Due to your video, I am now the manager of my parents graves. The person who had been managing my dad’s transferred the management to me in less than 24 Hours. I appreciated it and thanked him for his management. Thank you for your video

My father passed away 15 years ago and I was not quick enough to create his page before someone not related did so. I've tried several times to have them and even sent a request to Find-a-Grave but they did not respond. This sounds like a very good update.

Good. Within minutes of my mother's obit being published, someone posted it. I really didn't care - just wait until after the death and burial. It is, after all, Findagrave, not find an obit.

My name is michelle but i am using my late father's name for this account only on you tube. I have actually been a volunteer find a grave member for a few years because I want to help family members find their ancestry and I think it's fascinating. I have always been the type who visits the resting places of my personal loved ones often because I feel like those people should still matter, even though they've gone. All too often I come across many, many headstones for the people who've never been remembered since their death. So in a way i guess that's my way of helping to keep the memories and family lineage alive to those who ask for photos of burial plots in my area.

Part of me is very happy about this change and part of me is less so happy. My concern is managers who do not research edits before accepting them. It makes it so difficult to research families when someone has accepted or input erroneous data in the middle of a family tree. My biggest pet peeve is people who want to record every last name a woman has had in the last name field. Doing this makes it very easy to input duplicate records because Find a Grave does not bring it to your attention if you add a new memorial for Mary Jones when there is already a memorial for Mary Smith Jones. I try to go with the name documented on the headstone and/or the death certificate. If they had multiple marriages, document them in the bio section, and locate their spouses to link them in Find a Grave.

This is a great move forward! I’m a fairly recent Find a Grave user. My maternal grandparents died many years ago. I visited their gravesite and added a memorial for each of them. Several months later, as I added aunt’s and uncle’s, I discovered someone else had control of my grandfather while I had my grandmother. Somehow the site said we added our memorial’s on the same day. Ok, I’m sure it’s possible. The other person wasn’t related at all. It took several months, but management was eventually transferred to me. I’m grateful for the many volunteers who worked to build this wonderful website. And I thank the management team for making these common sense adjustments to the transfer of management to family members. Many of us are new, but we share the passion for preserving our ancestors stories for future generations.

This a great update. I've had positive experiences with requests to manage, but I was surprised to see a few family members with already created memorials soon after death. I always approach a request from a gratitude standpoint. I love creators who are making sure no one gets forgotten.

Thank you! This is great to know. I just requested to manage my maternal grandfathers page yesterday.. we’ll see how cooperative these people. Hopefully they will do the right thing without much hassle.

my mom pasted 25 years ago. I joined Find a Grave 18+ years ago to add her. I also made one for my uncle. When I went on to add my dad with my mom, I found that the one I made for my mom was gone. I looked scrolled down, and found this one was made by my younger sibling, and the I found the same thing with my uncle. I would like to get them back. I did send Find A Grave my issue. I don't think he will transfer it over to me. However, when I went to make a memorial for my grandparents I found one already made my a volunteer. I ask to become manger because they were my grandparents, and she replied the same day and transferred it over. Volunteers be so much accommodating then relatives. Thank you for all you helping videos.

This is wonderful news! I've read so many posts on different forums about how hurt people were when someone wouldn't respond to their request to transfer the memorial. Thanks so much.

I just discovered this and think it's brilliant! And it made me realize I needed to make a memorial for my brother who died in 2020, before some rando stranger could do one. With identity theft something to worry about these days, I didn't want the details of his birth/death dates or places up on the memorial, just the years. (And yes, I know if someone wanted to do a Google search they could find more info, although at least the online obit another family member created doesn't have his birth date). So now that I've made his memorial and manage it, I know that it's unlikely someone else will create another one and the family can control what info goes up. Also, even though it's been well over three months (actually coming up on two years) since he passed, I was still asked my relation to him when I created the memorial, and that relationship is shown in the "managed by" section. Yay! And yay for the expansion of who constitutes a "close family member"! Nothing more frustrating than distant or non-relations wanting to hold onto a memorial when there are closer relations who would like to manage it.

When my father passed someone posted his memorial 3 days before his funeral. It really upset me. I asked them to delete it because I wanted to post it as a part of my grieving process. They never said anything to me. One year after his burial I posted his memorial. I was relieved to see that the person had deleted it. I was too upset to look before. Just a small thing to help me along. I had been so busy settling his estate up to that point.

This is long overdue - thank you FindAGRave!

This is awesome! I am excited about these changes! I requested to manage my paternal aunt's memorial, she was very close to my mom and dad.

