# Convince me to pay for Ancestry.com

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-to-pay-for-ancestry-com/566895>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [January 8, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-to-pay-for-ancestry-com/566895 "2011-01-08T16:55:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![RingsOfPylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3da27b/32.png) [@RingsOfPylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RingsOfPylon)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-to-pay-for-ancestry-com/566895/21 "2011-01-11T03:39:42Z")

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> [@Athena](#):
>
> So is the subscription just to search their records, not to actually store the family tree? Like… if make a family tree this month, but then I get busy and can’t work on it again for a year, is it at least viewable if I don’t keep my subscription? Or does the whole thing go _poof_?

I don’t think your family tree ever goes away. There are some out there from the beginning of time, it seems, and they appear to be long since abandoned. But they’re still there.

I don’t know what happens if you let your subscription expire, but I think they keep the trees regardless. That info might become their property, but am not sure; you would have to check the agreements. My tree is still there after a few months of not signing in (although I’ve never let the subscription lapse).

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