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Our Process
We begin with the question you need answered. Together, we identify the relevant events and records, decide what work is practical and agree on the costs before scheduling it. You receive findings that explain what we learned and how we learned it.
From your first conversation to the report
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1. We Listen First
Your first consultation is free and lasts 30 minutes. Tell us what you have observed, what someone else has told you and what remains uncertain. Bring any active court order and approaching deadline. We use those details to decide whether investigation could help.
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2. Agree on the work and cost
We propose tasks, methods and deliverables, then confirm the assignment and schedule by text and email. Lite costs $150 per investigator-hour; Heavy costs $300 and adds suitable advanced methods. Preparation and report time each cost $150 per hour. Travel is $2.50 per minute from and back to our Tacoma office. Except travel, time is billed in one-hour blocks with partial hours rounded up. Required payments are made before work begins.
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3. Gather the relevant facts
Depending on the assignment, we may observe a parenting exchange, retrieve public records, check residence information or interview witnesses. We establish lawful access before using private material and document the dates, locations and sources of what we collect.
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4. Check the findings
We compare observations and records with the timeline and with other available sources. A witness’s firsthand account is identified separately from information they heard from someone else. Conflicts or missing information are recorded for your review.
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5. Receive the report
Your report includes the findings, chronology, supporting material and source notes. Report time costs $150 per hour. Delivery is by 9:00 PM Pacific on the next business day after the task ends, including return travel; a finish after midnight uses that new calendar date. Weekends and the specified federal-holiday periods, including the day before and after each holiday, are excluded. Requested and accepted faster delivery costs $300 per report plus report time. We notify you if approved additional report work or priority delays change delivery.
Washington and Pierce County Planning Questions
What if the matter touches more than one Washington county?
Give us all relevant counties and locations, including where a person lives, works or exchanges a child. We can then account for travel and the observation or records work needed in each place.
Which intake fits a Tacoma matter?
You can request a Tacoma consultation for work in Tacoma or Pierce County, or a Washington consultation for a matter involving several counties. Both reach our Tacoma office. Include every known location so travel and timing can be considered together.
What if the matter starts in Tacoma but reaches outside Pierce County?
Include the other locations when you first contact us. Roughly 30 percent of Pierce County workers commute to King County, and JBLM straddles Pierce and Thurston counties. Work, school and military schedules can therefore affect where and when a Tacoma-based assignment needs to take place.
Do you handle military family cases from JBLM?
Yes. Tell us about deployment, PCS relocation, relevant military pay or pension records and civilian court deadlines. We can discuss lawful off-base fact gathering using the documents available to you. Qualified civilian and military counsel address SCRA, pension and command questions.
Can my Pierce County attorney be included?
Yes, with your authorization. Share the Pierce County Superior Court hearing and filing dates so we can coordinate updates and reporting. Our Tacoma office is minutes from the courthouse at 930 Tacoma Avenue South.
Related Evidence and Planning Guides
- Prepare for your consultation: Bring the factual question, relevant dates and records you already hold lawfully.
- When not to hire an investigator yet: Check whether a missing order, unclear objective or another professional should come first.
When to Hire an Investigator, Role Boundaries, and Scope Agreements
An investigation helps most when a specific, verifiable fact—such as actual residence, exchange attendance, undisclosed work activity, or an address for service—cannot be resolved from the records you already have. If your file only needs basic document sorting, clinical evaluation, or legal advice, pausing before hiring protects your budget.
