Finding and Hiring a Private Investigator

Many states don’t require proof of infidelity to get a divorce. Many people don’t care if this is a requirement or not, as they still want to know and want conclusive proof that their spouse has been seeing someone else before contacting an attorney. That attorney may advise that you need evidence. Enter the private investigator.

A primary consideration is to find someone that will put things in an organized format to assist you and your attorney. It’s not just a matter of proving infidelity; it’s often also a matter of proving who is best fit to care for the children after the divorce. Child custody considerations can be a big part of a private investigator’s work. Is a drug habit going to interfere with who gets controlling or primary custody? Are there issues of sexual impropriety that cause the courts to be concerned about exposing the children to bad influences? Is one parent so financially irresponsible that the parent and child may be homeless or destitute in the future? Is the opposing parent only interested in his or her own selfish pursuits – having friends over every night, or staying up all night and sleeping all day so that the child isn’t going to school? These are a few illustrations of issues that might come up during the child custody phase of a divorce. One way to help your case is to be diligent and informed about the things a private investigator can do.

There are effective ways to find an investigator that can help you.

While telephone ads used to be the way to find an investigator, it’s probably best to try the Internet first. You will get a lot more information from a website than you will ever get from a telephone ad. You can use the website to check out the investigator’s experience, his philosophy, expertise, results, and similar information. Needless to say, these websites are generally written by the investigator; therefore, don’t expect it to feature negative information. But it’s a good place to start. When searching, use specific keywords like “Arkansas private investigator” or “Arkansas divorce investigator”. You should get good results by including the state name in the search term; otherwise, you may get hits on a lot of large companies that end up farming out the work to local investigators anyway.

Look through your local Better Business Bureau (BBB) listings. It’s very unusual to find a private investigator listed with the BBB; however, you can feel much more comfortable if that is the case. The BBB has high standards and a complaint arbitration system with which members must comply. It costs a significant amount to be a member of the BBB, which may indicate that the agency is interested in making customer satisfaction a top priority. No private investigator can guarantee particular results, but he should certainly be able to work with you to understand what can be done.

I also recommend checking with your area Chamber of Commerce. Most private investigators don’t join their local Chamber for some reason; it may be that most private investigators are part-timers and therefore don’t consider membership a good return for their investment. However, a professional agency will value its community involvement and know that referrals from the Chamber of Commerce are a good testimonial to the agency’s professionalism. The agency doesn’t have to be big – it just has to know that providing good service for the right price is important for business.

Most investigators aren’t in a position to give references for their work, as confidentiality of clients has to be maintained. A resourceful investigator will overcome this limitation by asking for letters of reference from attorneys and other clients when he has a particularly notable and successful case. For example, a business portfolio might contain items such as newspaper clippings, letters from clients, and notes on community services in order to give prospective clients an idea of the quality of services being offered.

A recurring issue in hiring a private investigator is cost. Remember that hiring a private investigator is not a difficult problem, particularly if you have done your homework. Don’t rely on hourly fee quotes, as they are meaningless. Instead, an investigator should be talking to you in detail about what your objectives are and how he can help to achieve them. What the investigator can produce during the hours charged should be the important measure to the client. The client should not focus on hours, but instead should be assured that the investigator has a focused plan to follow. Your investigator should be willing to share his investigative plan with you. He probably won’t share too many of the technical details, but you should have a good grasp of how he intends to attack your problem.