Take a Deep Dive into Your Family History
Exploring genealogy in-depth can require a substantial amount of time and specific skills that not everyone has. While platforms like AncestryDNA or 23andMe provide extensive databases of data and records, they expect you to conduct the research on your own. If this feels overwhelming to you, Legacy Tree Genealogists is here to help.
This service allows you to upload all of your raw data received from Ancestry, 23andMe, or similar companies, and then – here’s the best part – it does all the work for you. Their team of highly skilled professionals will not only find all the relevant documents (without missing any), but they will also help you interpret them. In the end, you’ll get a detailed report that goes way past a few names and dates.
However, this service comes with a hefty price, especially if the scope of your project is larger. But is it truly worth it? Read on to find out.
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Launching an Investigation into Your Family’s Past
Every Legacy Tree project is a little different, just like every family. But here’s how the process usually works.
- Fill out the intake form on the company’s website, including your basic contact information and what you want to find out.
- Legacy Tree will give you a free consultation, explaining what its genealogists can do for you and what that would cost. Package pricing is also available for certain standard genealogy projects.
- If you’ve had your DNA tested by MyHeritage, AncestryDNA, 23andMe, or FamilyTreeDNA, Legacy Tree can use your raw DNA data to aid in your research.
- Legacy Tree will then start pursuing your investigation.
- How long this will take depends on what you want to find out, but on average, you’ll get your genealogy report in around 12-16 weeks.
Legacy Tree’s personal touch – involving real hands-on research performed by a real genealogist – is both the company’s greatest strength and its greatest drawback.
Its genealogy reports are a lot more thorough and detailed than anything you’re likely to put together doing your own research through companies like MyHeritage or AncestryDNA. But a Legacy Tree research project can also be a lot more expensive than subscribing to those companies.
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5 Standout Features of Legacy Tree Genealogists
1. Real, Hands-On Research by Real Professional Genealogists
Legacy Tree employs a unique model for genealogical research, distinct from database-driven companies like MyHeritage and AncestryDNA. Instead of requiring you to sift through large databases, which can be both time-consuming and frustrating, Legacy Tree assigns you a professional genealogist. These experts handle the extensive research for you, navigating through a variety of historical records. They apply their specialized knowledge to provide you with a detailed report that answers your questions thoroughly. With Legacy Tree, you bypass the difficulties of solo genealogical research and get a comprehensive, expertly-crafted report.
2. Focused Research to Answer Any Genealogy Question
If you’re especially interested in learning about a specific relative or branch of your family, you could potentially locate this information in the databases of services like AncestryDNA or MyHeritage. However, there’s also a chance that, even after extensive searching, you might not find what you’re looking for.
The genealogists at Legacy Tree are skilled in unraveling various types of family history mysteries. If there’s a way to uncover the information you seek, these experts are likely to find it. Plus, they provide a cost estimate before starting, which is customized based on the complexity and breadth of your research query.
3. Standard Genealogy Packages
If you just want Legacy Tree to put together a complete family tree of a certain size for you or you need a more detailed genealogical research project done, you can choose from among four standard research packages.
The costs of these packages vary based on how many generations and family lines you want them to encompass. Prices are shown on the company’s website, so you can get a sense of how much you’d be paying without having to request an estimate.
4. You Can Upload Your DNA to Facilitate Your Ancestry Research
If you’ve had your DNA tested by MyHeritage, AncestryDNA, 23andMe, or FamilyTreeDNA, Legacy Tree’s genealogists can use these companies’ raw DNA data to help with your genealogy project.
This is another set of clues that can help the researchers more quickly locate, or more easily confirm the identity of, certain relatives in cases where historical records are a bit thin. And if it saves the researchers a bit of time, it could save you a bit of money.
5. Comprehensive Genealogy Reports, Online and in Print
The culmination of your Legacy Tree research project is an enormous and highly detailed final report that outlines all of the company’s findings.
This report can be viewed online (on a private webpage), but you also receive a printed copy you can keep on your coffee table or bookshelf to share with your friends and relatives.
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Similar Services to Consider
- MyHeritage lets you create an online family tree, and continually suggests new relatives that the company has found in its genealogy database (6+ billion records) and/or its DNA database (~4 million). A subscription fee is required (around $10-25 per month).
- AncestryDNA has a much larger historical records database you can access (~24 billion) than MyHeritage and DNA samples from many more people (16+ million). Its subscription fees are also more expensive (between $25-50 per month).
No Stone Left Unturned to Find the Answers You Want
While the length, scope, and content of a Legacy Tree genealogy report depend on what you’ve asked them to investigate, the company offers a sample report on its website to give you an idea of what to expect.
It’s an actual report prepared for a real Legacy Tree customer, who gave permission for it to be used for this purpose. And it’s 170 pages long! Let’s browse through its contents.
The body of the report is 58 pages long. It outlines the scope of the research project, then walks you through the genealogists’ findings.
Along the way, there are photos of relevant documents, as well as footnotes explaining where various pieces of information came from. The report culminates in a conclusion that summarizes what was previously presented.
