In recent years there has been a steady increase in the use of Private investigator services for assistance in divorce and matrimonial associated issues. A recent survey undertaken and published by Grant Thornton Statistics indicates that nearly half (49%) of divorce cases now involve at least one of the services of a private investigator.

This is hardly surprising as it could be argued that the use of a private investigator to uncover the hidden truth of a deceitful partner, allows for a fair and more accurate decision to be made by the other partner and also indeed the courts. Without uncovering the truth of hidden relationships and affairs, together with undeclared funds and assets, decisions must be made on statements and submitted information alone.

Insight into dozens of cases reveal partners statements to be unreliable and often false, with the intention to deceive and benefit either materially of financially. For instance it is becoming easier to set up overseas banking and investments and to divert large sums of cash into these accounts; however the ability to cover up the truth is being superseded by the rapidly increasing abilities of private investigators to uncover the real evidence.

An in depth study of fact and figures reveal that the primary actual reason for divorce is still infidelity, with a total of 153,399 divorces in England and Wales during 2006 and an average marriage lasting only 11.5 years.

The tasks that a private investigator may be involved in during a divorce or partner investigation are wide and varied and one case may involve several areas of investigation. What a private investigator may undertake and how an investigation is carried out depends largely on the specific situation, but also on the available funds of the person requiring the information.

Asset searches

It is fairly common for one partner to hide money, investments or even property from the other partner and give false declarations to the courts. The assets are sometimes hidden during the separation stage of the divorce, but quite often are hidden over many months or even years prior to the separation or divorce as a pre-planned scheme.

A private investigator with the right connections and experience will be able to locate many of these hidden assets both within the UK and overseas, and report the findings to the courts. This then places the partner supplying the false information in a difficult legal position, not to mention throwing other information that has been supplied into doubt.

Surveillance

A popular tool of a private investigator in a matrimonial or partner investigation is that of surveillance. It is common to carry out professional surveillance in teams of 4 or more agents, and is very effective at monitoring and recording the movements of a spouse, and photographing or videoing any relevant actions. Providing that the surveillance in non-obtrusive, much of the information gained can be presented to a court should it be required, together with the statements of the investigator who had witnessed the events.

General intelligence and investigation

It is common for a private investigator to use a variety of areas of investigation to the maximum effect during a partner or divorce enquiry, and legally gained evidence of spending, communications including telephone and email, earnings and lifestyle can often assist the case by providing the evidence that is necessary to secure a fair outcome.

The modern private investigator also has at his disposal many electronic devices that he can use to secure information. If used correctly and legally they can provide extremely useful intelligence and although the evidence may be less useful in a court of law, this information can in itself be useful to assist in gaining other court admissible intelligence about the partners activities.