Terms of sale

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1. Scope

These terms apply to all genealogical research services sold on foundmyfrenchancestor.com to consumers. By sending a request and authorizing a payment, the client accepts these terms. The version in force on the day of the order applies.

These terms exist in English and in French. In the event of any discrepancy between the two versions, the French version prevails.

2. The provider

Armand SELLIER EI, trading as "Found My French Ancestor", 3 allée de la Querdouda, 44500 La Baule-Escoublac, France. SIREN 751 211 350. Phone: +33 6 64 64 94 45. VAT not applicable, article 293 B of the French General Tax Code. Email: contact@foundmyfrenchancestor.com. Full details in the legal notice.

3. Services

All research is carried out in French archives only.

3.1 Found My French Ancestor (one record)

Search for one birth, marriage or death record. Accepted only if the town in France and the year (within 5 years) are known and the registers exist for that period. Price per record, on an all-or-nothing basis: record found, price due; record not found, nothing is due. The price includes a full transcription and an English translation of the record.

3.2 Found My French Ancestors (several generations)

Search for the ancestors of a person, generation after generation, either along the paternal line (the father and his wife at each generation) or by full generations (every ancestor of each generation). A French record or serious clues are required as a starting point; the provider may decline a request without having to give reasons.

Price per ancestor found, depending on the generation. For each ancestor searched but not found, a fixed research fee is due instead of the full price. The search does not continue beyond an ancestor who has not been found.

For each ancestor found, the client receives the image of the record and a summary sheet in English. A full transcription and an English translation are included for the starting person and their parents (generations 1 and 2); for any other record, they are available as an option, at the price shown on the website.

3.3 Research plan

Study of the clues provided by the client when the information needed for a search (town, date) is incomplete: verification of whether the registers needed for a search exist and can be consulted, with an indication of the kinds of records that can be expected for the place and period, the information they usually contain, and how far back a search could realistically go. It does not reveal any research result. Its price is deducted from the client's next order, if placed within 30 calendar days of its delivery (for example, a research plan delivered on 5 March is deducted from an order placed up to and including 4 April), and remains due if the search is found to be impossible. It is compulsory for clients living in a country for which no prices are shown.

3.4 Extras

"The town and its region in those days": historical presentation of the place, priced on quote. Gift option: delivery by email to a person designated by the client, only if the record is found.

4. Requests and conclusion of the contract

1. The client sends a request through the online form. This request does not commit the client to pay.
2. The provider examines the request free of charge, usually within 48 hours, and either declines it or accepts it by email, stating the price, the start date of the search and a secure payment link.
3. The contract is concluded when the client authorizes the payment on the Stripe payment page. The provider then sends a confirmation by email.

5. Prices and currencies

Prices are shown on the website before any order and are final (VAT not applicable, article 293 B of the French General Tax Code).

Prices are set separately in each currency: US dollars (United States), euros (euro area countries), Canadian dollars (Canada), pounds sterling (United Kingdom) and Australian dollars (Australia). The currency depends on the client's country of residence. The amount stated in the acceptance email is the amount due, in that currency; no conversion is applied.

Clients living in another country must first order a research plan, paid in euros; any subsequent quote and invoice are issued in euros, with an indicative amount in the client's currency for information only.

Invoices issued in a currency other than the euro state, for information, the European Central Bank euro reference rate of the day. The amount due remains the amount shown in the price list.

5.1 Launch offer

As a launch offer, 10 "founding client" places are available. A founding client's research plan is offered, and a full transcription and English translation are included for every record of their family tree. Prices are otherwise those of the price list.

In exchange, the founding client agrees to write a detailed testimonial, reflecting their honest opinion, and authorizes the publication of an anonymized report of their search on this website. Published testimonials mention that they were written by a founding client.

The offer is granted once per client (same person or same email address). The number of places left is shown on the website and updated as founding clients are confirmed. The offer ends when the 10 places have been taken.

6. Payment

Payment is made by card through Stripe. Card details are entered only on Stripe's secure page and never pass through this website.

6.1 Card hold

When the client orders, the amount is authorized (put on hold) on their card, without being debited. At the end of the search:

• if the record is found, the amount is captured (debited), then the invoice and the record are sent together;
• if the record is not found, the hold is cancelled and nothing is debited.

