2101 Cedar Springs Road   Suite 1050,  Dallas,  Texas  75201 | email:  info@forensicgenealogists.org |
Council for the Advancement of Forensic Genealogy
a professional business league
Things you
need to
know
Who?

The Forensic Genealogy Institute is not for the casually curious. This intensive course was designed by  professional forensic genealogists for working professional genealogists who:
have experience with research, analysis, and reporting for paying clients,
who are either already engaged in the advanced specialty of forensic genealogy,
or wish to acquire sufficient education to engage in the specialty.

Forensic genealogy is a demanding, but rewarding business.   This institute will provide the tools you need.
Where?

Dallas, Texas

Wyndham Dallas
Love Field
214-357-8500
3300 W Mockingbird Ln
Dallas, Texas 75235

Rooms from $109+ tax

Free shuttle from Love Field Airport.  Late check out Saturday.  Free WIFI.
When?

October 25 - 27, 2012

9:00 - 6:00 Thurs. - Fri.
9:00 - 1:00 Sat.

Optional evening round-table discussions and practicum assistance.

Twenty hours of instruction in two and
one-half days to minimize expenses and time away from your business
and family.
Cost?

$400 for Non-CAFG Members

$350 for CAFG
Members and Mentor Program enrollees

Per person, includes lunch Thursday and Friday and syllabus notebook.

One partial scholarship
will be reimbursed to a
non-CAFG attendee.  Two CAFG Mentor Program enrollees will be reimbursed partial scholarships.
Transportation?

Love Field Airport is served by Southwest, United, Delta, Continental, and Air Canada.  Dallas is a major airline hub. Airlines, especially Southwest, frequently run specials to Dallas. The hotel offers a free shuttle to and from Love Field, which is one mile from the hotel.  Flights are also available into Dallas-Fort Worth Airport.
How to register?

Click here to register online 123signup.com. 

Enrollment slots have filled. Registering now at 123SignUp will place you on the wait-list for any possible future openings.

Attendees may pay securely by credit card. Checks and money orders are also accepted, with receipt expected within 14 days of registration.  A $75 cancellation fee will be charged for cancellations through 25 August 2012, and the balance will be refunded.  After 25 August 2012, the registration fee will not be refunded unless the space can be filled.
The Forensic Genealogy Institute offers twenty hours of significant hands-on instruction with real-world work examples, resources, sample forms and work materials. The embedded practicum offers actual forensic case studies that will be covered from start to finish.  Those who satisfactorily complete the course will receive a Forensic Genealogy Institute Certificate of Completion.  The course is limited to 30 enrollees to optimize the learning experience.  NOTE: All registration slots have filled and the wait-list is accepting registrations for any future openings.
Introduction to Forensic Research
Participants will briefly explore items they need to consider before offering forensic services: experience, education, credentials, skill sets, legal and ethical considerations, business and tax structure, business plan, forensic-specific contracts, and marketing.

Forensic Research Skills
  • Forensic Techniques for Genetic Genealogy:  Practical understanding of DNA and applications within forensic genealogy.  Special guest speaker Debbie Parker Wayne, CG.
  • Proof of lineal descent.
  • Searching for living people:  A unique skill set and the necessary research resources for the non-private investigator.
  • Types of work products:  reports, affidavits, charts, exhibits.
  • Witness roles:  The roles of the disinterested witnesses and expert witnesses.

This class will feature a mock hostile examination of a forensic genealogist on the witness stand.  The demonstration is based on actual experience.

Legal and Ethical Considerations
  • Contracts for research involving missing and unknown heirs, military, adoption, and missing person cases; ethics of contingent fees.
  • Scope of practice for probate and real estate cases involving missing and unknown heirs,  including what the genealogist can and cannot do from a legal standpoint; intestate succession; due diligence (including Affidavit of Due Diligence and Expert Reports); evidence; burden of proof; use of DNA.
  • The Expert Witness.
  • Finding Missing Persons – the legal implications.
  • Adoption Research.

The Role of the Forensic Genealogist in
  • Probate research missing and unknown heirs.
  • Real estate missing and unknown heirs including quiet title actions, mineral rights, and oil & gas leases.
  • Adoptions and guardianships.
  • Citizenship and emigration.
  • Capital mitigation.
  • Military repatriation.
  • Unclaimed persons and cold cases.

Business Aspects
  • Preparing yourself:  Education, training, experience, credentials.
  • Business Management:  Structure, licenses, fees, data and records management, record keeping.
  • Elements of good client documents: Do I need a contract, retention agreement, or letter of engagement?  Scope of Work, rate sheets, and other forms.
  • Personal due diligence and risk management:  What to ask (and why) before taking on a case, know who the players are and what is expected, setting boundaries, and pitfalls to avoid.  Do you need Errors & Omissions  insurance? Included is an example of a real-life nightmare forensic case.
  • Potential markets:  Real estate, minerals (including oil and gas), citizenship, benefits (SS,     Veteran, etc.), guardianships, adoption, military repatriation, unclaimed persons, capital mitigation, and more.   
  • Marketing:  How to identify potential markets and potential clients within those markets, examples of successful marketing efforts.

