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A useful estimate starts with the question you need answered: where someone lives, who provides care, or whether a claimed work schedule matches the facts. Family Private Investigator investigative work costs $150 per hour for Lite or $300 per hour for Heavy, per investigator. Preparation and our report time each cost $150 per hour; round-trip travel from our Tacoma office costs $2.50 per minute. Agreeing on the work and these separate costs helps you decide what fits your budget.
You prepay the approved service, preparation, travel, report work, expenses and applicable surcharges. We confirm the assignment and schedule by text and email. Except for travel, time is billed in one-hour blocks, with partial hours rounded up. Heavy includes Lite methods plus appropriate advanced methods; the choice depends on the task.
Hypothetical example, not a quote: four Lite service hours cost $600, one preparation hour costs $150, 60 minutes of round-trip travel costs $150, and two report hours cost $300: $1,200 before expenses and any applicable surcharges. The four service hours carry $60 in expense credits for that task. The same time at the Heavy service rate would total $1,800 and carry $120 in task expense credits. Travel and preparation do not use up the four service hours.
Before paying, confirm the question, methods, estimated time and report you will receive. Review the full rates, expense-credit terms and surcharge rules.
A records search about one employer and several days of observation require different amounts of work. Ask for an estimate that shows each part of the assignment so you can see what another location, investigator or observation session would add.
| Cost Factor | How It Affects Pricing |
|---|---|
| Service-hour planning | Estimate investigative hours at $150 for Lite or $300 for Heavy, per investigator. Additional approved investigators are billed at the same selected hourly rate. |
| Service combination | A background-record search may take less time than research followed by interviews and observation. Choose the combination that can answer the factual question, and approve the estimated hours before work starts. |
| Urgency and turnaround | Confirm availability and the schedule before booking. Our report is ordinarily due by 9 p.m. Pacific on the next business day after actual completion, including return travel. Business days exclude weekends and the holiday periods listed in the full pricing terms; completion after midnight uses the new calendar date. Faster delivery costs an additional $300 per report only if you request it and we accept, plus report time. Our choosing to finish early does not trigger a rush fee. We notify you of priority delays and provide an updated schedule. |
| Travel within Pierce County | Travel costs $2.50 per minute from and back to Family Private Investigator at 539 Broadway, Tacoma, WA 98402. Local trips are billable too. Discuss the route and estimated minutes before approving work. |
| Reporting complexity | Our report work costs $150 per hour. A chronology with photographs, video references and detailed source notes may take longer than a short assignment report. We obtain approval for additional report time and provide a revised delivery date. |
| Duration of surveillance | One observation session may answer a narrow question. Documenting a recurring pattern may require several sessions at different times. Agree on the purpose and budget for each task before adding work. |
For a Tacoma family-law matter in Pierce County Superior Court, share the hearing date and your attorney’s evidence needs at the start. That helps us plan observation, record retrieval and reporting around the time you actually have.
Our Tacoma base gives us familiarity with Pierce County neighborhoods, school districts and common parenting-exchange locations. Knowing the area helps us plan access and observation positions; your estimate still includes the travel and preparation the assignment needs.
A parenting schedule may take a child between Pierce and King counties, or involve a home in Kitsap or Thurston. Give us the relevant addresses and times so we can estimate the route and decide which locations matter to the question.
Write down the fact you need to establish and why it matters. For example: where someone sleeps during parenting time, who handles school pickup, or whether an employer can be identified. A specific question lets us propose useful work and a point at which to stop.
Use the free 30-minute introductory consultation to describe the problem and learn whether investigation could help. Additional communication outside the work included with your task costs $150 per hour and must be prepaid separately. We do not charge twice for communication already included in the task.
If you have an attorney, ask which missing facts would help with the next decision or hearing. Sharing that direction and the records already gathered can prevent duplicate searches and focus the budget on evidence you still need.
Each purchased Lite service hour carries a $15 expense credit; each Heavy hour carries $30. Only credits attached to hours used on a task pay that task’s expenses, and any remainder expires when its report is delivered. Unused purchased hours keep their attached credits for one year; buying more before expiry extends all unused, unexpired hours and credits for another year. Expenses are charged at actual cost without markup, with available receipts. We notify you as credits run low; additional expenses must be prepaid, and work pauses if funds are depleted. Specialist fees require separate approval and prepayment and cannot be paid with included expense credits. Review the full payment, expiry and surcharge terms below before paying; all payments are final, with no refunds.
Tell us the factual question, relevant addresses, records you already have and any hearing date. We can then discuss service hours, preparation, round-trip travel, report time and likely expenses. The free 30-minute introductory consultation is a chance to decide whether the proposed work is worth funding.
The main differences are the selected tier, number of investigators, research or observation hours, travel and report work. Applicable surcharges stack and are paid separately in dollars; they do not consume service hours. Holiday service costs $1,500 per Lite task or $3,000 per Heavy task. The high-risk fee is $15,000 for Lite or $30,000 for Heavy and applies only when an actual, credible, immediate threat of death or serious injury directly affects the work; regional conditions alone do not qualify. Review the applicable charges and payment terms before approving the task.
Yes. The pricing page lists the current rates, expense-credit terms, holiday periods and surcharge rules. Review those terms alongside your task estimate before approving the work.
Purchase the hours agreed for the task; time other than travel is billed in one-hour blocks, with partial hours rounded up. Your account’s first three combined client cancellations or reschedules are free across all tasks, with no reset. Each later change to a confirmed task costs $150 for Lite or $300 for Heavy, regardless of notice. A combined cancellation and reschedule counts once; company changes do not count. The fee is paid separately and does not consume service hours.
We cover King, Pierce, Snohomish, Thurston, Mason, Kitsap, Skagit and Island counties. Travel is billed separately at $2.50 per minute from and back to our Tacoma office; preparation is $150 per hour. Confirm the route and estimate before approving work across county lines.
Bring your question, deadline and available records to the free 30-minute introductory consultation. We can discuss a defined assignment and its likely costs so you can decide whether to proceed.