Terms and Conditions

Definitions

In these terms and conditions, the following words have the meanings given below.

• "We", "us", "our" refers to Meet Your Past, operated by Gary Skerritt.
• "You", "your" refers to the person instructing a research project, whether for their own use or as a gift for someone else.
• "Project" refers to any piece of family history research, DNA investigation, archive research, or related work instructed through Meet Your Past.
• "Deliverable" refers to any written report, family history narrative, summary document, record transcription, or other output produced as part of a completed project.
• "Service agreement" refers to the written confirmation of a project's scope, fee, and expected timeline, issued before work begins.

Services

Meet Your Past offers professional family history investigation and genealogical research services, including but not limited to:

• Full family history investigations, from a single generation to multiple branches
• DNA investigation and interpretation, including unknown parentage cases
• Irish ancestry research, including pre-Famine and post-Famine records
• Military ancestor research across UK, Irish, and Commonwealth records
• East Midlands archive and parish record research
• House history and property research
• Photograph research and identification
• Gift vouchers redeemable against any project

All services are provided on a done-for-you basis. We do not offer coaching, tutoring, or supervised DIY research sessions.

Instructing a Research Project

All projects begin with a free 30-minute consultation, by telephone or video call, at which we discuss your family and what you are hoping to find out. No preparation is required and there is no obligation to proceed.

If you wish to proceed following the consultation, we will issue a written service agreement by email, setting out the scope of the research, the agreed fee, and an estimated timeline. A project is formally instructed when you confirm the agreement in writing and pay the required deposit or full fee.

Where a project is being purchased as a gift, the person instructing the project is responsible for payment and accepts these terms on behalf of the recipient.

Fees and Payment

Fees for each project are agreed in writing before work begins and set out in the service agreement. Our current pricing is available on our services pages and starts from £199.

Unless otherwise agreed, the following payment terms apply.

• A non-refundable deposit of 50 per cent of the agreed fee is required to formally instruct a project and begin research.
• The remaining balance is due on delivery of the completed deliverable, before the final report is released.
• For projects instructed in full upfront, no further payment is required on delivery.
• Gift vouchers are paid in full at the time of purchase.

Payment is accepted by bank transfer or such other methods as may be specified at the time of instruction. Fees are quoted and invoiced in pounds sterling. All prices include VAT where applicable. Gary Skerritt is not currently VAT registered.

If a project runs materially over its agreed scope due to factors identified during research (for example, a significantly more complex ancestry than initially understood), we will notify you in writing and agree any additional fee before continuing.

The Research Process

Once a project is instructed, we will work through the agreed research scope, drawing on primary source records, archive collections, DNA analysis, and other appropriate sources. We maintain a research log for every project and work to recognised professional standards.

We will keep you informed of significant findings as work progresses, typically by email or telephone. If we reach a point where the research cannot reasonably proceed further within the agreed scope, we will advise you of this and discuss your options before continuing.

Timelines given at instruction are estimates. Family history research frequently uncovers unexpected complications, and it is not always possible to predict how long a particular line of enquiry will take. We will let you know if a project looks likely to exceed its estimated timeline by more than a few weeks.

Home visits, where offered and agreed, are included as part of the research process and not charged separately unless they involve significant travel beyond the East Midlands region, in which case reasonable travel costs will be agreed in advance.

Deliverables

The nature of the deliverable for each project is agreed at instruction and set out in the service agreement. Depending on the project, this may include:

• A written family history narrative, presented as a bound or digital document
• A research summary report, including sources consulted and conclusions reached
• A family tree in digital format
• Copies or transcriptions of key records discovered during research
• A DNA analysis report and interpretation
• Identified and annotated photographs, where applicable

Deliverables are prepared with care and written to a high standard. They are intended to be read and kept, not filed away. All deliverables are sent by email in PDF format as standard. Printed and bound versions are available on request and may incur an additional charge.

We retain a copy of all deliverables for a period of five years following delivery. After that period, we cannot guarantee retention of project files.

No Guarantee of Results

Family history research is, by its nature, dependent on the survival and availability of historical records. Many records have been lost, destroyed, or were never created. Some family lines cannot be extended beyond a certain point regardless of the skill or effort applied.

