Cohabitation Investigations

If you think that you ex spouse is living with a new spouse, girlfriend or boyfriend now is the time to have a cohabitation investigation conducted.

The reason that evidence of cohabitation is so important is because if you can prove it there is a good chance you can get a modification of alimony /support being paid to your ex-wife or ex-husband..

The Coronavirus pandemic has forced many states to force people to shelter in place.  These conditions greatly elevate your chance to document cohabitation.  It is a great time to conduct surveillance and drive-by checks to document vehicles and activity around your ex-spouses’ home.  While the courts are closed and not hearing anything but emergency cases involving domestic abuse and child endangerment when the virus passes, and the courts reopen you can have the evidence you need to file an ex-parte notice to get in front of a judge.

A complete cohabitation investigation can involve several investigative tasks.  The first phase should include research into the following;

  • Property Ownership
  • Utility Records
  • Postmaster Check
  • Cell Phone Billing Information
  • Limited Credit Headers

The second phase would involve some level of field investigation.  The field investigation should be geared toward conducting checks at the residence where your ex-spouse is currently residing.  Those checks can be done early in the morning to see who is coming and going and to document vehicles and license plates parked in the vicinity of the residence.  Another way to document cohabitation would be spot checks or surveillance in the early evening hours to document the same types of things.  Once you have the license plates of the vehicles parked in the vicinity of the residence a private investigator can run those plates to determine who owns them.

A formal report detailing all findings prepared by a licensed investigation company that can be filed as a declaration is crucial.  In many cases the courts will often ask that the private investigator handling the investigation be prepared to actually testify to the findings.

In order to use the evidence in court you must retain a family law attorney who understands the requirements under the law in your state or county to get you a modification.

Additional Reading:

What affect does cohabitation have on alimony in California?

7 Ways a Private Investigator Can Help with Your Family Law Case

workers comp claims coronavirusWorkers’ Comp Claims… During and After the Coronavirus

Right now, there are many people that continue to work and expose themselves to the Coronavirus. I am talking about law enforcement, first responders, doctors, nurses, grocery store workers, pharmacists and many other essential services.  What will happen if and when these workers file workers’ compensation claims if they contract the coronavirus. Here is my take on Workers Comp Claims, during and after the coronavirus.

First off we should be VERY thankful that these people and the companies they work for are continuing to operate. This awful pandemic that is sweeping across the US and the world is leaving a wake that is impacting everyone.

I wanted to discuss how the Coronavirus will impact employers when it comes to Workers’ Compensation Claims during and after the coronavirus pandemic.  If an employee contracts the virus in the course and scope of work how will employers, health care providers and insurance companies deal with these claims?  Will there be people that take advantage and lie about how they were exposed to the virus?

Will the exposure trigger a Workers’ Compensation Claim?  Will the carriers investigate these claims, deny them or just accept them?  The coverage issues that will arise will likely be litigated for years to come so stay tuned.

In my experience there will be employees that will take advantage of the situation especially if layoffs occur.  Employers will get frustrated with these claims because they can and will impact their premiums.  This means that there will be litigation.

If there is litigation, then there will be a need for investigation.  The important thing to remember is that investigating these things after getting notice of a claim or upon notice of litigation will pose tremendous challenges.

My recommendation is to document anything and everything you are hearing from your employees, managers and executives as it relates to employees having any exposure to virus.  Please take the CDC guidelines seriously and make sure your managers are following through so that potentially infected employees are not interacting with your partners, employees or contractors.

The best defense in these types of cases is documented evidence that tells the story.  There haven’t been similar events in the past that we can look to for guidance on how to handle things today.

I am going to throw out a few investigative tools and techniques that I think will be useful once claims related to the Coronavirus are filed.  When it comes to contracting the Coronavirus, it is all about where people were and who they interacted with.

The first investigative tool that comes to mind would be a vehicle sightings report.  This type of report could tell you where the employee was when they allegedly contracted the virus.  Were they at home?  Were they meeting with a customer?  Were they on a job site?  These are all questions that need to be answered if we are looking to determine if the virus was contracted in the course and scope of employment.

Another investigative tool that can uncover useful evidence would be Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) and social media research/preservation. What is the employee saying on social media about the virus?  Who are they interacting with and where? Are they talking about how a family member or person they reside with tested positive?  There are unlimited possibilities when it comes to social media research.

What trends do you see when it comes to investigations of Workers Comp Claim During and After the Coronavirus? Please leave your comments below.

If you have any suggestions or questions, please let me know.

Court ClosuresHow are background checks impacted by the court closures?

We are really navigating through some uncharted waters.  The court closures that are sweeping across the United States are necessary to protect people from the COVID19 pandemic.  Background checks will be impacted by court closures.  The challenge is that with the courts being closed for hearings, trials and filings this also means that background screening researchers cannot access the public terminals required to conduct searches and verify information in criminal cases.

