How Long Does Genealogical Research Take?

One of the first questions prospective clients usually ask is perfectly understandable.

"How long will this take?"

I wish there were a simple answer.

There isn't.

Over the years, I've completed one investigation in approximately thirty minutes.

Another continued, on and off, for three and a half years. Both were entirely reasonable. Both achieved the client's objectives.

The difference wasn't the quality of the research.

It was the complexity of the questions being asked.

People sometimes imagine genealogy as a straightforward search.

Find a birth record.

Locate a marriage.

Confirm a death.

Investigation complete.

Occasionally, that's exactly what happens.

More often, however, every answer generates another set of questions and potential research avenues.

One record points to another country.

A surname changes.

An archive has been destroyed.

A family emigrated several times.

Or a document appears halfway through the investigation that changes the direction of the entire search.

Genealogy has a habit of rewarding flexibility.

One of the biggest factors influencing the length of an investigation is the information available at the very beginning.

Clients occasionally apologise for sending me "too many documents."

Please don't.

I'd much rather begin with twenty relevant documents than spend several hours rediscovering information you already have.

The more reliable evidence we start with, the more efficiently the investigation can be planned.

This is also one of the reasons I encourage an Initial Genealogical Assessment before extensive research begins.

Understanding the evidence already available often saves considerable time later.

It helps identify what has already been proven, what still requires investigation and which jurisdictions are most likely to hold the remaining answers.

Good planning is one of the most effective ways of keeping research proportionate and cost-effective.

Of course, not every factor is within anybody's control.

Archives have opening hours.

Some institutions reply within a few days.

Others may require several weeks—or occasionally longer.

Court records, historical files and international requests often move according to somebody else's timetable rather than ours.

Forensic genealogy teaches patience rather quickly.

Another factor is geography.

An investigation confined to one country is usually simpler than one involving several jurisdictions.

Modern families are wonderfully international.

Records, unfortunately, are not.

One branch may be documented in Poland.

Another in England.

A third in Israel.

By the time migration records, probate files and civil registrations are brought together, several legal systems may become involved.

That coordination takes time.

Occasionally, the investigation itself changes.

A client discovers an old family photograph.

A previously unknown marriage certificate appears.

Another researcher uncovers an overlooked document.

Or a family finds an inconsistent, but genuine document at the deceased grandmother's house proving that her immigration details were delineated from the objective truth.

Far from being frustrating, these discoveries are often the most exciting part of the investigation.

They also remind us that genealogy is not a linear process.

New evidence doesn't simply add another detail.

Sometimes it changes the question entirely.

People occasionally ask whether there is such a thing as an "average" investigation.

Broadly speaking...

Yes.

Provided the client supplies the available documentation at the outset, no significant duplication of work is required, and no major new evidence emerges halfway through the research, many investigations fall within the region of 10 to 20 working hours.

Some require considerably less.

Others understandably require much more.

The important point is that every investigation is guided by the evidence rather than by an arbitrary number of hours.

Perhaps the better question isn't:

"How long will it take?"

But rather:

"What will it take to answer the question properly?"

That is the question I ask at the beginning of every investigation.

Because sometimes the answer is already waiting in a single overlooked document.

And sometimes...

It takes several countries, multiple archives and a great deal of patience before the final piece of the puzzle quietly falls into place.

At EHN Heir Search, every investigation is planned with one objective in mind:

To answer the client's question as efficiently, thoroughly and proportionately as the evidence allows.

Because good genealogy isn't measured by the number of hours worked.

It's measured by the quality of the answer.