Special optional Pizza Party Friday evening.  Guest speaker Pamela Boyer Sayre will present "Tech Toys and Tools" - especially for forensic genealogists.
Meet the Team
With over forty-five years of combined forensic genealogical experience, instructors for the Forensic Genealogy Institute are practicing professional genealogists with real life experience in the field.
Michael Ramage, J.D., Certified Genealogist (sm)  
Michael S. Ramage  is a full-time, professional genealogist specializing in forensic genealogy and proof of lineal descent including missing and unknown heir research, consulting and expert testimony. Michael has nineteen years experience in forensic genealogy. Board for Certification of Genealogists (Trustee & Officer; Chair of Intellectual Property Committee); Council for the Advancement of Forensic Genealogy (Vice President); Pennsylvania Attorney I.D. No. 22396; Teaching Assistant at Boston University’s Genealogical Research Program.  Past instructor of Wills, Estates & Trusts, and Elder Law courses at Penn State; author of “Missing and Unknown Estate Heir Law Practice and Procedure,” Pennsylvania Bar Association Quarterly, Volume LXXVI, No. 3 (July 2005): 125.

Leslie Brinkley Lawson,
Forensic Genealogist
Leslie Lawson has performed genealogical research for attorneys across the United States. She has a range of experience from proving family lines to reuniting family members as well as proving parentage for those unable to speak due to injury or disability [dementia, Alzheimer’s, and schizophrenia]. Leslie created the course, “US: Vital Records, Understanding & Using the Records” for the National Institute for Genealogical Studies. She also created and led a five week genealogy course for a local church in her community. Leslie currently serves as the President of the Council for the Advancement of Forensic Genealogy and President of the Oregon Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists.
Leslie Lawson has eleven years experience in forensic genealogy.

Teaching Assistant

Catherine W. Desmarais, M.Ed.,
Certified Genealogist
Catherine Desmarais, a certified genealogist, has three years forensic genealogy experience in probate, trust and real estate cases. She is the owner of Stone House Historical Research, located in Vermont’s Champlain Valley. With over 30 years experience in education, she is currently the Mentor Program representative to the board of the Council for the Advancement of Forensic Genealogy, an active member and past treasurer for the New England Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists, an administrator of a surname DNA project, and an alumna of National Institute on Genealogical Research (NIGR)  Institute of Genealogical and Historical Research (IGHR), and the Boston University Genealogical Writing course.
Kelvin L. Meyers,
Forensic Genealogist
With seven years experience in forensic genealogy, a professional genealogist for the last twenty-five years and an avid researcher-historian for the last thirty-three years, Kelvin is a frequent speaker to many genealogical societies and family associations in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. He was employed for ten years in the Genealogy Department of the Dallas Public Library. Kelvin currently contracts with law firms, banks, the US Immigration Service and energy companies as a forensic genealogist searching for missing or unknown heirs to estates and oil and gas leases. Kelvin is a 1989 and 1990 alumni of IGHR. He recently lectured in IGHR Course III Research in the South and Course VIII Researching African American Ancestors. Member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, a past president of the Lone Star Chapter of APG, and board of Council for the Advancement of Forensic Genealogy.

Dee Dee King, Certified Genealogist Forensic Genealogist
Dee Dee King was chosen in 2009 by the US Navy Casualty POW/MIA Branch to serve as its contract genealogist to identify family members eligible to provide mitochondrial DNA samples (mtDNA), or to identify legal Primary Next of Kin of unaccounted for sailors from World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, through Desert Storm.  Dee Dee has six years experience in forensic genealogy, with a heavy concentration of probate and oil/gas cases. She is qualified in Texas as an expert witness. Dee Dee King is the owner of Forensic Genealogy Services LLC, was the founding president of the Lone Star Chapter of APG and serves as secretary-treasurer of the Council for the Advancement of Forensic Genealogy.  She has completed the Advanced Methodology and Evidence Analysis course, IGHR, and the Certificate in Genealogical Research Program of Boston University.

Special Guest Speaker

Debbie Parker Wayne,
Certified Genealogist
Debbie Parker Wayne is a full-time genealogist experienced using laws and DNA analysis, as well as more traditional techniques, for genealogical research. She previously worked in the computer industry doing support, training, programming, and Web design.  Debbie is a Trustee for the BCG Education Fund, a board member and Advocacy Committee Chair of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), president of the Lone Star Chapter of APG, and the Texas State Genealogical Society's DNA Project Director. Debbie has completed many courses at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) and the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG), including advanced methodology courses at both institutes and the Advanced Law Library and GovDocs course at IGHR. She is part of the core staff at Angelina College Genealogy Conference and spoke on DNA at the
Texas General Land Office's 2011 Save Texas
History Symposium.
Forensic Genealogy Institute

Forensic genealogy is research,  analysis, and reporting in cases with legal implications.
© 2011-2012 Council for the Advancement of Forensic Genealogy. All rights reserved.
Certified Genealogist (CG) is a service mark (sm) of the Board for Certification of Genealogists®, conferred to associates who consistently meet ethical and competency standards in accord with peer-reviewed evaluations every five years.
Special Guest Speaker

Pamela Boyer Sayre,
Certified Genealogist, Certified Genealogical Lecturer

Pamela Boyer Sayre, CG, CGL, professional researcher, educator, author, and lecturer, has developed, coordinated, and taught courses at IGHR, Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama; Professional Certificate Program in Genealogy, Boston University; Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, Salt Lake City; Genealogical Institute of Mid-America, Springfield, Illinois; and St. Louis (Missouri) Community College. She also developed an NGS self-paced course on using Social Security records for family history. Sayre is co-author of Online Roots (Nashville, Tenn.: Rutledge Hill Press, 2003) and Research in Missouri (Washington, D.C.: NGS, 1999, 2007), and past editor of the APG Quarterly. A popular presenter, she has spoken at genealogy events in thirty-two states. Sayre holds a Bachelor of University Studies with emphasis in English, Sociology, and History from Eastern New Mexico University, and worked toward a Masters in Computer Information Systems at Bentley University, Waltham, Massachusetts, and is a life member of Phi Kappa Phi honorary society. In her life before genealogy, Pam was a software documentation specialist and trainer, a personnel administrator, and a police detective.