Child Custody Investigations in Florida: When and Why to Call a PI

Florida no longer uses the words 'custody' or 'visitation' — the statutory framework under Chapter 61 is 'parental responsibility' and 'time-sharing,' decided on the 20 best-interest factors enumerated in § 61.13(3). Judges work through those factors on the record before issuing a parenting plan.

What matters in front of a judge is documented, time-stamped, specific evidence on those factors. 'He drinks too much' is an allegation. A 30-day surveillance log showing pickup-and-drop-off arrivals where the parent smelled of alcohol, with corroborating photos of bottles in the curbside recycling and a documented DUI history, is evidence the court can act on.

An investigator is how the gap between allegation and evidence gets closed.

Several of the § 61.13(3) factors map directly to investigative work:

(a) Capacity to facilitate a close relationship between the child and the other parent. Documented patterns of disparaging conduct, refused exchanges, and gatekeeping behavior get built here.

(c) Capacity to determine and act on the child's needs vs. the parent's needs. The pattern of cancellations on the parent's time-sharing schedule for reasons that look like the parent's social life is documentable.

(f) Moral fitness. Substance abuse during time-sharing, romantic partners introduced rapidly to the child, exposure to persons with criminal records — all documentable.

(g) Mental and physical health. Untreated mental-health episodes, untreated substance abuse, or behavior consistent with diagnosed conditions left unmanaged.

(j) Routine. Whether the parent maintains stable schedules, school engagement, meal times, sleep — surveillance over several weeks builds a clean record of this.

(m) Evidence of domestic violence, sexual violence, child abuse, abandonment, or neglect. This is where investigators most often save children.

A custody surveillance package documents what happens during the other parent's time with the child. Specifically: arrivals and departures with timestamps; the location where the child is taken; the persons present (paramours, family members, others) and who they are; the activities the child is involved in; the length of time the parent is actually present versus delegated to others; alcohol or substance indicators; vehicle safety (proper seat, seatbelts); and any conduct that puts the child at risk.

Surveillance always operates from public vantage. We do not enter private residences. We do not record children inside the home. We document the visible, public-facing pattern of what time-sharing actually looks like — which is often very different from what either parent describes.

A frequent custody investigation is background work on the other parent's new romantic partner — particularly when that partner is now spending overnight time with the child. Florida courts are unsympathetic to allegations of 'I don't like my ex's new partner.' They are very sympathetic to documented evidence that the new partner has a relevant criminal record, an active no-contact order with their own children, a substance-abuse history, or undisclosed conduct that bears on child safety.

We run those backgrounds the same way we run any other professional investigation, with documentary attachments and a written report admissible at hearing.

First — judges dislike investigations that look like harassment. Continuous surveillance that crosses into following the parent to therapy, recording the child, or appearing intended to intimidate, will be turned against the client in court. Real custody investigations are short, focused, and tied to specific § 61.13 factors. Ours always are.

Second — investigation is not a substitute for the parenting plan. If the documented evidence supports modification, the modification has to be filed and litigated. We work in tandem with family-law attorneys; we do not replace them.