What is going to happen to your genealogy research when you are gone? This is not a subject most of us want to think about. However, it is something for which all genealogists should take time to plan.

Genealogists spend a considerable amount of time and money tracing their family. Most people do not think to include their research in an estate plan, but that is where it belongs. It is an invaluable gift to your children, grandchildren and your future descendants.

The genetic tests that have revolutionized the identification and treatment of many illnesses can also unearth family secrets like incest, sparking an ethical discussion in the medical community over how these inadvertent findings should be handled.

At Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, sophisticated DNA analyses used to diagnose such disabilities as birth defects, epilepsy or developmental delays revealed that in some children, about 25 percent of genetic material inherited from their mother was the same as material inherited from their father.

The children were rushed into a classroom, and all the doors and windows closed.

No one was allowed to see what was happening outside.

Some of the pupils may have covered their ears and shut their eyes to pretend it wasn’t real.

But surely they would ask older brothers and sisters even if their parents wouldn’t tell. And soon the truth would be out there.

RIVERTON, Utah — Dan Lawyer says experts are reaching a shattering conclusion: "Doing genealogy is hard."

But it can also be incredibly enjoyable, and the obstacles can be overcome.

With society’s current demand for things “fast,” as well as “instant gratification,” it is, indeed, appropriate that Genealogical Publishing Company has designed its “Genealogy at a Glance” series. Intended to cover basic elements of research in just four pages, genealogists will find as much needed information as possible on the laminated pages.