This Week’s Blog by Jaime S. Dursht
Private investigation of issues in a high conflict divorce can be extremely helpful and an efficient method of fact gathering prior to and during a divorce, as well as post-dissolution.
How Can I Locate Hidden Assets?
A private investigator may uncover jointly held assets that were wrongfully transferred into solely held accounts, which is prohibited in Connecticut upon initiation of a divorce action. It is not uncommon for a spouse to suspect that funds are being diverted into undisclosed assets. An investigator can help with finding them and your attorney may in turn seek a court order to restore the funds or account for them at the conclusion of the divorce.
How do I Track Improper Transfers?
An experienced private investigator may be able to search databases and records to identify wrongful financial conduct. In a Connecticut divorce, expenditures made by a spouse for a purpose outside of the marriage (such as gambling or an affair) can often be quantified and may in some cases constitute what is called a dissipation claim for the other spouse to receive a credit when assets are divided. Having a trained professional obtain this information rather than doing it yourself may be critical to the process of presenting evidence later to ensure admissibility because wrongfully obtained information may be ruled inadmissible in court proceedings.
How do I Catch my Cheating Spouse?
A picture is worth a thousand words. In some cases, a picture or video surveillance of a spouse’s conduct can be used in a variety of ways, not just proof of infidelity. For example, to show the spouse who is claiming inability to be gainfully employed pictured on the golf course or at the casino on a week day. Sometimes the situation is reversed, and a spouse wants to know whether s/he is being tracked, surveilled or hacked by the other. A private investigator can conduct a sweep of the residence, vehicle, phone and computer to find out.
How can I Prove Cohabitation?
A former spouse paying alimony finds out that the recipient spouse is in a relationship and needs to know whether it is to the level warranting a reduction or termination of alimony payments under the cohabitation statute. Cohabitation requires proof of living together and a measurable economic benefit to the alimony recipient. “Living together” does not necessarily mean residing together under the same roof at a single address. A court can find that spending several nights a week together satisfies the requirement, depending on the situation. Surveillance is one of the best ways to demonstrate the actual time spent together.
How do I Prove a Parent is Unfit?
In a custody action, one parent may want to show that the other parent is not appropriately parenting, for example, driving the children in a vehicle without car seats/restraints, or driving them while under the influence. Perhaps surveillance would show that the parent on duty left small children unattended at a park or other public place or perhaps show permissive behavior such as allowing teens to drink alcohol or smoke marijuana.
Another reality for divorcing parents includes the introduction by a spouse of his/her romantic partner to the children. Sometimes a good way to alleviate some anxiety in this situation is to have a private investigator run a background check on the romantic partner.
Whatever the situation, the attorneys at Broder Orland Murray & DeMattie LLC with offices in Westport and Greenwich, have significant experience involving private investigators in developing the right legal strategy to optimize the desired result whether financial or custodial.