Find-A-Grave needs to make it easier to correct people listed in the wrong cemetery as well. I've seen instances where people were listed in the wrong cemetery , and the manager of the memorial will refuse to correct it. And Find-A-Grave will not correct it without official documentation (i.e. Death Certificate). So the person ends up staying in the wrong cemetery. Also, when reporting duplicate profiles - there are instances where Find-A-Grave would not merge duplicates because either the names were slightly different as a result of a misspelling, or because one of the memorials is listed in the wrong cemetery. Also along the same lines (duplicate memorials), I've seen Find-A-Grave merge them, but keep the wrong one, simply because one of the creators is a "mass contributor" instead of keeping the ones that a friend or relative created.

This is fantastic. I would happily turn over any memorials that I have photographed and managed. So far, I have not found a need to manage any memorial within my own family that I have discovered. I have suggested changes and it has worked out very well. Thank you for your excellent videos.

They should include great great grandparents in the required transfers, if the manger is unrelated. Someone is holding on to my Great Great Grandfather and we are not related to him at all.

I have been researching my family genealogy and using Find-A-Grave for many years. When my mother died Oct. 31, 2014, someone, (a total stranger to me and my family) added a FAG memorial for MY MOTHER - the very next day - after my mother had passed away! I don’t know how this person found this info so quickly because the obituary wasn’t even in newspapers by the next day. Then, the most upsetting and humiliating thing I had to do was contact this person and ask her to transfer the management to me - which she did right away, thankfully. I cannot tell you how upset and angry it made me to have to ask a total stranger for permission to manage my own mother’s memorial. It upsets me to this day. This person hijacked my chance to create a memorial for my own mother. What was her motive for doing this so quickly? I felt as though I had been one-upped by her. What continues to upset me to this day is this person’s name is on my mother’s memorial as the “originator” and her name will be there forever it seems. I wish Find A Grave would get rid of the “originator’s” name after a memorial has been transferred - especially when you look at the date the memorial was created compared to when the person died and especially when the originator is not a family member.

That's great. When my brother passed someone from his high school cllass put up a memorial. She was offended when I said something and asked her to transfer the memorial to me. I actually thought it was for his kids to do, not me. People just don't understand how sensitive and personal that is.

Several years ago I asked for the transfer of my fathers oldest brother. He died at age 20, unmarried and without children. The person who manages his memorial refused because she said I was not a close enough relative. She manages thousands of memorials and I know she cannot be a closer relative than me.. She admitted she was not a relative at all. It is her hobby.. She was kind of ugly in her reply too. Thank you for this information!

This is good news for families. Please keep in mind you can upload pictures and recommend edits without managing a memorial. Each member of Find a Grave can set up their own virtual cemeteries. You don't need to manage a memorial to add it to your virtual cemetery. It is a great way to group your family together without the extra work of managing their memorials. It gives me faster access to my family memorials than I would have otherwise. Virtual cemeteries can be made private. You know your long lost Great Great Great Grandfather had that episode with the law, they can be added to your Virtual Cemetery and no one needs to know. Just remember there is much you can do without actually managing their memorial.

I love the new changes thank you so very much

I love it!! Thank you!

Thank you for this information. I just requested transfer of my grandsons memorial..

I think this is wonderful! I personally have never had any issues having a relative's memorial transferred to me, and conversely, I've always transferred my memorials if I'm not closely related myself. But I can see how this will broaden goodwill and genealogy research, and I'm especially glad they included steps and adoptees, etc.

I was just looking at the site today and saw the word "managed" pertaining to a deceased person. I had no clue as to the meaning of this. Thank you for clarifying this issue. I will attempt to manage both my mom's and brother's memorials so that I can get a feel as to how this new feature operates. Thanks again.

Thank you for your valuable information.

thank you for your efforts. I am back to the 1400's and over 1,000 family members. been doing this for over 30 year and thoroughly enjoy it. :-)

A few years ago I discovered a memorial on Find A Grave for my paternal grandfather that was created by someone not related to the family. Although it was respectful, it contained errors. I "bought" the sponsorship for that memorial ($5.00 as I recall) and took it down. I then established a more accurate and complete memorial in its place.

Very helpful info as I begin to learn more about Find a Grave for my family research. Thanks, Amy!

I actually want to Find a Grave on the island of Puerto Rico, for my maternal grandmother and a few great grandparents on the same island. My origins are Portugal and Span, but about 2 generations back, my grandparents or great grandparents passed away in PR and buried there.

Thank You! I did not know this when I found out that someone made a memorial for my mom when she passed two years ago.