We will always tell you honestly what we have and have not found, and why. If research reaches a natural limit, we will say so clearly rather than continue to invoice for work that is unlikely to yield results.

Sensitive Findings

Family history research sometimes uncovers information that clients did not expect and may find difficult. This may include evidence of criminal convictions, illegitimacy, adoption, unknown parentage, mental illness, suicide, or other matters that families chose not to discuss.

We approach all such findings with sensitivity and discretion. Where we believe a finding is likely to be significant or potentially distressing, we will discuss it with you before committing it to a written report, and we will give you the opportunity to decide how you would like it handled.

We are not in a position to withhold factual findings once discovered, but we will always consider the most appropriate and sensitive way to present them.

In DNA investigation and unknown parentage cases, we will discuss the potential emotional implications with you at the outset, before any research begins. These cases require particular care and we handle them with the utmost discretion.

Data and Confidentiality

All information you share with us is treated as strictly confidential. We do not share personal information about you, your family, or your research with any third party, except where required to do so by law.

We collect and hold personal data only to the extent necessary to provide the research services you have instructed. This includes your name, contact details, family information relevant to the research, and payment records. We handle this data in accordance with our Privacy Policy and in compliance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

We will not use your family's story or any identifying details in case studies, marketing materials, or on our website without your explicit written consent. Where we do use case studies (such as those on our website), all identifying details are either anonymised or included only with the knowledge and agreement of the people involved.

You have the right to request access to any personal data we hold about you, to request its deletion, and to object to its processing. Please see our Privacy Policy for full details or contact us directly.

Intellectual Property

All written reports, narratives, analyses, and other original content produced by Meet Your Past remain the intellectual property of Gary Skerritt until full payment has been received. On receipt of full payment, ownership of the deliverable passes to you for your personal, non-commercial use.

This means that once paid for, you are free to copy, share, and preserve the report for family purposes. You may not reproduce or publish the report commercially, or present it as your own original work, without our written permission.

Historical records, census images, certificates, and other third-party documents included in or attached to a report are subject to the copyright terms of the relevant archive, authority, or rights holder. We will note the source of all such materials.

Liability

We take our work seriously and aim to produce accurate, well-sourced research in every project. However, historical records are inherently imperfect and genealogical conclusions are always drawn on the balance of available evidence.

We are not liable for any decisions you make based on research findings, whether personal, legal, financial, or otherwise. Genealogical research does not constitute legal proof of identity, ancestry, or relationship. If you need such proof for legal purposes, please seek independent legal advice.

Our liability to you in respect of any project is limited to the total fee paid for that project. We are not liable for indirect or consequential losses.

Nothing in these terms limits or excludes our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or for any other liability that cannot be limited by law.

Cancellation and Refunds

You may cancel a project at any time by notifying us in writing by email. The following applies on cancellation.

• If you cancel before any research has begun, the deposit is retained to cover time spent on consultation, planning, and instruction, but no further charges apply.
• If you cancel after research has begun, we will invoice for the reasonable value of work completed to that point, up to the total agreed fee. The deposit will be applied against this amount. If the work completed is less than the deposit value, no further charge will be made and no refund of the deposit will be given.
• If we are unable to proceed with a project for any reason on our part, we will refund any fees paid in excess of the value of work completed.

Gift vouchers are non-refundable but remain valid for two years from the date of purchase. If a gift voucher expires before use, please contact us and we will consider an extension in good faith.

Governing Law

These terms and conditions are governed by the law of England and Wales. Any dispute arising from or in connection with a project will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales, unless you are resident in Scotland or Northern Ireland, in which case the applicable local law applies.

We would always prefer to resolve any concern directly and informally before either party considers formal action. If you have a concern about any aspect of our work, please contact us first and we will do our best to resolve it promptly and fairly.

Changes to These Terms

We may update these terms from time to time. The version in force at the time you instruct a project is the version that applies to that project. We will publish the current version on this page with a clear effective date.

For ongoing or multi-phase projects that span a significant period of time, we will notify you of any material changes that may affect your project.

Contact

If you have any questions about these terms, or about any aspect of a project, please get in touch.

• Email: gary@meetyourpast.co.uk
• Telephone: 07980 607610
• Post: Meet Your Past, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England

For queries about your personal data, please also refer to our Privacy Policy.