Practice area 03
Child Custody & Parental Fitness
Carefully documented observation of conduct and conditions, prepared for a court that will read it closely.
Licensed Illinois private detective agency · Established 1991 · 35+ years
Custody matters turn on things that are rarely visible in a courtroom: who actually collects the child, whether supervision matches what was represented, the condition of a home, who else is present and how often. Courts decide on patterns of conduct, and patterns have to be documented over time rather than asserted.
This work is approached with more restraint than any other service here, for a straightforward reason: a child is involved, and anything that could be characterised as harassment or as frightening a child would damage the case it was meant to help. Observation is conducted from public vantage points. We do not approach children, ever.
The report is written for a judge rather than for a parent — factual, chronological, and conspicuously free of adjectives. A document that reads as advocacy is worth less in a hearing than one that reads as a record, however satisfying the first might feel to write.
What this covers
Included in an engagement.
- Documented observation of exchanges, collections and supervision arrangements
- Recording of living conditions and who is present, as visible from public vantage
- Timestamped chronology suitable for filing
- Coordination with your family law attorney on what is and is not useful
- Testimony from the investigator who did the work
Said plainly
What this service cannot do.
Worth reading before you instruct anybody in this profession, including us.
- We do not approach, interview or photograph children at close quarters.
- We do not enter a home or private property without the right to be there.
- We document conduct. We do not offer an opinion on parental fitness — that is for the court, and where appropriate for a qualified evaluator.
Related
Often instructed alongside this.
Child Custody & Parental Fitness
Tell us what has happened.
The first conversation costs nothing, goes no further, and you will get an honest view of whether this is something we can help with — including when the answer is that it is not.