How to separate incorrectly linked person record?

mwtbones

Hi,

I recently traced back to a family member and had an existing match found. While I was initially pleased it turns out that this existing person record does contain data referring to my ancestor but has also been erroneously linked with historical records for another person.

I don't want to tread on anyone's toes by just editing the existing record but I don't know what the etiquette or process here should be. Ideally, I would like to simply "split off" a new record, pick the relevant data to copy across and just leave a tag/note on the existing person that I think there is an error. Any advice on how to approach this from more experienced users of the site?

Sanra

Hello @mwtbones

The article link below may be useful in separating the two individuals mixed in the record.

https://www.familysearch.org/help/helpcenter/article/how-do-i-fix-a-merge-that-has-information-from-multiple-people-in-family-tree

We wish you success in separating the records.

Vincent T

Hi @mwtbones thanks for your question. Please I want to best understand your question so I know how best to help. Do you mean to say that you want to remove a historical record that was attached to an ancestor in your tree or you want to unmerge a person that was incorrectly merged with a different person?

mwtbones

I suppose "unmerge" is the best description. The person record contains valid sources for my ancestor but also valid data for another person of the same name.

MD Sall

Hello mwtbones,

Unmerging is a challenging process. If you should need further assistance you are free to call our help line at 866 406-1830 for personal assistance.

Please let us know if you were able to accomplish your goal of unmerging the two individuals and if one of the previous questions was an answer to your question.

May you be blessed with inspiration as you add sources and new information to Family Tree.

mwtbones

I'll follow the guidance and see what I can do. Thanks for the help, all.

gasmodels .

Some situations are fixable by restoring a record that has been incorrectly merged and some are not because the records were combined in new FamilySearch. My suggestion is go to the change log and filter on merges to determine if you can see a merge of the two different persons. Ques to help with this issue or different birth/death dates or locations and also relationships such as spouse, parents and children. If you can locate the incorrect merge in question then you can go to the deleted record that you want to unmerge and restore that record. While the above sounds straightforward sometimes the incorrect merge occurred with a merge before those showing for the final record and it is more difficult to track down. Without specifics, I cannot give you an specific advice.

If the combine occurred in new FamilySearch you will have to create a new record for your person and then create sources and relationships for that record. Below are two articles that may be of assistance to you as you work on this issue.

https://www.familysearch.org/help/helpcenter/article/how-do-i-restore-a-deleted-record-for-a-person-in-family-tree

https://www.familysearch.org/help/helpcenter/article/how-do-i-fix-a-merge-that-has-information-from-multiple-people-in-family-tree

We hope you are successful in resolving your situation. If you encounter difficulty or questions, if you can provide some specifics it is likely you will get more specific help.