As a card hold lasts about 7 days, each search is completed within 5 days of its start date.

An invoice is issued only once an amount has actually been captured, never when it is merely on hold.

6.2 Several generations

For smaller searches, a hold is placed for each generation in turn. At the end of each generation, only the ancestors found and the research fees for ancestors not found are captured; the rest of the hold is released.

For large full generations (16 ancestors or more in one generation), payment is made in advance; the difference is refunded for each ancestor not found, within 14 days of the end of the search.

6.3 Payment in instalments

For orders of at least USD 450, EUR 400, CAD 650, GBP 350 or AUD 650, depending on the currency, the client may pay in 3 payments with no fees, one every 30 days. The card is saved by Stripe for the next payments. Amounts not due (ancestors not found) are deducted from the last payment(s). If a payment fails, the provider may suspend the search until it is settled.

7. Performance of the research

The search starts on the date given in the acceptance email and lasts at most 5 days per search (per generation for several generations). The provider consults the relevant sources: parish registers, civil registration, indexes, and, where relevant, military and maritime archives.

The provider is bound by an obligation of means (obligation de moyens), not of result: a record may be missing, destroyed or impossible to identify with certainty. In that case the client is informed that the record was not found in the registers searched.

8. Delivery

Results are delivered by email, with the archive references: for a single record, an image of the record, a full transcription and an English translation; for several generations, the elements described in section 3.2. With the gift option, they are sent to the email address designated by the client. The copy delivered is a research copy and not a certified document.

9. Right of withdrawal

As a consumer, the client has 14 days from the conclusion of the contract to withdraw, without giving any reason and without penalty other than those set out below (French Consumer Code, article L221-18).

9.1 How to withdraw

• Online: use the "Withdraw from contract here" function, available at the bottom of every page of this website, and confirm. An acknowledgement is sent by email without delay.
• By email or post: send an unambiguous statement, for example using the model form below, to contact@foundmyfrenchancestor.com or to the postal address in section 2.

9.2 Research already started

When sending the request, the client may expressly ask for the search to begin before the end of the withdrawal period. If the client then withdraws while the search is in progress, they pay an amount proportionate to the work already done: the number of research days actually worked, out of 5, applied to the price of the search (article L221-25).

9.3 Loss of the right of withdrawal

The right of withdrawal cannot be exercised once the service has been fully performed, that is to say once the record (or the research plan) has been delivered, where the client has expressly asked for the search to begin and acknowledged that they would lose their right of withdrawal once the service is fully performed (article L221-28, 1°).

9.4 Refund

Any amount due to the client is refunded within 14 days of the withdrawal, using the same means of payment. If the amount was only on hold, the hold is cancelled.

9.5 Model withdrawal form

10. Liability

The provider cannot be held liable for errors, omissions or gaps in the original records, for the destruction or inaccessibility of archives, or for incorrect information provided by the client. Transcriptions and translations are made with care; where a word is illegible, this is indicated.

11. Use of the records

Records and translations are provided for the client's private, family use. The client remains responsible for complying with the reuse conditions of the archive services concerned in the event of publication.

12. Personal data

Personal data is processed as described in the privacy policy.

13. Complaints and mediation

Any complaint should first be sent to contact@foundmyfrenchancestor.com. If no satisfactory solution is found, the client may refer the matter, free of charge, to the consumer mediator: CM2C — Centre de la Médiation de la Consommation de Conciliateurs de Justice, 49 rue de Ponthieu, 75008 Paris, France — www.cm2c.net — contact@cm2c.net — +33 1 89 47 00 14, where a request can be submitted online, within one year of their written complaint (French Consumer Code, articles L612-1 and following).

14. Applicable law

These terms are governed by French law. This does not deprive clients residing in another country of the protection given to them by the mandatory consumer law of their country of residence. In the event of a dispute, and after an attempt at an amicable solution (including consumer mediation), the French courts have jurisdiction, without prejudice to the consumer's right to bring proceedings before the courts of their country of residence where the law allows it.

Version of 4 October 2026.