How Investigation Fits Alongside Other Family-Law Roles
| Professional Role | Primary Focus and Boundary |
|---|---|
| Private Investigator | Gathers verifiable facts through lawful observation, public and permitted records research, witness interviews, and dated reporting; does not give legal advice or custody recommendations. |
| Family-Law Attorney | Advises on legal strategy, statutory thresholds, discovery, subpoenas, admissibility, and court filings. |
| Guardian ad Litem (GAL) or Evaluator | Works within the assigned role and scope. The appointment order and instructions govern assessment, reporting and any recommendations. |
| Therapist or Visitation Provider | Provides clinical care or supervised-exchange monitoring and logs within their treatment or program scope. |
Written Agreements, Full Disclosure, and Scheduling Priority
Before work begins, our written agreement defines the factual question, service tier, approved hours, travel, reporting timeline, and lawful boundaries—a new lead never creates an open budget without your approval. Share unfavorable or complicated facts upfront: hiding prior incidents, protective orders, or known explanations wastes investigative hours and weakens credibility when records are compared. Standard hours are Monday through Sunday, 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM Pacific, with active slots prioritized first for immediate threats to life, then serious safety threats, then time-sensitive court deadlines, and then standard assignments.
You do not need an existing court case number to begin a lawful investigation with a specific factual question. Legal advice may still help establish whether the proposed work is relevant before you spend money.
If a new order, changed address, moved hearing or resolved issue affects the assignment, ask to pause, reschedule or redefine the task. Confirm any new work and price in writing, including the cancellation or change terms and treatment of unused time; requesting a change does not itself waive applicable charges.
If you already used a questionable recording, spyware or account-access method, explain exactly what happened and what material exists. Do not repeat the method or alter the material to conceal it. Counsel may need to assess the access or recording issue before further work.
Investigator observation does not replace required program-based or court-ordered visitation supervision, and it does not authorize changes to visitation. If an order appoints or requires a GAL, treatment professional or visitation provider, follow that order and the professional's instructions within their assigned role. Ask counsel about uncertainties rather than substituting an investigation for the required service.
What You Receive After an Investigation
Every completed assignment produces a structured written report designed for clear review by you and your attorney. Whether a task takes a day of records research or several observation windows, the report connects each finding to its date, time, source, and collection context—including when a scheduled session is quiet or a question remains unresolved.
Core Elements of an Investigation Report
| Report Section | What It Includes |
|---|---|
| Objective and scope summary | The agreed factual question, methods and time windows used, verified findings, and any access or observation limits. |
| Dated chronology | Events, arrivals, departures, and record entries arranged in date and time order so counsel can compare them directly against declarations or court orders. |
| Exhibit and media index | Labeled photographs, video clips, and supporting documents cross-referenced to the chronology. |
| Source and corroboration notes | Clear identification of what the investigator observed firsthand, what came from public or permitted records, and what was reported by a witness or party. |
Turnaround, Attorney Delivery, and Court Use
Our standard report is due by 9:00 PM Pacific on the next business day after the task finishes, including return travel (excluding weekends and published federal-holiday windows); faster delivery is available when requested and accepted under our published pricing terms. Completion after midnight uses the new calendar date. If additional report time, payment or priority work changes delivery, we explain the change, obtain any required approval and give you an updated schedule. With your authorization, we send reports and indexed media directly to your attorney. While lawful collection and clear source history help counsel prepare declarations and exhibits, the court always decides admissibility.
If a declaration about our work is needed, discuss it when agreeing on the report. An investigator may prepare a factual declaration about their own investigation; your personal declaration should reflect what you know, with counsel guiding legal drafting and filing decisions.
A multi-step assignment may produce reports for individual tasks, progress updates and later delivery of requested records when they arrive, rather than one large final package. Agree on how those pieces will be organized and identify anything still outstanding.
Process FAQ
Do you start field work right away?
No. We first agree on the question, work, price and schedule. Paid fieldwork begins after you approve the plan, the task is confirmed and required prepayment is received.
Can my attorney be included in the process?
Yes, with your authorization. Your attorney can help identify the factual questions that need investigation. We can agree on those questions, provide updates and coordinate report delivery for review before the relevant deadline.
How often do I get updates?
We agree on the update schedule before work starts, taking account of urgency and the task. Included task communication is not charged twice. Additional discussion or review outside the task costs $150 per hour and must be prepaid separately.