Plain words, no surprises. This is what you're agreeing to when you open a case.
In short. Skeleton Files researches your family in original records and delivers proof you can check yourself. At checkout your card is authorized, not charged: Stripe holds the amount shown, and the payment is captured only when you've accepted the written scope and total and we've accepted the case, within two business days. If either side says no, the hold is released and nothing is charged. After that you pay through Stripe, in full or in stages as the research reaches each target. Depth is a target, not a promise: on the milestone-billed packages, if a line hits a true wall, billing stops there and you keep everything found. Everything you upload stays private and is used only for your case. What we deliver is yours to keep and use for your family. These terms, together with our privacy policy and refund policy, are the agreement between you and us when you buy a package or an add-on. The sections below spell it out.
Skeleton Files is a one-person genealogy and family-history research business run by James Duncan in Spring, Texas, United States. James is the person responsible for this website and everything on it. Our website is skeletonfiles.com and our email is hello@skeletonfiles.com. In these terms, "we", "us" and "our" mean Skeleton Files, and "you" means the person buying research from us.
These terms cover every package and add-on listed on the pricing page and every order placed through our checkout. By placing an order at checkout you accept these terms, our privacy policy and our refund policy as they stand on that day. If you don't agree with something in them, don't order; email us first and we'll talk it through. You must be 18 or older to buy from us. We do not knowingly serve anyone under 18.
We research your family in original records: censuses, parish registers, land, probate, tax, court and immigration records, and whatever else the archives hold. We report evidence-based conclusions. Every person in your file is tied to the record that supports them, every search is logged, including the dead ends, and every finding is labeled by how sure we are of it. What each package includes is stated on the pricing page. That page, your written quote and these terms together define what you are buying.
We use AI tools openly to speed up the searching and to keep every person, conflict and source cross-referenced. They never decide what is true: every claim is checked against the record itself.
What we do not sell is a guaranteed outcome. We can't promise that a record exists, that an archive will release it, or that a line can be traced to any particular year. Our reports are research findings, not legal, medical or financial advice, and we are not a law firm.
No researcher can guarantee that a family appears in the records. Parishes lose books, courthouses burn, and some lines end in a true wall. That's why the deep packages (the 1700s and both 1600s packages) are billed as the depth is actually reached: if a line hits a wall, billing stops at the last milestone reached, you keep everything found, and no further payments are due. 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. In the first week we check whether your lines can realistically reach the target; if one can't, you choose between switching to another line or a refund of what you've paid, minus the assessment fee if an assessment was done.
Every package is priced by how far back you want to go. Prices are in US dollars and are shown on the pricing page before you order. We do not collect sales tax.
Payments are processed by Stripe (Stripe, Inc.). Skeleton Files never sees or stores your card details; card numbers never touch our site. At checkout, Stripe collects your name, email, phone number, billing address or ZIP code and payment details on its own pages, under Stripe's privacy policy, and places the hold described above; the payment is captured on acceptance. Stripe's checkout page sets Stripe's own cookies; our own pages set none. We receive an order summary: your name, email, phone, the package and add-ons you chose, the amounts, and Stripe's reference numbers. We keep that summary in our cloud file storage and in your private case file. Later payments (milestones, the balance on delivery, documents you approve, add-ons bought later, and any difference between the starting price and your written quote) are invoiced by email through Stripe.
Before the payment is captured, there is nothing to refund. Until we've both said yes, your money hasn't moved. If your case isn't one we can take, or you don't accept the written scope and total, the hold is released and nothing is charged: no fee, nothing to refund.
After the payment is captured:
Refunds issued after capture are paid in full minus the payment-processing fee that Stripe keeps, about 3% plus 30¢ of the amount. The one exception: consumers in the EU or the UK exercising the 14-day right of withdrawal are refunded 100%. Refunds go back through Stripe to the payment method you used, and usually show within 5 to 10 business days. The refund policy sets these rules out on their own page.
If you are 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 policy applies. Nothing in these terms reduces the consumer protections you have under the law of your own country.