Yeah! Submitted one and was then confident to download their spreadsheet to add others. Ancestry tree opened on my phone let me insert full names and dates efficiently. Now to add a photo and headstone. Then on to the next cemetery!

I am glad for these changes because I was very shocked when my parents obituaries and photos appeared all of a sudden on Find-A -Grave.

I had one transferred to my management. The fellow what had added the memorial when he enumerated the graves in a certain cemetery so there was no ulterior motive on his part. I love Find A Grave and have been a member for years and years.

Love these changes...When my father passed a member had made a memorial but would not transfer it. At that time I had to write a message to Find A Grave and plead my case. I have had other volunteers not so willing to transfer memorials. I am thrilled!!!

I didn’t fully understand find a grave before watching this. 👍

This is a great thing. Thank you. I think they will help.

That’s great… I only manage pages of some I or my husband is related to, or maybe a page that didn’t have an owner, but that I had lots of information for

Thanks for update. This new step will be favorable to some, but the big contributors will fall off...and we need them...most are great volunteers and often transfer a page very easily. I hope it all works out.

Awesome! I think this is wonderful.

This is a great update, hopefully next they make it easier to request transfers on relatives who have been in the system for some time, and use the same requirements. I’ve run into a few people who are no relation but are just not willing to transfer. Also would love to see a military option.

My stepson died i n 2018 and I was so disappointed I could not make his memorial page. I tried the day after the funeral. It took a week and I asked nicely, but it was finally transfered to me. After that, when my 2 uncles passed, I did their page within hours of finding out they died so others wouldn't do it first.

I think this is a good idea, but I also have to laugh. Many years ago, a graver who had done thousands of memorials had himself passed away. I asked in the forum how I would go about getting a memorial he had done transferred to me. I got some very nasty replies about me "stealing" memorials from this deceased graver. So this seems to be quite the about-face from those days.

This is wonderful

Thank you for this information! Do you know when this update will start? I am glad it should be easier to manage pages for your own family!

While this has been useful, it has caused me a headache. Some user who is in it for the numbers of memorials (I'm not gonna name names) practically stole my uncle's memorial which I had created after he died. When I asked for him to transfer back, he never answered. Only when I got Find A Grave involved did the memorial get transferred back to me. This user might have also been going around recently created memorials to say he is a close relative, which is awful. Some users on Find A Grave are for some reason motivated to get thousands of memorials, and when their duplicates get reported, they resort to other means. Now, this user I am confident got spotted by Find A Grave for managing hundreds of "close family member" memorials. But there should be a better system in place for this to not happen.

That was happening at our State Veteran cemetery. A worker there was taken pictures of temporary markers and making memorials. They did it to my brothers. I made a fuss, back then. 2015

I didn't realize there were issues with Find-a-grave until reading it on your blog. You've explained very well and I'm going to explore managing some. I am curious what will happen when family-managers being to pass away themselves?

Really enjoyed your video but am a bit confused. I have been a sometimes casual user of Find a Grave (not a creator/manager) and have long since thought it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. My wish would be that ALL cemeteries, everywhere, would be linked in. But regarding the video, I'm not understanding this idea of "out-of-control" managers. I had no inkling they existed. What is the motivation? Are they simply hoarders, obsessed with some sort of status accumulating long lists of memorials? Or, is it worse - is there some monetary profit in online memorials? I hope it isn't the latter, as that would be another sad example of why we can't have nice things. Anyway, I'm glad to learn about the changes to Find-A-G. I'm not any sort of genealogist but am always curious about my family history. Thank you for what you do.

I was surprised to find a memorial for me on Find A Grave. When I purchased a memorial for my late wife I also had my name added to the marker. Some one added me to the memorial list. I contacted the lister and they removed the listing But It was a surprise.

Sometimes people simply make errors. My mother is listed in find A grave as a stepdaughter to her birth mother. And that her stepfather is her birth father

I had major problems with individuals who created pages of my family/ancestors with the wrong info, and when I politely requested to transfer them to me, they didnt care, they only cared about being a top contributor. So I had over 100 entries that I deleted and I've never been back since. Even when I complained about it to customer service they didnt care.

My mother's father was born in Alabama in 1898. He left there (because his father was a mean, overbearing so-and-so) He came here in 1922 and used his first initial and last name. He acquired a nickname that stuck with him the rest of his life (36 more years). His older brother knew about where he lived and came looking for him. He asked Grandpa's neighbor if he knew him, and the neighbor said "No. But the next house down might - he has the same last name." Great Uncle decided to try and ask the neighbor and found his brother!

Thank you for sharing this. Can I have permission to use the "relationship slides" in a presentation?

