Refunds and cancellations.

In plain words: at checkout your card is held, not charged. The payment is captured only when we've both said yes, you to the written scope and total and we to the case, within two business days. If either of us says no, the hold is released and nothing is charged: no fee, nothing to refund. Once the payment is captured, your money follows the milestones: a payment for a milestone already reached isn't refunded, and on the milestone-billed packages nothing further is billed if the work stops. Add-ons are refundable until we start on them. The $300 discovery assessment is refundable until we start on it; once started or delivered it isn't refunded, but it's credited in full toward any package. Refunds after capture are paid in full minus the payment-processing fee Stripe keeps (about 3% plus 30¢ of the amount), except for consumers in the EU or the UK using their 14-day right of withdrawal, who get 100% back. To ask for a refund, email hello@skeletonfiles.com. Refunds go back through Stripe to the payment method you used and usually show up within 5 to 10 business days.

What "your payment" means

Everything captured from the hold placed at checkout once we've both said yes: the package deposit or the full package price, plus any add-ons. Later payments invoiced by email through Stripe (milestones, the balance on delivery, documents you approve, add-ons bought later, and any difference between the starting price and your written quote) count too. Every refund goes back to the payment method it came from. Prices and what each package includes are on the pricing page. This page is part of our terms of service and follows them exactly; the rules that apply to your order are the ones in force on the day you placed it.

Before the payment is captured

At checkout your card (or Affirm, Klarna, Link, Apple Pay or Google Pay) is authorized, not charged: Stripe places a hold for the amount shown. Within two business days you get the exact scope and total in writing. The payment is captured only when we've both said yes: you accept the written scope and total, and we accept the case. Until then your money hasn't moved, so there is nothing to refund.

• You don't accept the written scope and total. The hold is released and nothing is charged. This includes "from" packages where the quote comes out higher than the starting price held at checkout.
• We can't take your case. The hold is released and nothing is charged. If, after reading your foundation, your case isn't one we can take, you hear from us within two business days.
• You change your mind before we've both said yes. Email us and the hold is released. No fee, nothing to refund.
• The hold expires first. Card holds last 7 days (Affirm 30, Klarna 28). If a hold runs out before we've both said yes, nothing is lost: once we agree, we send you a payment link.
• Bank account (ACH). Not available for this first payment, because a hold can't be placed on a bank account. It's welcome for later invoices.

Once research is under way

Once we've both said yes, the payment is captured and research starts. From here on, your payments are tied to milestones. On the 1900 and 1800s packages the milestones are the start (the 25% deposit) and delivery (the balance). On the 1700s and 1600s packages they are the start, reaching 1800, reaching 1700, and delivery, 25% each. Each milestone payment pays for the research delivered up to that milestone. Later payments are invoiced by email through Stripe when the milestone is reached.

• The week-one check finds a line can't reach its target. In the first week of research we check whether your lines can realistically reach the depth you bought. If one can't, you choose: switch to another line, or take a refund of what you've paid, minus the assessment fee if an assessment was done.
• A milestone has been reached. That payment is not refunded. If you've received a Stripe invoice for a milestone, that milestone has been reached.
• A line hits a true wall. Depth is a target, not a promise: no researcher can guarantee that a family appears in the records. On the milestone-billed packages (the 1700s and both 1600s), if a line ends in a true wall, billing stops at the last milestone reached, you keep everything found, and no further payments are due. Payments for milestones already reached are not refunded. If you paid in full at checkout, we refund the share for the milestones not reached. On the 1900 and 1800s packages there are no milestones in between: the balance is billed on delivery.
• You cancel part-way through. Email us. You keep everything found so far. Payments for milestones already reached are not refunded, and nothing further is billed. If you paid in full at checkout, we refund the share for the milestones not reached.

An example. On the $9,500 flagship, $2,375 is held at checkout and captured when we've both said yes. When the research reaches 1800, the second $2,375 is invoiced. If a line then hits a true wall before 1700, billing stops there: the two payments made are kept, the remaining two are never billed, and you keep everything found. Had you paid the full $9,500 at checkout, the $4,750 for the two milestones not reached would be refunded, minus the processing fee.

Add-ons

Add-ons go into the hold at checkout and are captured with it, in full. They're refundable until work on them has started. Once work has started, they're not refunded. Add-ons that come included with your package (the pricing page says which) have no separate charge, so there's nothing to refund for them. If your whole package payment is refunded, every add-on paid with it is refunded too.

