Family Tree is the name of the free family-history website and mobile app operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and it is the tool the Church encourages its members to use for recording genealogical research. It is not a public social network or a DNA-testing service; it is a collaborative, wiki-style database where users add, edit, and link records of deceased individuals, with the goal of identifying ancestors so that Latter-day Saints can perform religious ordinances for them by proxy.
Why the Church Runs a Family Tree Website
The Latter-day Saint belief in eternal families is the driving force behind Family Tree. In the theology of the Church, families are meant to be sealed together beyond death, and this sealing is accomplished through ordinances (such as baptism and sealing) performed in temples. These ordinances are done on behalf of deceased individuals, but the Church teaches that the deceased person must be correctly identified first. That identification is the purpose of Family Tree: it is a shared record of who is related to whom, maintained so that no one is overlooked and so that ordinances are not repeated unnecessarily.
Because the work is religious, the site’s structure is built around the concept of a single, unified pedigree. Unlike commercial genealogy sites where each user maintains a private tree, Family Tree is one enormous tree that all users can edit. The Church states that this collaborative model prevents duplication and helps members find ancestors who have not yet received temple ordinances.
How Family Tree Is Different from Ancestry or MyHeritage
Family Tree is often confused with Ancestry.com because the Church has a long partnership with Ancestry (and FamilySearch, the Church’s genealogical arm, owns Ancestry’s competitor, Findmypast). But the two are distinct:
- Family Tree is free, run by the Church, and focuses on a single shared tree of deceased individuals. It includes some source documents and user-submitted memories, but its core is the pedigree.
- Ancestry.com is a commercial company that offers DNA testing, private family trees, and access to billions of historical records. Users can build their own tree and choose whether to share it.
- MyHeritage and Findmypast are also commercial sites with private trees and record collections. FamilySearch (the Church’s genealogical organization) has agreements with these companies to share indexes and record hints, but the trees themselves are separate.
One practical difference: Family Tree requires you to log in with a free FamilySearch account, and it does not allow DNA uploads. If you want to take a DNA test, you would do that on a commercial site, and you can then link the DNA results to your FamilySearch account as a “relative” hint, but the DNA data itself is not stored on FamilySearch.
How to Start Using Family Tree
Getting started is straightforward, but it helps to know a few steps:
- Create a free account at FamilySearch.org (the same login works for Family Tree). You do not need to be a Church member to use it.
- Enter your own name, birth date, and birthplace. Then add your parents, grandparents, and so on. You can start with what you know and leave blanks for what you don’t.
- Use the “Find” feature to search for a deceased ancestor. FamilySearch has a large index of historical records (census, birth, marriage, death, and more) that you can attach as sources to a person in your tree.
- If you find a person who already exists in the shared tree, you can “link” them to your family line. If they don’t exist, you can add them as a new person.
- Use the “Ordinances” tab to see which temple ordinances (baptism, confirmation, initiatory, endowment, sealing) have been completed for that ancestor. If any are missing, a Church member can reserve and perform them in a temple.
The site has a mobile app (FamilySearch Tree) for iOS and Android, which is handy for recording information at a relative’s house or at a cemetery. The app also has a “Memories” feature where you can upload photos, stories, and audio recordings to a person’s profile.
Common Problems and How to Handle Them
Because Family Tree is collaborative, it has a few well-known issues:
- Duplicate persons: Two users might add the same ancestor under slightly different names or dates. FamilySearch has a “Possible Duplicates” tool that suggests merges, but you must review before merging to avoid combining two different people.
- Incorrect data: Since anyone can edit, sometimes a user adds a wrong date or a speculative relationship. Always check the source citations. If you see an error, you can correct it, but be prepared to explain your reasoning in the “Change Log” so other users understand.
- Privacy restrictions: Information about living people is not visible to other users. Only you can see your own living relatives, and you must mark them as “living” to keep them private. If you add a living person by mistake, the system will hide them from public view.
- Ordinance reservation limits: The Church places a limit on how many ordinances a member can reserve at one time (currently 100 per individual, but the exact number can change). This is to ensure that work is done in a timely manner and not hoarded.
If you encounter a conflict with another user, the site has a “Collaboration” feature where you can leave notes. The Church also has a support team that can mediate, but most issues are resolved by polite communication.
Costs, Privacy, and Safety
Family Tree is completely free. There is no premium tier, no subscription, and no hidden fees. The Church funds it through tithing donations from its members. However, some features on FamilySearch (like viewing certain historical records) may require you to log in, but they are still free.
Privacy is a common concern. FamilySearch’s privacy policy states that information about deceased individuals is generally public, but information about living people is restricted. You control who sees your living relatives, and you can set your own contact preferences. The site uses standard encryption (HTTPS) and does not sell your data to third parties. That said, because it is a collaborative tree, any information you add about a deceased person is visible to other users and can be re-edited.
One safety note: never add sensitive information about living people (like home addresses, phone numbers, or social security numbers) to Family Tree. The system is designed to hide living people from public view, but it is still a shared database, and you should treat it as such. For deceased ancestors, it is fine to add birth and death dates, places, and family relationships.
Alternatives and How Family Tree Fits In
If you are not a Latter-day Saint, you can still use Family Tree for your own research, but you may prefer a commercial site for DNA or for a private tree. The main alternatives are:
- Ancestry.com – largest collection of historical records, plus DNA testing. Requires a paid subscription for most records.
- MyHeritage – strong in European records, offers DNA testing, and has a free basic tree (with paid upgrades).
- Findmypast – excellent for British and Irish records, also has a free tree option.
- WikiTree – a free, collaborative tree that is not religious. It has similar editing features to Family Tree but is run by a community of genealogists.
- FamilySearch’s own “Genealogies” section – this is a separate, older database that contains user-submitted pedigrees, some of which are not well sourced. Family Tree is the modern replacement.
Many genealogists use Family Tree in conjunction with a commercial site: they use Ancestry to search records and then attach the findings to Family Tree. Because FamilySearch and Ancestry have a partnership, you can often see “hints” from Ancestry directly in Family Tree, but you need an Ancestry subscription to view the actual records.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Family Tree only for Latter-day Saints? No. Anyone can create a free account and use it. However, the temple ordinance features are only available to Church members with a temple recommend. Non-members can still add ancestors, attach sources, and view the tree.
Can I see my ancestors’ temple ordinances? Yes, if you are logged in and the person is deceased, you can see which ordinances have been completed and which are pending. If you are not a member, you can still see the status, but you cannot reserve or perform ordinances.
Is Family Tree the same as FamilySearch? FamilySearch is the overall genealogical organization of the Church. FamilySearch.org hosts many resources, including the Family Tree, historical records, and the Research Wiki. Family Tree is one specific tool within FamilySearch.
Can I upload my DNA results to Family Tree? No. Family Tree does not accept DNA data. You can take a DNA test on a commercial site and then link your DNA match list to your FamilySearch account, but the raw DNA data stays on the commercial site.
What happens if I find an error in my ancestor’s record? You can correct it. Click the “Edit” button on the person’s page, make the change, and add a reason statement. Other users will see the change in the “Change Log,” and they can revert it if they disagree. It is best to attach a source to support your correction.
Is Family Tree safe to use? Yes, it is a legitimate website run by a major religious organization. It uses secure connections and has a clear privacy policy. Just follow the same common-sense rules you would on any website: use a strong password, don’t share personal information about living people, and be cautious about clicking links in emails that claim to be from FamilySearch.
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