by Alice Anderson
Many worry that the records they have compiled of their living relatives and those who were born within the last 110 years will be lost because no one will be around to carry on the work. There is a need for a place to record living relatives so they can be shared with family who might someday be interested in preserving them and carrying on the work. It is also important to protect the privacy of all living people.
Family Tree is primarily for recording information about dead people.
With the opening of FamilySearch Family Tree, some people started adding their living family members onto the Family Tree pedigree. There are several problems with doing this. Family Tree is primarily for recording information about . . .
Many worry that the records they have compiled of their living relatives and those who were born within the last 110 years will be lost because no one will be around to carry on the work. There is a need for a place to record living relatives so they can be shared with family who might someday be interested in preserving them and carrying on the work. It is also important to protect the privacy of all living people.
Family Tree is primarily for recording information about dead people.
With the opening of FamilySearch Family Tree, some people started adding their living family members onto the Family Tree pedigree. There are several problems with doing this. Family Tree is primarily for recording information about . . .
dead people. While there is a provision to add a name as a “placeholder” to fill a generational gap and thus allow linkage with past generations, it is not advisable to add other live people to the record. Remember that the people you add who are alive can be seen only by YOU when YOU are logged in. No one else will ever be able to access that record unless YOU change the status from “living” to “dead”.
Where to record information about living relatives:
The best way to keep records of living relatives is on your home computer. Use one of the many family history programs such as Ancestral Quest, Roots Magic, Legacy Family Tree, Mac Family Tree (each of which sync with FamilySearch Family Tree), PAF and more. Once a person is dead, it would then be appropriate to add them to FamilySearch Family Tree.
Sharing records including those of living relatives:
With your family names and information in your family history program, you can now share it with extended family members. Sharing your file(s) with extended family members is a good way to preserve and extend your work. You can share it in several ways:
Where to record information about living relatives:
The best way to keep records of living relatives is on your home computer. Use one of the many family history programs such as Ancestral Quest, Roots Magic, Legacy Family Tree, Mac Family Tree (each of which sync with FamilySearch Family Tree), PAF and more. Once a person is dead, it would then be appropriate to add them to FamilySearch Family Tree.
Sharing records including those of living relatives:
With your family names and information in your family history program, you can now share it with extended family members. Sharing your file(s) with extended family members is a good way to preserve and extend your work. You can share it in several ways:
- Print pedigrees and family group sheets and distribute them.
- Send your family file(s) in an email.
- Put your file on a CD that you distribute.
- Store a copy of your file and instructions for its use with other valuables so that
- whomever finds it will know of its value and attend to it in your place.
- Through a sharable "Cloud" program.