I quit volunteering there some time ago, long before Ancestry bought them out. TOO MANY PEOPLE wanting changes like adding a middle initial or a full DoB. I entered EXACTLY what was in the headstones when I took the photo. Nothing more, nothing less. My inbox was constantly slammed with edit requests. I'd have to constantly tell people it's FIND A GRAVE and not ANCESTRY. That if they wanted a tree that they'd have to go make one!

It sounds like good ideas by Find-a-Grave - I found some of my relatives with unknown persons managing my relativres.

And here's another issue that came up for me a few years ago. As it happened, the two cemeteries in our small town had their names reversed by some who came in more recently and thought it was more proper to have the one cemetery called by the town name even though many people from the county from years before are buried there. I was informed all my people in the county cemetery were in the wrong place by a man who came from out of town to document all the graves. FindaGrave had put those cemetery names up maybe before I posted my memorials.. I was told by the man and another man who came in from elsewhere that I had to move my memorials. Unfortunately I took the photos before the change and had marked them as they were at the time but did not get a photo of the "gate". I had more info than the men did, but I was a bit upset that they would tell me this and although I have found no paper, barring one funeral leaflet, that says "New" cemetery which is outside the town, to clarify. I took my memorials down entirely since they were actually on my husband's side and he was with me when I took the photos. Both cemeteries are maintained by the county, but the county records have no name on the plot charts to distinguish the old cemetery from the new. What a mess. The one man left HIS memorials on our relatives on, he is not a relative at all, or to anyone else in the cemeteries.

I missed it when this happened. I know this has been a big problem; it sounds like they've addressed it well.

I think this is a good update for all the reasons you stated. I am new at this and do not know how these members create memorials to start with (of people unknown to them) Do they have access to death certificates? Do they read obituaries? I would be willing to manage close relatives but am not sure how to access the information that I would need. I also want to make clear, I am grateful for the memorials I have found -and the information provided. Please advise.

As a foreigner the term 'transfer a memorial' would translate to me as transfering the actual grave with it's stone or just the stone. What does it mean on 'Find a grave'? What will be transfered? And could someone who manages the memorial make it unsearchable to the public? Does he or she decide which information is shown on the website?

What benefits does being the manager have? What am I allowed to do or not do as a manager or non manager? I just found my great great great grand parents graves and it’s managed by a non relative. Honestly I don’t mind since the person was kind enough to upload the grave photos, but I would like to be able to add personal photos of them.

I’m curious how to take over my family memorials from my nieces husband. I’m a direct relation to my parent and down the line. I see he has errors and won’t correct them. How do I do it

I’m in a panic and can’t even breathe. I’ve been a little bit busy teaching middle school for a total of 30 years. I have retired and have time to jump back into some genealogy research. I’ve gone to my Find a Grave site and people have hijacked my memorials. And worse than that they’ve taken some of the pictures off. My own grandmother has been stolen, hijacked. I don’t know what you call it. I can barely breathe. I’m so upset what do I do?

This is good news, but I have a question to ask of you... do these updates only apply to the recently deceased???

A concern that I have always had.. has to do with the ability of good meaning people to add false information... based on what they believe is true. I had a family member add a memorial for one of our relatives.. I was excited because I had been searching for his grave location for years... it turned out that she assumed he was buried there because other family was located in this cemetery. We did get this sorted out..but it made me wonder how often this happens. Not sure what can be done about this.. if not caught.

If I create a memorial for someone I am more than happy to give the management to the close family members. However, if there is no adding memorials for someone I want to do it so that they can be remembered.

So exactly how can I currently gain control of my parents and brother who died over so many years ago?

have tried to request a transfer management following the instructions under the help screen. There is not option to transfer management. Is it because the death occurred more than 3 years ago?

I looked up my Dad and his information is oartly wrong. it hurt my feelings. now I can try and fix it.

This is great. I think that if you are a family member, and want to manage your 6times great grand parents that should be automatic

What is involved in managing a memorial?

Just curious, you mentioned 1st cousins. Would a first cousin 1x removed qualify, or is that too far out? Thank you!

My nieces husband is working on the family tree and he has a lot of wrong information he won’t correct it. How do I get him to transfer his info to me? Because I don’t see transfer in the Find a Grave site

Who controls the copyright of the photo if used in publication of the photographer or managing family members.

Hello. My Grandmother and her siblings were left by the parents to be raised by other familys. I know all the parties involved byt how do I connect them in my tree. thanks

When. My mom passed Jan 28 2021 someone had put up her pic and obit before I had her funeral I was so angry I am her daughter and I wanted to do that but someone took that away from I emailed them and sent messages they knew I was furious

Does this apply to the app as well as the website?

