record
• Census relationship
• Marriage application naming parents
• Probate or guardianship file
• Obituary
• DNA evidence interpreted with documentary research
• Land or court record stating the relationship

Be alert to stepchildren, adopted children, guardianships and informal household relationships.

Verify Addresses

An address can connect records, but it can also create false associations.

Check:

• Date associated with the address
• Whether it is residential, mailing or business
• City directories
• Property ownership
• Census household
• Other people at the address

Owning property does not prove residence. Receiving mail somewhere does not prove a permanent home.

Evaluate Online Family Trees

A public tree is a researcher’s conclusion, not an official record. Before copying:

• Check whether sources are attached
• Open the sources
• Confirm they belong to the person
• Look for impossible dates
• Review spouse and children
• Identify copied unsourced generations
• Contact the tree owner politely when clarification is needed

Large trees can be excellent, but size is not evidence of accuracy.

Automatic Hints and Record Matches

Matching systems compare names, dates, places and relationships. They can save time but cannot know every historical context.

Before accepting a hint:

1. Open the complete record.
2. Compare every available field.
3. Look for contradictions.
4. Search for same-name alternatives.
5. Decide which facts the record actually supports.
6. Add a citation and note.

Rejecting a hint does not delete the historical record; it simply prevents an unsupported attachment.

Correct an Error in Your Tree

Do not overwrite a mistake without documenting it.

1. Save the evidence showing the problem.
2. Detach incorrect relationships carefully.
3. Preserve useful citations on the correct profile.
4. Merge duplicates only after comparison.
5. Add a correction note.
6. Notify collaborators.
7. Update exported charts and shared copies.

One mistaken parent can affect dozens of ancestral profiles, so review descendants before making a large change.

Dispute a People-Search Error

If a third-party profile mixes your information with someone else’s:

• Save the URL and screenshots
• Identify inaccurate fields
• Use the site’s correction, opt-out or privacy process
• Provide only the information reasonably required
• Save confirmation
• Verify the change after processing

Do not publish sensitive documents as proof on a public forum. For FamilyTreeNow.com removal, see our independent Opt-Out Guide.

Use Confidence Labels

Apply consistent language:

• Proven: Strong evidence resolves the question
• Probable: Evidence strongly favors the conclusion, but a gap remains
• Possible: Some evidence fits, but alternatives remain
• Disproved: Evidence shows the candidate is not the same person or relationship
• Unknown: Insufficient evidence

Avoid presenting “possible” as fact in public biographies.

Signs a Family Tree Needs Review

• Children born before parents
• People living in two distant places at the same time
• Generations with implausibly short gaps
• Centuries added without citations
• Identical death dates across many profiles
• Women assigned married surnames at birth without evidence
• Records attached from the wrong country
• Same-name people merged despite different spouses
• DNA relationship claims without match analysis

Run periodic consistency checks and revisit old conclusions when new records appear.

Frequently Asked Questions

Accuracy Is a Process

Reliable family history comes from transparent reasoning. Identify the claim, find the best source, compare alternatives, record conflicts and change your conclusion when stronger evidence appears.

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