my grandfather is a baal teshuva and he never chose a rav so we have no official minhagim. My mother's family comes from sighet and they were satmar chassidim. I decided I would follow minhagei satmar but my father objected due to some of their hashkafos. But before the family became satmar they were hardcore misnagdim (my grandfather was the Kuntres Hasfeikos) so do I follow the litvishe minhagim. But i have in my neshama a kesher to chassidus so I will not be able to completely give up chassidishe minhagim.We have record of the family being chassidim in munkatch were they were probably munkatcher chassidim. So I want to know if i shoul keep munkatcher minhagim?
Answer:
There is no need to do vast historical research to determine your families various branches minhagim from before generations. The minhag of one's family which is binding on him, is when there is an established, unbroken tradition that he himself was raised with in his home from childhood. In your case there does not seem to be such minhagim. In that case, Minhag Hamakom would be more significant than Minhag Avos. This means that whatever community, chassius, kehilla you become a part of and feel comfortable with you may adapt and follow. If there are any specific minhagim you have been doing which need to be changed, you should perform hatara nedarim.