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FamilySearch Potential Problems Options

The Select Potential Problem Options screen is shown when you choose Potential Problems Options from the Tools dropdown menu on the Legacy FamilySearch screen.

While working in Legacy FamilySearch, Legacy can constantly check the information displayed on the screen for potential problems and errors and show what is found by displaying a icon next to the appropriate fields.  Hovering your mouse over the icon displays a popup message describing the potential problem.

You can deselect any option you don't want to use - or you can completely turn off the problem checking by clearing the Display Potential Problems... option at the top of the screen.

Below is a description of all the potential problems Legacy checks for.  


What is Checked - Warnings Tab

Many of the problems that Legacy checks for have a day or year range associated with them.  These values can be changed by using the left and right arrows on the controls to change the associated value.  
  • Warn if born when parents are under 13 years old - According to the birth dates of this individual and the parents, this person was born when one of the parents was younger than 13.  Verify the dates and make sure this person is a child of the indicated parents.  (The cutoff age for this option can be changed.)
  • Warn if married under 13 years old - This marriage date shows this person was married before the age of 13.  Verify the date. .  (The cutoff age for this option can be changed.)
  • Warn if death after 120 years old - The Death date shows that this person died after the age of 120 years.  Verify the dates.  (The cutoff age for this option can be changed.)
  • Warn if birth after 20 years of marriage - The birth date is more that 20 years after the marriage of the parents.  Verify the date of birth.  (The number of years after marriage for this option can be changed.)
  • Warn if born when mother is older than 50 years old - The birth date shows the mother was older than 50 when it occurred.  Verify the birth dates involved. .  (The cutoff age for this option can be changed.)
  • Warn if burial date is more than 30 days after death - The burial date shows that it was more than 30 days after the death date.  Verify the death and burial dates. .  (The number of days after death can be changed.)
  • Warn if husband and wife have the same surname - Both the Husband and Wife have the same Surname.  This is uncommon.  Although the Wife normally takes the Husband's Surname when married, the Wife should be entered with the Surname of her parents.  Make sure the Surname is correct.  (This option can be disabled.)
  • Warn if children born before marriage of parents - This person was born before the marriage of his/her parents.  Verify the birth and marriage dates.

    Problems Tab
  • Check for Valid Dates - All dates for the individual are checked for validity and correct formatting.
  • Birth after death of one parent - The birth date for this individual is either after the mother's death date or more than ten months after the death date of the father.  Check the dates involved and verify that this person is a child of the indicated parents.
  • Birth date after death date - This person's birth date is later than the death date.  Correct the dates.  They may have been entered in reverse order.
  • Event/Fact date before birth or after death date - The date of one or more events is before or after this person's life time.  Verify the dates and make needed corrections.
  • Christening date before birth date - The christening date is before the date of birth.  Verify the dates.  They may have been entered in reverse order.
  • Burial date after death date - The burial date is before the date of death.  Verify the dates.  They may have been entered in reverse order.
  • Married after death date - The marriage date is after the death date of this individual.  Verify the dates.

    Standardization Tab
  • Check for illegal characters in name fields - The following characters are not usually found in a name: !@#$%^&*_ +=|\/;:><~` []{­} 0123456789.  Remove any erroneous characters.
  • Too many apostrophes in name fields - The name field contains more than one apostrophe.  Verify the name and remove any extra apostrophes.
  • Too many dashes in the name fields - There are either two dashes together or a dash at the beginning or end of the name field.  Check the name and remove any extra dashes.
  • Possible Title in the name fields - There may be a Title entered in the Name Field, such as 'Jr.', 'M.D.', 'Rev.' or 'Dr.'.  Remove the title from the Name Field and re-enter it into the Title Field.
  • Possible extra periods in name fields - Periods are not usually found in the Name field.  Check the name and remove any extra periods.
  • Surname only one character - The Surname for this individual is only one character.  Verify and correct.
  • Multiple names in a name field - Only one name should be entered in the name field.  Others should be put into the Alternate Names list.  Verify and correct.
  • No period after an initial in a name - Most one-character initials are an abbreviation for a given name.  These should have a period after them.  Verify and correct if needed.
  • No space after a period in a name field - There is a period in the middle of a name that doesn't have a space after it.  Successive initials should be spaced out, not pushed together.  Verify and correct.
  • Only a question mark in a name field - Don't use a question mark for an unknown name.  Just leave it blank.  Verify and correct.
  • Mr., Mrs., Ms., Miss, etc. in a name field - These salutations are not part of a name and should be left out.  Verify and correct.
  • Descriptive words in a name field (Infant, Baby, etc.) - Descriptive terms are not part of a name.  Only a person's actual name should be placed in the name field.  Verify and correct.
  • Surname entered as all uppercase - You should enter name as mixed case, not all capital letters.  If you want to display surnames in all uppercase, there is an option in Options > Customize > Data Format > Displaying Surnames to do this.  Verify and correct.

    Gaps Tab
  • Warn if first child was born less than 8 months after marriage date: - The first child is usually born 9 or more months after a marriage.
  • Warn if first child was born more than 36 months after marriage date. - The first child is usually born within the first 3 years after a marriage.  If there is no child within this time period, there may be another child to find.
  • Warn if a child was born more than 36 months after the previous child. - Because there is no reliable form of birth control in earlier days, children were generally born about two years apart.  If two children were born more than 3 years apart, there may be a missing child.
  • Warn if child was born less than 12 months after the previous child. - Generally, successive children are born more than one year apart.
  • Only do the above checks for non-living parents - If you would like to limit the gaps testing to children of parents who are not living, select this option.

    To reset all the settings to their default values, click Reset.

    When everything is set the way you want, click OK.

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