Building the family tree

No, a DNA test isn't required. The traditional foundation of a family tree is your own memory plus paper records: birth, marriage, and death certificates, along with what living relatives can tell you. A DNA test can add clues about distant or unknown relatives later, but it works best as a supplement, not a starting point.

Yes, a missing parent doesn't stop you. Enter what you do know, mark the unknown parent as unknown, and keep building out every other branch you can confirm. New details often surface later through relatives, old letters, or records tied to the parent you can already document, filling the gap over time.

There's no required number. Most people start with three or four generations, covering themselves, parents, and grandparents, since those names and dates are usually the easiest to confirm. From there, the tree grows one generation at a time as older records and relatives' memories fill in earlier branches.

No, a family tree isn't automatically accurate just because it's been written down. Mistakes creep in when names, dates, or whole branches get copied from someone else's unverified tree instead of original records. Checking each detail against a birth, marriage, or death record before adding it keeps errors from spreading.