Your family tree, your DNA results, and the boxes of photos and letters that tell your family’s story. This page makes sure all of that research and history survives to the next generation.
Why it matters
Day to day, this page is the index to your family history project: which platform holds the tree, who else can see or edit it, which DNA kit belongs to whom, and when you last saved a backup.
The step-in use is different from the rest of the book. Everywhere else, you’re making sure someone can run your life. Here, you’re making sure the work survives. Research that lives only inside a subscription account can end when the subscription lapses. A shoebox of photographs nobody has identified becomes just a shoebox.
What to gather
- Your family tree platform and the account it sits under
- Who else can view or edit the tree
- The DNA tests you’ve taken, the company, the kit number, and where the results live
- Where your backup files are, and the date of your last export
- Photo albums, family Bibles, letters, journals, and heirlooms with stories attached
- Who should receive each of those, when the time comes
- The relatives and researchers who know the stories, and what each one knows
Where to find it
Start at the logins. Open your tree, note the platform and the account, and check who else has access. Giving one other person editor access is the cheapest insurance on this page.
Then export a backup today and date it. Most genealogy platforms will give you a GEDCOM file, a standard family tree format that other programs can read, from the settings or export menu.
Finally, walk the house for the physical materials. Note where each item lives, whether it’s been scanned, and who should receive it. Write down the stories nobody has recorded yet, even as a short list.
A free resource
FamilySearch: a free genealogy site with billions of historical records and a shared family tree, a good place to start or back up your research.
What the course adds
Family History and Genealogy is a one-lesson module in the course, built around a single workbook page with three sections: digital research and DNA, physical materials, and the knowledge keepers.
On the course’s two paths, this page is enrichment, the gift layer you add once the urgent pages are in place. It’s also the one page in the book with no finish line.
Facts of Life Book Course · $29 · Self-paced · Included in Off The Clock, On Purpose
Keep reading
- The Facts of Life Book: what it is and how the course works
- Keep Your Life Timeline
- End of Life Decisions
Disclaimer: For educational and informational purposes only. This is not medical, financial, tax, or legal advice. Consult appropriate professionals in each area.