You need to determine if you need a private investigator. Gathering evidence against your spouse is critical to your case. If you go to court for a hearing, you need to present evidence to win your case. If you try to settle your case in mediation or negotiations, you still need evidence to maximize your leverage and bargaining power and obtain a favorable settlement.
If you believe your spouse is having an affair or neglecting and abusing your children, you should seriously consider hire an investigator to conduct surveillance.
They can follow him or her. The private investigator will take pictures or video to show what your spouse is doing on his/her time. The fact that your spouse is having an affair may show that he or she prioritizes the new romantic relationship over spending time with the children, attending their functions, and not taking their parental duties seriously.
Your spouse or the other parent may introduce his or her lover to the children. A private investigator observing your children spending time with the parent’s lover could be a seminal piece of evidence in your custody case. Children should never be introduced to a romantic partner in the middle of a custody case.
If you believe your spouse or other parent is an inattentive, negligent, or abusive parent, the investigator can follow the other parent when he or she has the kids and observe and take video of what the parent does when he or she has the kids. He or she can video your spouse driving recklessly with the children. He or she can video what exactly your spouse does when he or she has custody. Where is he or she taking the kids? How are the children acting in his or her custody? In one case, the investigator videotaped a parent walking a great distance ahead of the children in a busy parking lot, putting the kids in danger.
With people glued to their cell phone screens, it should not be hard to see a parent intensely looking at his or her cell phone screen rather than paying attention to the children in his or her custody and care. That is not only bad optics but also neglectful and potentially dangerous.
Investigators can track down persons who can be witnesses or be deposed in your case, such as your spouse’s paramour. They can perform background checks on persons with whom your spouse is meeting and introducing the children.