What is a child custody investigation?
What is a child custody investigation? Child custody investigation are becoming more and more prevalent in today’s society. Stories of shootings during child custody exchanges are becoming an almost weekly occurrence. Every day police blotters contain entries of “child custody exchange interference“. When parents of children are divorcing, they often use the children as a bargaining tool to “get one over” on their ex. This leads to a dispute which is often call a child custody dispute.
When this dispute ends up in court, each party has the right to gather evidence and it is from this that a child custody investigation is born.
Child custody investigation 101
When a dispute arises between divorcing, or already divorced parties regarding the children one side will often retain an attorney. After they consult with the attorney and describe their situation and circumstances in detail the attorney will often recommend they begin a child custody investigation and work with a professional private investigator.
What is a child custody investigation?
A child custody investigation is an investigation conducted by a non-biased third party (usually a private investigator) in order to determine the best outcome for any children involved in a dispute. This can be a dispute arising as part of a divorce, or a dispute that has arisen long after a couple has been divorced.
Whenever one parent feels the other parent is doing something to harm their child or children, a dispute will most likely be the next step and it’s usually not long before attorneys and the courts get involved. This is the genesis of a child custody investigation.
What gets investigated in
a child custody investigation?
Child custody investigations center around the gathering of evidence and proof that a child is being:
- Neglected
- Abused
- Malnourished
- Endangered
- Otherwise harmed
Child custody investigation evidence
If we examine the areas a child custody investigation centers around, we can see just what kind of evidence a private investigator can gather as part of a child custody investigation.
Negligence – Many times a parent will leave their child with grandparents while they then go about their own business, or go out to party till all hours of the night. Grandparents are only too delighted to watch over their grandkids, but when a parent takes advantage of this a private investigator can document this with video evidence as part of their child custody investigation.
Abuse – Some parents have more patience with their child than other parents. Some parents were raised when “spare the rod and spoil the child” was considered normal behavior. If a parent is abusing a child physically, the private investigator can obtain video evidence of this abuse and a child custody investigation can hinge on this kind of evidence.
Malnourishment – Parents can sometimes become lazy when it comes to feeding their children, especially if they’re not the full-time custodial parent. They will often disregard food allergies and feed their kids fast food because it’s just easier for them to do this. Private investigators have many ways of gathering evidence of malnutrition for your child custody investigation.
Endangerment – Often, when parents become divorced one or both of them start dating someone new. This new person will come into contact with the children and be around them. This new person might have a serious criminal record, or may be banned from being around children. A private investigator conduct a child custody investigation can conduct background investigations on these new people in your child’s life.
Other dangers – children need constant supervision, especially when they are younger. Leaving them alone for long periods of time, allowing strangers access to them, or disregarding the children’s wellbeing are all things a private investigator who is conducting a child custody investigation can document and prove in a court of law.