• Printed binder. Refundable until printing starts. Once it's being printed, or has shipped, it's not refunded. It's still yours: we ship it to the address you gave at checkout.
• Case vault, private family website, custom-designed website, written family narrative, Ancestry tree verified and corrected. Refundable until we start building or writing it.
• AncestryDNA tie-in. Refundable until we start working with your results. The test kit itself is bought by you, directly from Ancestry, under Ancestry's terms; we don't sell it and can't refund it. For a kit refund or return, contact Ancestry. If your results never arrive, or you decide not to share them with us, and we haven't started, the add-on is refunded.
• Physical documents on the 1900 and 1800s packages. Each paper copy costs the archive's own fee plus a $10 handling fee, and it's ordered only after you approve it. Once we've placed the order with the archive, that charge is not refunded, because the archive has been paid. The copy is yours when it arrives, even if that's months later and after the rest of your file. If the archive can't supply the record and doesn't charge us, we refund that document's charge. In the 1700s and 1600s packages physical documents are included, so there's no separate charge.

The discovery assessment

• Before we start on it. Refundable. The $300 is held at checkout like any package; if your case turns out not to be one we can take, the hold is released and nothing is charged. If the $300 has already been captured and we haven't started, it's refunded, minus the processing fee.
• Once we've started, or it's delivered. It's not refunded, but the full $300 is credited toward any package you buy afterward.

How to ask for a refund, or cancel

Email hello@skeletonfiles.com from the address you used at checkout. There's no form. Include:

• your name, and the package and add-ons you bought;
• the date you checked out, and the Stripe receipt number if you have it;
• what you'd like: a full refund, a cancellation part-way, a refund of one add-on, or a switch to another line;
• a line on why, if you're willing. It's optional, but it helps us fix what went wrong.

We reply within two business days and tell you exactly where you stand under the rules on this page. If a refund is due, we issue it through Stripe as soon as we've confirmed it. If something has gone wrong with your case, please tell us before asking your bank to dispute the charge: an email almost always resolves it faster than a bank dispute, and we'll try to sort it out informally and in good faith. How we handle the information in your email is in our privacy policy.

How refunds are paid

• Through Stripe, to the original payment method. We refund the card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Link, Affirm or Klarna you paid with, or the bank account you paid a later invoice from. We can't refund to a different card or account. Card numbers never touch our site, so we never need them to refund you.
• 5 to 10 business days. Once we issue the refund, Stripe returns the money to the bank that issued your card, and it usually appears on your statement within 5 to 10 business days. The exact timing is up to your bank. If the card has since been closed or replaced, the refund still goes to the bank that issued it; ask your bank how they'll apply it.
• In US dollars, minus the processing fee. Prices are in US dollars and we collect no sales tax, and we charge no fee of our own to refund you. Stripe, though, keeps its payment-processing fee on a captured payment, about 3% plus 30¢ of the amount, so a refund after capture is the amount you paid minus that fee. The one exception is the EU and UK right of withdrawal, below, which is refunded 100%. A hold that is released was never captured, so nothing is taken off and nothing needs refunding. If your bank converted the payment from another currency, the amount that comes back may differ a little because of its exchange rate on the day.
• Milestone and balance invoices. Payments you made by Stripe invoice are refunded the same way, to the method you paid the invoice with.

If you're in the EU or the UK

If you're a consumer in the European Union or the United Kingdom, you have a legal right to withdraw from a distance contract within 14 days of your payment being captured, without giving a reason. Because research is a service, and because you want it to start right away, accepting the written scope and total counts as your express request that we begin work immediately, inside that 14-day period. You acknowledge that once the service has been fully performed, the right of withdrawal is lost. If you withdraw before the payment is captured, the hold is simply released and nothing is charged. If you withdraw while the work is still under way, you pay for the part already performed, in proportion to the full price, and we refund the rest: 100%, with no processing fee taken off. To withdraw, email hello@skeletonfiles.com and say so; no form is needed. Outside those rules, the refund rules on this page apply, and where this page gives you more than the withdrawal right does, you get the more generous one. Nothing on this page reduces the consumer protections you have under the law of your own country.

Who we are

Skeleton Files is a one-person genealogy and family-history research business run by James Duncan, who is responsible for this website and this policy. Payments are processed by Stripe, Inc. (Stripe's privacy policy). Questions about any of this: hello@skeletonfiles.com. If something here is unclear, ask before you buy.

Skeleton Files · James Duncan
Spring, Texas, USA

Our other legal pages: the terms of service, the privacy policy, and the legal notice.

Last updated: October 7, 2026.