Every package includes digital copies of every record used. Official paper copies are included in the 1700s and 1600s packages and ordered wherever the archive will release them; in the 1900 and 1800s packages each paper copy costs the archive's own fee plus a $10 handling fee and is ordered only after you approve it. Some archives release records only to family members, and some copies take months to arrive, sometimes after the rest of your file is delivered. The printed binder is shipped to the address you give at checkout.
The DNA add-on covers analysis and integration of your results into your file. You buy the test kit directly from Ancestry and are responsible for activating it and mailing it back; results typically take six to eight weeks. We never receive your raw DNA data unless you choose to share it. Any genetic data you do share with us (results, matches, ethnicity estimates or raw data) is used only with your explicit consent, only for your case, never sold or shared with anyone else, and deleted when you ask.
Right after checkout, you land on a private page where you upload documents, photos, scans, family notes and links. Each file can be up to 25 MB, with up to 80 files and 400 MB per case. If your family's paperwork is bigger than that, email us before you upload. Files are stored encrypted at rest in Cloudflare R2, then copied into your private case file on an encrypted computer and removed from cloud storage. We never need your passwords or card numbers, so please don't upload them.
Everything you upload is stored privately and used only for your case. Your file, your website and your records are yours. Client cases are never published or listed on this site. Public case files on this site are historical investigations with no living clients. Our privacy policy explains what we collect, where it is kept, how long we keep it, and the rights you have over it, including the right to have it deleted. Our own pages set no cookies, and our analytics are cookieless and collect no personal identifiers.
Your deliverables are listed on the pricing page for each package: the sourced research report, the research trail, digital copies of every record, and whichever of the case vault, private family website, printed binder, physical documents, written narrative, Ancestry tree work and DNA tie-in your package or add-ons include.
You receive a perpetual license to use everything we deliver for personal, family and non-commercial purposes. Keep it, copy it, print it, share it with your relatives, pass it down. The license is personal and non-commercial: you can't resell our work or offer it as a research service of your own. Historical records are public records; they belong to no one, and nothing in these terms limits what you do with them.
Skeleton Files keeps its methods, templates, software and tooling, including the way the vault and the website are built. We may describe your case publicly, for example in a video or a case file on this site, only with your written permission, and never in a way that identifies living people. Without that permission, your case stays private.
We work by email from hello@skeletonfiles.com. Within two business days of checkout, you get your scope and total in writing; once we've both said yes, the payment is captured and the research starts. After that, you hear from us as the research reaches each milestone and whenever we need something from you. Research takes as long as the records take: archives answer on their own schedules, and some paper copies arrive months after the rest of your file. If you ask where things stand, we tell you. Your quote, milestone invoices and anything that changes the scope come in writing, so there is always a record of what was agreed.
Our reports state evidence-based conclusions, and every finding is labeled by how sure we are of it. Records conflict, clerks made mistakes, and families reused the same names for generations. Where the evidence supports only a probable answer, we say so rather than dress it up as certain. If you find an error in a delivered report, tell us; we'll check it against the records and correct the report if the evidence calls for it.
We are not liable for errors, delays or losses caused by archives, postal or courier services, or third-party platforms such as Ancestry, Stripe or Cloudflare. We are not liable for indirect or consequential losses. Our total liability to you, for anything arising from our work or from these terms, is capped at the amount you have paid us. Nothing in these terms excludes or limits any liability that cannot be excluded or limited by law, and nothing in them reduces the mandatory consumer protections you have where you live.
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, United States. If something goes wrong, email us first at hello@skeletonfiles.com; we'll try to sort it out informally and in good faith. If we can't, disputes are resolved in the courts of Texas. If you are a consumer outside the United States, this does not take away your right to rely on the mandatory consumer protections, or the courts, of your own country.
We may update these terms from time to time, for example when we add a package or change how we handle files. The date at the bottom of this page shows when they last changed. The terms that apply to your order are the ones in force on the day you placed it; we won't change the deal for a case already under way without your agreement. If a change matters to an open case, we'll email you.
Questions about any of this: hello@skeletonfiles.com.
Skeleton Files · James Duncan
Spring, Texas, USA
Our other legal pages: the privacy policy, the refund policy, and the legal notice.
Last updated: October 7, 2026.