My father is not deceased!
Today was my first day on Family Search. I found some interesting information about my mother's family. She is deceased but someone I don't even know marked my father deceased. I sent a message and also reported the error. Will anyone fix it?
Comments
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This is certainly a serious error, as the details of living individuals are private, thus your father's privacy was violated. Anyone can edit the Family Search Family Tree (FSFT), but to change someone from deceased to living requires approval. So I suggest going to your father's profile, clicking on the death information and ticking the box that he is still alive. Then you will be prompted to explain how you know he is still alive. You could provide a link to a social media account, recent birthday invitation etc as proof.
My personal opinion is that it's quite worrying that this can happen, and it's absurd that you change someone from alive to deceased quite easily, but to change someone from deceased to alive requires special approval. In my own personal family tree, I always err on the side of listing deceased people as alive , to protect people's privacy and to avoid the offense of listing a living person as deceased.
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If special approval were not required to change a PID from deceased to living, it would be too easy for a "squatter" to wait for others to work up a profile then snatch the profile away into their private tree space.
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Hello @SharonHand4,
As suggested above, going to a Family History Center is a great place to go if you are just beginning. Here is a link to find one that is hopefully near you:
You did not mention how you reported the error. Here are the instructions from the Help Center in case you need them:
- Navigate to the person page of the individual who is living.
- Click Details.
- In the Vitals section, next to the listed death date, select Edit.
- In the box that appears, click the circle labeled Living.
- Enter how you know the person is still alive.
- Click Save.
- Enter an explanation for the system administrator to review your request. Please provide this information:
- Your relationship to the individual needing attention.
- An how you know the person is alive.
- If possible, the living person's current physical address.
- Click Submit.
A request now goes to FamilySearch Support. A system administrator reviews your request and takes appropriate actions.
Best Wishes!
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When I had a relative that had been mistakenly entered by someone as deceased I called FamilySearch Support rather than posting in FS Community. You can change them to alive as was mentioned above, however that does not remove the version that someone else entered as deceased. FamilySearch Support escalated the problem to the department that has the ability to fix the problem and with in a few days I got an email telling me that as I was not the person who created the individual in the tree I would no longer be able to see that person in my tree. That fixed the problem.
malich
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FYI
I am just another 'lowly' User/Patron ...
'Yes', you are correct ...
As an aside ...
Just to be clear ...
The reason that the individual/person, that was originally INCORRECTLY indicated; as, "Deceased", is "Changed" to "Living", by 'FamilySearch' "Support", is NOT "Deleted'/"Removed", from "Family Tree" of 'FamilySearch', is that the NEW "Living" individual/person, is "Moved" to the "Private Spaces", of the 'FamilySearch' Account, of the User/Patron, who "Created" them.
Users/Patrons CAN (and, in most cases, DO) have "Living" individuals/persons recorded in "Family Tree" of 'FamilySearch'.
Those "Living" individuals/persons, reside in the "Private Spaces", of the 'FamilySearch' Account, of the User/Patron, who "Created" them; and, as such, can ONLY be 'seen' by that User/Patron ▬ and, NO Other User/Patron, NOT even IMMEDIATE Family members.
Those "Living" individuals/persons, are entered/recorded, usually to connect the User/Patron, with OTHER Users/Patrons (including: IMMEDIATE Family members), working along the same "Ancestral" Lines.
Because ...
NONE of us are PERFECT ...
We ALL make MISTAKES ...
Luckily, 'FamilySearch', has a 'Mechanism' in place, for OTHER Users/Patrons, to formally REQUEST, the addressing/fixing of such problems/issues, to CORRECT mistakes, of individuals/persons, being marked as "Deceased"; when, in fact, they are still "Living".
Sometimes, even the Other User/Patron, formally REQUESTING, the addressing/fixing of a problem/issue, can make a mistake; hence, WHY 'FamilySearch' investigates the matter; BEFORE, taking appropriate action.
I hope this helps.
Brett
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Hello Sharon,
I know this is a little off-topic from your initial question, but since you are very new, I want to let you know about a great place to get general information on getting started using FamilySearch.
The Family History Guide is an additional resource for help with FamilySearch.org. The guide contains free lessons on using the website FamilySearch.org and on topics related to family history and genealogy. The content is provided by a FamilySearch partner.
Enjoy!
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Related Question: Some persons are entered into the Tree by FamilySearch - or I suppose from records - and that indication of person entry says 'FamilySearch' but may not indicate which record(s). Does this imply that records - specifically obituaries come to mind - that mention 'survivors' are entered as living people to the Tree?
The reason I am asking in reference to this question - is that if persons are entered as living by some other user - would this prevent another user as entering them as deceased? Obviously they wouldn't show up when searching in the tree - but if someone attempted to add them as deceased without knowing exactly - would this be a way of 'not allowing' them to be entered as deceased?
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FYI
I am just another 'lowly' User/Patron ...
Regarding the 'Status' of, "Living"; and/or, "Deceased" ...
Short Answer: 'No'.
As far as I was aware, the "System" would NOT, 'cross-reference", that fact that an individual/person, has the 'Status' of "Living", in the "Private Spaces" of a particular User/Patron, when another User/Patron is "Creating" the SAME individual/person; but, with the 'Status' of "Deceased".
Doubling back to your initial paragraph ...
The "Deceased" individuals/persons in "Family Tree" of 'FamilySearch' (dated around 2012 ± a few Years), where the ONLY User/Patron is that of 'FamilySearch'; and, in many cases, there are NO "Sources" attached, are generally those individuals/persons that were 'Transferred' from the forerunners to "Family Tree"; being, "New.FamilySearch"; and, the previous 'iterations' (eg. IGI; Family Group Sheets; etc) of the ways Members of the Church submitted their Genealogy/Family History, to follow the 'tenets' of the Church.
'FamilySearch', no longer, 'Creates' individuals/persons, in "Family Tree" of 'FamilySearch'; unless, 'FamilySearch' is addressing/fixing problems/issues for Users/Patrons.
I hope this helps.
Brett
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@genthusiast 1, in fact there is a hint that a PID already exists but is in a private space. If a source is already attached to a PID in private space, and in the source linker you try to add a new PID attached to that source, the new PID creation will inexplicably fail.
This fail behavior in the source linker does not mean the person is living, but I take it as a strong hint that the person may be living.
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