Have you been working on a family tree of your Trentino ancestors? Have you hit ‘brick walls’ in your research or struggled to understand the resources you have found? Or maybe, you’d love to have a family tree, but you simply don’t have the time (or interest!) to do the legwork required.
These are all good reasons for thinking about hiring a genealogist, especially one who is familiar with the idiosyncrasies of your ancestry.
There is never a ‘one size fits all’ approach to researching someone’s ancestry. For that reason, before agreeing to work together, it is essential that we have a preliminary chat to discuss your project, your expectations AND your budget.
To request a (free) 30-minute chat on WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger:
Send me a short email via the contact form on this website (https://trentinogenealogy.com/contact).
In your email:
- Please DO give me a rough idea of what you know so far about your Trentino ancestors. For example, do you know what parish(es) they came from? Have you already identified them on ‘Nati in Trentino’?
- Please DO contact me even if you are currently stuck in your research, or your don’t know anything about your family’s origins. As long as you are sure your family came from somewhere in Trentino, I am happy to try to see if I can help you.
- Please DO NOT send me photos, your complete family history after immigration, or the link to your online family tree (such as on Ancestry).
- Please DO NOT request an appointment if the aim of your enquiry is to obtain Italian citizenship. I’m sorry, but I cannot help you.
Booking in Advance
I am typically booked several months in advance, so I recommend setting up a time to chat as soon as possible, so we can discuss your project, and I can put it in get you in my diary.
My Research Fees
NOTE: Although I live in England, my fees below are in USD as most of my clients live in the United States. If you live outside the US, I can bill you in your local currency via PayPal, if you prefer.
RESEARCH
$300 per day of research . ‘One day’ is 8 hours, but I am likely to spread out these 8 hours over more than one calendar day.
I enter my findings into a bespoke family tree I will create for you using my Family Tree Maker software. When our ’round’ of research is done, I will either upload this tree to YOUR Ancestry account AND/OR provide you with a GEDCOM or Family Tree Maker backup file (if you use Family Tree Maker).
NOTE: I do NOT edit my clients’ pre-existing family trees. Occasionally a client has done many years of research, and is seeking my help to check/confirm their findings. If this is the case, we can discuss how best to handle your project.
DIGITAL IMAGES OF RECORDS
$1 for each digital image of parish records I obtain for you. This fee is to cover the cost of what I have to pay to obtain the images, plus a small fee for organising/labelling the images and creating a spreadsheet for them.
CHARTS AND REPORTS
$100 flat fee for ancestry charts and reports.
- If I am working on your project over a number of days, I will send you ‘daily updates’ as I go along.
- After I have finished the agreed amount of research, I create a selection of ‘summary’ charts/reports, including a pedigree chart, vertical pedigree chart, surname report, ancestor list, place name report, and often additional custom reports as appropriate.
- Lastly, I give you FINAL VIDEO SUMMARY (which is typically about an hour long), which walks you through all the materials, as well as an overview of the research.
PAYPAL FEES
Non-UK customers: there is a 6% charge to cover currency conversion and PayPal fees.
Budgeting Your Project – SAMPLE ESTIMATE
Before I start your project, I will need to know your budget, so we are both on the ‘same page’ as we work together.
Most new clients hire me for 3 to 5 days. This amount of time typically enables me to trace some lines of your family tree back to the early 1600s. Let’s say I did 3 days of research and I’ve found 50 documents for you. Here’s what your project would cost:
- Research fee (3 X $300) = $900
- Image fees ($1 X 50) = $50
- Charts and reports/video summary = $100
- SUBTOTAL: $1050
- PayPal fees = $63.00
- UK clients who pay via BACS can omit the 6% currency conversion fee
ESTIMATED PROJECT TOTAL: $1,113
Building on My Past Research
Sometimes, we get lucky and I discover connection between your tree and some past research I’ve done; if that happens, I can sometimes expand your tree more deeply and rapidly than would normally be achieved in 3 to 5 days.
I cannot promise this will happen in your case, but as I have personally made hundreds of Trentino family trees, the chances of finding such links are higher than if you tried to do this research yourself, or if you hired a genealogist whose does not specialise in Trentino.
Managing Files
For each client, I create a special DROPBOX folder for us, where I will upload all these digital images, reports and translations. That way you can download them, study them, and share them with family.
Larger and Ongoing Projects
Several of my clients work with me for many years, where I do anywhere between 5-15 days of research for them in one ‘go’, focusing on expanding different branches each time.