I've requested to manage within these guidelines, however the creator(s) are those who "manage" hundreds and don't seem to check messages, as it's been months and more than one try. Any other options?

Is there any place for memorials for people who have been cremated and the cremains are not buried?

What if I want to correct info for my gg grandparents , I am a genealogist in my mid 70s and no one a generation older is still living?

I’ve been trying to get my half great grandaunt transferred to me. My great grandmother’s younger half sister. My half great grandaunt never had children as she lived in a state run hospital since she was a child. The manager seems to have ignored my requests, though she changes the spelling back to the correct spelling when I notice that someone else has requested a spelling change to the incorrect spelling of her surname on her stone.

What I don’t understand is why would someone who is not related to the deceased want to manage a grave. Is there some financial reward for doing so. Also, what is stopping someone from saying they are the diseased brother. It sounds like it is a algorithm that is reading the requests and not a person. Thank you

How do you transfer back to the person that manage it .accident transfer to me

I think these updates area very good idea. Personally I'm not sure very recent memorials should be added by anyone other than very close family members and even then I'm in two minds about it (on this site at least, which to me is a genealogical site, there are others that are specifically for memorials). Two other issues I have are that what if two direct ancestors, say siblings, which have the same closeness want to manage and they disagree on it being on the site, what happens then? The other issue is that there are workarounds for what you say people shouldn't be doing, uploading hundreds of memorials. They can do it from completely different emails/logins. How you would validate someone as being a direct relative from 3 or 4 generations down I'm not quite sure and how you validate someone saying they are a closer relative I'm not sure either. As I said before I'm not sure people within maybe 10 years (maybe more) should be on this site. Maybe people could and should be allowed to upload them, but they wouldn't go live until that time has passed.

I like the updated automatic transfer but I think it should be automatic in the first 2 years.

I have a cousin who isn't a thorough genealogist when it comes to fact checking. Him managing profiles on genealogical sites has caused a lot of problems. These kind of people think they're doing a good job but in reality are adding facts and unrelated people to the trees. Being awarded the management of a profile simply due to a closer relationship to the deceased could be detrimental in these cases.

I would like to ask Find A Grave to have it easier to add more children or more than one wife onto a Find A Grave page.

Most of the ones who create memorials just upload the information and photos because not all of them know everything about the people they are adding to be able to add more information to it

Why do people make memorials for other people like that? Like what do they gain from it?

Now, if they would just offer relatives a "Do Not (Re)Baptize)" field to check telling Mormons who are trawling the site for dead people to baptize to scroll on by.

I wish it were easier for African Americans to find their ancestors.

Oh! Maybe I can correct some blatently false info! Thanks. :--}>

What is the advantage of managing a grave that is not related to you. Ad revenue?

There is no button such as you described on my mother's memorial. The stranger who posted it ignored my brother's request to manage the memorial. FindaGrave's "improvements" appear largely a con job.

At 3:00, findagrave will ask the memorial owner if they are closely related. In my case, the memorial transfered was not related.

If you are going to take a picture of of a grave and make it public make it presentable. At the very least wipe of the grass clippings. My brothers grave photo is a disgrace.

So what! That doesn't stop members from adding a memorial if those questions aren't answered. Too much inaccurate information because the people adding memorials rarely if at all know anything about them. FG is nothing more than just another piece of revenue for the Billion dollar company to profit from the hard work of their contributors and advertisements. Find A Grave is a mess and will continue to be until Ancestry takes action to make it better. If I were researching my FT, FG is the very last place I'd take as fact.

I add graves and I will now stop adding graves because of this…I’m not doing all the hard work for someone to take my added graves

FindAGrave is fabulous, and yet there are some creepy people on there. As a person working with a cemetery to restore it? I’m one who has an active role in protected information. I have been harassed by one person in depth, and another person briefly, for YEARS. I have gotten a no trespassing order on the person while I am there. No more wall comments for me, and no more tolerance for bad behavior. I straight up wrote on my bio that the police are aware of this person and a cop friend said do not communicate with them at all (I never did but it’s good to have their directive). I stay in the background and quietly dump lots of money and effort into my restoration. Volunteers should not be abused by other volunteers. Most are great on the website, the FindAGrave Admins have dealt with the creepy person for years instantly, but those who are not great I have dealt with as it came to, one I choose to block. She is the one who told me to remove a photo I uploaded (mine was better no matter what she might think) as “a perfectly fine one was already there”. After I saw her bio (🤔🙄) I deleted her email and moved on. But I digress. 😉