After this, there are more than 100 pages of additional historical documents related to the project, including census data, birth and death certificates, tombstone photos, photos from historical archives, and other relevant sources.
Finding and compiling all this information must have taken a huge amount of time!
That’s a lot of time that you didn’t have to spend, poring through historical records on MyHeritage or AncestryDNA. And the experts at Legacy Tree can interpret that information in a rich manner that tells a complete and compelling story. They could also detect nuances that you would otherwise miss.
How much does all that expert research cost? Let’s take a look.
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Hands-On Research Takes Time…and Costs Money
So, you’re thinking of initiating a genealogy research project with Legacy Tree.
How badly do you want it? Because it will cost you $100 per hour of research.
For larger projects, the hourly rate goes down about ten dollars. But it still adds up.
- A preliminary assessment of your DNA data and the development of a detailed research plan costs around $500. The execution of that detailed research plan will cost more, and will vary based on the scope of the project.
- If you’d like Legacy Tree to research your ancestral homeland to help you prepare for a trip there, that also costs around $500.
- A basic genealogy report (from one to four generations along a single family line and location): around $2,500.
- A standard genealogy report (from one to six generations along two family lines and locations): around $4,600.
- An advanced genealogy report (several generations along two to three different family lines and locations): around $6,750.
- A premium genealogy report (multiple generations, family lines, and locations): around $8,800.
This makes MyHeritage and AncestryDNA’s monthly subscription fees seem really cheap by comparison! But remember, Legacy Tree’s genealogists do research that would probably take you much, much longer if you did it yourself on one of these competitor’s sites. And professional researchers are probably a lot better at interpreting findings than you would be.
Once your Legacy Tree report is done, there are no additional ongoing charges – whereas the cost of a monthly MyHeritage or AncestryDNA subscription can really add up over a long period of time.
So is Legacy Tree worth it? That depends on your budget and your level of curiosity. If you can afford it, and you’re dying to delve deeply into some aspect of your family history, Legacy Tree will almost certainly satisfy your curiosity in a big way.
Legacy Tree Looks Forward to Hearing from You!
If you want to ask Legacy Tree for help with a genealogy project, you can either fill out the company’s contact form or call one of its phone numbers (in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, or Brazil). You can view Legacy Tree’s “Contact Us” page in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, or Russian.
I submitted a contact request, saying I wanted to research an Indonesian or Filipino ancestor on my mother’s side of my family. Here is the response I received via email a few hours later:
(By the way, I also received a phone call response, which – because it was from an unrecognized number – went straight to my voicemail.)
The email is fairly generic, making no mention of the specifics of my inquiry. But I’m sure Jeni Blamires would give me more details if I called her back.
In her email, she also mentions a current sale (which seems fairly regular). Customers are also able to make flexible payment arrangements, which can be spread out over six months. Considering the hefty price tags associated with Legacy Tree’s services, this payment flexibility is very smart.
A Great Place to Get Very Detailed (and Very Expensive) Family Research Done
If you’re burning with curiosity about your family’s past – and want an answer that goes much deeper than just a few names, dates, and places – Legacy Tree looks like a great solution. In fact, the company has already received tons of glowing customer reviews and very few negative ones, which is more than a lot of other competitors can say.
Just be aware that this research can really cost a lot. Once you get Legacy Tree’s quote, you can decide if the answers you want are worth the money you’d have to spend.
My recommendation? Get your DNA tested with another company so you can share the raw file. This should help you get richer information for a lower cost.
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FAQ
Is Legacy Tree compatible with Mac and Windows?
Yes. All you need to initiate a research project (and subsequently view your final report online) is any standard web browser.
In fact, you can just call them on the phone – no computer or smartphone required.
You also receive your report in a printed format, so you don’t even need a computer to view the company’s findings.
By the way, Legacy Tree doesn’t have a proprietary mobile app – but you can access the site simply on your smart phone’s web browser.
Can you import data from DNA tests to Legacy Tree?
Yes. If you’ve had your DNA tested through MyHeritage, AncestryDNA, 23andMe, or FamilyTreeDNA, you can download your raw data from any of these companies and provide it to Legacy Tree. Its researchers will then use that data to facilitate your research project. I’d recommend doing this, as it can save the company time, which in turn saves you money.
How much does a professional genealogist cost?
Legacy Tree charges around $90.00-$100.00 per hour for your research project. The total cost depends on how much research time is needed.
The company also has standard genealogy packages ranging from $2,500-$8,800 US.
Genealogy services like MyHeritage and AncestryDNA are much more affordable, and are based around monthly subscription fees. However, the information you get from these services is much less in-depth than a Legacy Tree genealogy report. And Legacy Tree charges a one-time fee, whereas a MyHeritage or AncestryDNA subscription is an ongoing expense that can really accumulate over time.
Is Legacy Tree available worldwide?
It’s hard to tell whether you can access Legacy Tree from literally any country in the world. However, the company does claim to have on-site researchers well represented across the globe. Plus, its contact page lists phone numbers in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, and Brazil. The site itself can be viewed in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, or Russian. This should give you a sense of the company’s international reach.