Part of my research might include going beyond the parish registers, and digging into ‘pergamene’ (old legal documents), local histories and other resources. I enjoy these larger projects immensely, as they enable me to dig more deeply into your family history, and I can often find connections with other research I have done in the past.
If you are thinking of asking met to work on a large project for you, please do contact me well in advance of when you would like to have it completed, as it will require me to block out a several weeks in my diary for you.
Custom Projects
In addition to the services above, I can also:
- Review and verify pre-existing research.
- Clean up and merge pre-existing trees.
- Translate documents you have already obtained.
- Write emails (in Italian) to parish priests or archivists on your behalf.
- Compile a custom, fully indexed ancestry book (I only do this after we’ve done a LOT of work on your tree).
- Design a project to meet your specific needs.
Testimonials from My Clients
Gene Pancheri, Cincinnati, Ohio, family historian and author of the book Pancheri: Our Story says:
‘I have been doing research on my family in all the archives, libraries and many churches and castles in the upper Val di Non and lower Val di Sole for over 30 years. In spite of my experience and the fact that I have a fellow researcher who is heading for a professorship in history in Italy, I have hired Lynn because she offers experience in church records, a meticulous diligence and a attention to detail. In our project, she has not only mined every conceivable nugget from the birth, marriage and death records, but also from the parchment archives of the churches and communities involved, as well as the notary protocols. I may not be Lynn’s highest paying customer, but I’m probably one of them, because she adds so much to the effort of our project.’
Kay Piazzi Tsurumi, Portland Oregon says:
First of all, I want to say that this testimonial does not begin to state how much I admire and am grateful for Lynn’s work.
Lynn Serafinn produced a Family Tree for us that is nothing short of spectacular. Every entry (and there are hundreds more than we expected) is accompanied by precise details of its source, down to the page number of the historical document, often with photos of parish records of baptisms, marriages, deaths. In addition, she produced a treasure trove of charts, for example charts of all the surnames and all the places in our family history.
She also did translations of documents that we possessed, some of which gave us a look into the personal lives of our ancestors that we previously did not know about and some of which were found to be not related to our family at all. Her admirable ability to read centuries old handwritten documents in Latin and Italian is a true gift to those of us who can’t do it ourselves.
And just like the product she produced, Lynn’s process of working with us was marked with clarity and generosity. Here’s my advice: If you are thinking of hiring Lynn, don’t hesitate another minute.
Loretta Shelton, Mt. Carmel, Pennsylvania says:
‘I want not only to thank Lynn publicly, but even more importantly, to tell you that in less than two months, she delivered a report that is fabulous—there is no other word. Yes, there are facts, many of them. Yes, there are records, primary evidence all translated. Yes, there are charts, lineages… But, Lynn’s toolbox involves much more than this: She operates with both high intelligence and honed instincts, and these combine to yield more than data lines. She understands the incomparable value of context, and she possesses a wealth of knowledge about how people, and their priests, thought and acted in the old times. She brings to her work a capacity to relate, not only to her client but to the old souls who populate her discoveries. She contextualizes otherwise relatively dry and largely impersonalized factual data into a fully realized tale of human lives, palpable and intimate. I know of no other genealogist who does this: a task that requires both the intellectual and creative faculties associated with the ability to write well… I am a truth seeker. Lynn is a truth teller. I am, even many days after reading Lynn’s report, still filled with feelings and images and even a sense of the presence of these ancestors, not to mention a fuller sense of myself. What were once a few wispy threads are now transformed, thanks only to Lynn, into a fully detailed, beautiful tapestry that resonates in my life, in the lives of my progeny, even in the lives of my friends.’
Judy Pedrotti Andersen from Chesterfield, Missouri says:
‘I have been wanting to write to you since the day I received my wonderful Pedrotti report. From the first day we began to work together I knew this was going to be something special. Your interest in wanting to know what I wanted from this research showed me just how you personally care, and that I wasn’t just a client. All along the way with your updates and messages while you were in Italy brought excitement with each message. When I received the report I was so impressed by your professionalism and detail. I am so anxious to share this with my Pedrotti family when we are all together this summer. I feel very blessed that I not only received a super report, but a new friend.’
To request a (free) 30-minute chat on Skype, WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger:
Send me a short email via the contact form on this website (https://trentinogenealogy.com/contact).
I look forward to hearing from you!
LYNN SERAFINN is an author and genealogist specialising in the families of the Trentino, Italy, where her father was born. Accessing records from a variety of archives in Trento and other provinces in northern Italy, she has constructed hundreds of family trees for clients, tracing the lives of tens of thousands of people back to the medieval era.
