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Impossible dates, incorrect filiations, homonyms… Discover how to verify and correct your genealogical tree with Geneafinder.
Experienced genealogists know this well: a genealogical tree only has value if it is coherent. Accumulating names and dates is not enough. A single error can lead an entire branch down the wrong path, waste hours in archives… or spread incorrect filiation on collaborative platforms.
It is precisely to avoid these situations that automatic control tools exist, such as the Geneafinder tree verifier. Their role is not to replace human analysis, but to alert the researcher about date inconsistencies, family connections, or data entry that need to be carefully checked.
The examples below are based on classic genealogical rules and the functioning of the Geneafinder verifier, as used by genealogists on a daily basis.
An unchecked tree quickly leads to concrete consequences such as research dead ends (wrong period, wrong place, wrong family), filiation errors that spread to other trees, or considerable time loss when examining registers.
The Geneafinder verifier automates part of this tedious work. It highlights three levels of alerts:
❌ Blocking errors ( to be corrected first),
⚠️ Warnings, which signal atypical situations,
⌛ Notes, simple points of vigilance to analyze with context.
These errors make the tree objectively false. They must be corrected before any further research or sharing.
Among the most frequent errors, we find:
two-digit years or reversed years (2109 instead of 2019),
impossible dates (November 31st, February 29th on a non-leap year),
partial dates entered as exact dates.
🧐 The good reflex of the genealogist:
always check the readability of the original document (a 3 can easily be read as an 8),
use mentions around, about, before or after when a date is uncertain, rather than making up a full date.
The Geneafinder verifier flags when "birth occurred after death" or "end-of-life event occurred before death."
In most cases, these alerts can be explained by:
a day/month inversion (French / Anglo-Saxon format),
a year entry error,
confusion between two homonyms.
🧐 Essential reflex : go back to the document and read it carefully, line by line.
When a child appears to have been born before the birth of their father or mother, there is almost always:
a bad link to the couple (check the connections),
confusion between generations (uncle taken for a son, for example),
a misinterpreted date.
🧐 In this case, it is essential to reconstruct the complete family core (all children, marriages, places) before making any decision.
A child can be born a few months after the death of their father. Beyond that, the alert becomes serious.
🧐 Here are some leads to explore:
the existence of a homonym,
the exact identity of the spouse mentioned in the document,
the possible remarriage of the mother (followed by an acknowledgment).
Warnings are not necessarily errors. They signal unusual situations that require careful examination.
The verifier can indicate when a death age is very high or when an event occurred after death or before birth.
Longevity of 95 to 105 years in the 18th century is rare, but not impossible. It invites you to search for a homonym and compare profession, signature, spouse, and residence to avoid confusion with a homonym.
When a parent is reported as being too young or too old, it is useful to know these few useful references:
a mother under 12 years old is almost always an error,
a mother over 55 years old in the 17th-18th century needs to be verified,
a father over 70 years old requires checking for homonyms.
These alerts often help identify a generation error.
Two children attributed to the same parents with only a few weeks apart (excluding twins) constitute a strong signal.
It will therefore be important to verify the birth documents carefully – places, twins mention, and parents’ names (homonyms?).
In old families, a spacing of 18 to 36 months between children remains the norm.
The verifier detects very early marriages, deceased spouses who are very young, and multiple marriage events for the same couple.
These situations can correspond to a religious blessing after a civil marriage, a remarriage, or an attachment error (see links).
Each marriage must be placed in its historical and geographical context.
Two births or two deaths for the same person often reveal a duplicate file or multiple imports from different sources. In this case, you should compare the information and, if necessary, separate or delete and re-enter the individuals.
Notes are light alerts, to be interpreted with some distance.
Frequent in second marriages, they can also hide a confusion between father and son or two distinct couples with the same names. Witnesses, professions, and signatures are then precious clues.
Often a test file or a branch in the process of being built. It is preferable to link it or to keep it in a separate project.
Very common when a child dies at a young age. Do not automatically merge files without checking the deaths.
In ancient genealogy, this is almost always an input error or a poorly merged duplicate.
Note that an automatic tool will never replace human analysis. However, it is a real safety net!
launch the check after each import,
first address the errors, then the warnings, then the notes,
document each correction with a precise source.
Correct all date inconsistencies.
Verify the parent-child connections reported.
Review names, homonyms, and duplicates.
Leave some notes uncorrected but justified by sources.
By combining the Geneafinder verifier with a rigorous method of source citation and document review, you build a genealogical tree that is both rich, coherent, and credible, for both other researchers and future generations.
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