* Duplicate Spouses Problem

[JClaunch]

Hey all,

I somehow managed to add two individuals as spouses to each other twice, and I'm not sure how to undo it. They are NOT duplicate persons, but I have some different family info in both. I'd appreciate your input on how to resolve the issue.

I've attached a screenshot in case that helps.

FHError.png (198.28 KiB) Viewed 1554 times

[dewilkinson]

There are two ways to deal with this after making a back-up in case it goes wrong.

1 If the two spouses have the same ID then right click on one of them and Unlink, you may find that the remaining spuuse remains with two entries, if so repeat the process for that one as well.

2 If they have different IDs use the Merge Command under the Edit menu.

[tatewise]

I'm not sure that David's ideas are the best solution and I think they may lose information.
You have already confirmed the Individuals both have the same Rec Id.

What has happened is two Family records have been created instead of just one Family record for that couple.
What you need to do is Merge those two Family records in order to preserve the information in both.

In the Records Window on the Families tab click the Family Records 1st column header to sort them.
( If you have no Families tab then use Tools > Preferences > Records Window and set Families to Always show. )
Search for the two adjacent entries ...of Luther Andrew JACKSON and Margaret Anne DAVIS.
Select them both and use Edit > Merge/Compare Records.
Take care to ensure all data is merged or retained before clicking Merge.

[JClaunch]

Thanks very much! That worked like a charm. I don't know why I hadn't noticed the unlink option. One learns every day!

[tatewise]

Has the different information you said was in each family been retained?
I can see the Children are different.

[JClaunch]

That was the odd thing, even though not all the children were in the second "Family" all of the correct information was in both (where both children were present). It was apparently just an odd double linking. Still not sure how I managed to make that happen.

[tatewise]

Just check your Families tab as there may be a Family record ...of (parents not known) with only child links.

Alternatively, run the Show Project Statistics plugin, Update Statistics and Close & Report then the Result Set Exceptions Report will identify any No Parents Family with Children.

[JClaunch]

Thanks for posting that detailed explanation on the families. I didn't know how to find that either. I knew there must be an option like that. I've used FH for a while, but still learning all of the ins and outs.

UPDATE: There WERE two families. I merged the two just to make sure all data stayed.