This will inevitably cause the background screening process to slow down for those searches that go beyond a database check.  The reason is that if a record is found in a database search needs to be verified there is no way to complete the verification.  If the county being searched is not available for online searching, then a physical search must be completed just to see if records exist.

This means that for employers in compliant industries like HEALTHCARE and TRANSPORTATION that need to stay operational and need to hire new employees during the COVID19 pandemic there could be challenges in the background screening process.

There are some things that can be done to get around the issues that the court closures cause.  First if you can conduct a statewide criminal search you should do it.  These searches aren’t as current or updated as the county level searches, but they are an option.  In states like California a statewide search doesn’t exist, but in states like Michigan and Washington they are an option.

If an employer elects to conduct a National Criminal database only or a statewide database search to avoid the issues caused by the court closures, they need to be aware that they could be missing out on records that should be reported.  One suggestion would be to conduct your National Criminal database search and then conduct re-screens after 1-year, 2-years or 3-years of employment assuming you have this policy documented in your company handbook.

If you have any questions or suggestions please let us know.

 

Unoccupied Businesses need security camerasIf your business is being left unoccupied…your Security Cameras are crucial

If your business is being left unoccupied or you have reduced work hours then having security cameras to document activities in and around your business is critical.  If you have security cameras in place, you need to take immediate steps to insure they are operational and that they are being backed up.

Due to the fact that many businesses are being forced to close valuable assets are being left unattended.  Your trucks, machinery, equipment, raw materials and finished products are enticing to criminals.

Unfortunately, in these situations fraudsters and criminals look to take advantage of the situation.  If your camera system is operational it is like have a virtual security guard.  Make sure your camera system is working well and that you have turned on notifications so you can be notified if there is activity during specific time periods or in locations where no one should be at all.

You should also contact your neighboring businesses and share this information with them.  If they have a camera system in place, they might have visibility to people and vehicles that are accessing your facility as well.

Be on alert for vehicles that seem to be canvassing the area where your business is located.  This means they are slowly and consistently driving by or parking on a nearby street to gain information about traffic patterns, accessibility, etc.

If you or anyone on your team sense that you are being targeted, you should contact law enforcement.  Document the vehicle make, model and color along with the license plates if possible.

If your security cameras or personnel are able to get a license plate off of a vehicle or truck, there are investigative resources available to determine who owns the vehicle.

For enterprise solutions to monitor your cameras, access systems and much more have a look at RAS Watch.

 

What do free online background checks really tell you?What do free online background checks tell you

We all find ourselves becoming online detectives.  There is so much information available via social media and other websites that provide arrest records, court records and public records.  It’s too tempting not to conduct your own investigation since these tools are all free.

WHEN/WHY?:
There are so many situations in our dailies lives that prompt us to question people and send us diving online to conduct our own investigations.  Maybe you have a new boyfriend or girlfriend and you have heard about their troubled past. Or you are curious about your neighbors or future neighbors?  A red flag has gone up about a new relationship that your elderly parent might be involved with.  It is human nature to be curious and investigate.

TOOLS:
There are also some really well advertised tools out there that give you a snapshot of what kind of records might be out there on someone.  They give you a glimpse of possible criminal records, create fear and then ask you to buy a full background report for $30.  The sites I am talking about are Intelius and Truthfinder.  These sites claim to be comprehensive in their research and make it look like they are accessing records and databases all over the place.

BEWARE:
I want to point a few issues with these sites that hopefully give you better insight.  There is no such thing as a comprehensive national criminal search or database.  In order for such a database to exist every court at the state, county and federal level would have to make their records available online in real time without any access fees and this just isn’t the case.  The records that these sites show you are typically matching on name only.  This means if the person you are investigating has a common name you will likely get a lot of records that don’t pertain to your subject.  Additionally, the filters on the preliminary, free searches don’t search on a date of birth.

In almost every county and state courthouse throughout the United States criminal records are indexed by name and date of birth.  One other very important thing I want to point out is the fact that in many jurisdictions TRAFFIC violations are filed in the Criminal courts.  This means that you might see a subject with five (5) potential criminal cases and when you get the complete record you find out the records are all for speeding and other traffic violations.

WHAT DOES $30.00 REALLY GET YOU?  MORE QUESTIONS…
Once you click the button and pay the thirty dollars the records that come up are not verified and many times it is difficult to determine if the records pertain to your subject and what the underlying charges are.  Keep in mind that if your subject has an alias or maiden name these searches won’t pick up on records under alternate names.

I know many of us can’t help ourselves and want to play detective because it is so fun and you can find yourself going down rabbit holes, but please understand the limitations of free and low-cost background research tools.

PRO TIP:
I wanted to conclude by providing a pro tip.  If you have someone that you want to profile the best way to research any criminal activity would be to go online to the courthouse in the county or counties where the person has resided and search criminal records.  In many counties these searches are free and in others they charge you $5.00 or less.

Happy hunting!

If you have any questions or comments, please let us know.